Packers Report Card: Grades From Victory Over Bears

The Green Bay Packers moved into first place in the NFC North by beating the Chicago Bears. One unit got an “A” grade in our weekly Packers report card.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson (9) runs the ball into the end zone for the first touchdown vs. the Bears. | Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers scored their biggest win of the season with a thrilling 28-21 victory over the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field on Sunday afternoon.

Jordan Love was excellent, shaking off an early interception to throw three touchdown passes, all of which were more than 20 yards in length. Josh Jacobs made a big play to set up his game-winning touchdown.

Micah Parsons heard Enter Sandman by Metallica blared in his honor, but it was another man who closed the game out for the Packers’ defense. That was cornerback Keisean Nixon, who saved the game with his interception on fourth-and-1 from the Packers’ 14.

The win moves the Packers to 9-3-1, first place in the NFC North and the second seed in the NFC playoffs with four games remaining.

Here are the grades from our weekly Packers report card, starting with Green Bay’s prolific passing attack.

Pass Offense

The storyline throughout the week was how the Packers needed to take care of the ball because of how prolific the Bears are at taking the ball away. It was true. Chicago came into Sunday’s game plus-17 in the turnover margin, eight better than any other team.

If the first series was going to be an omen for the rest of the game, it was a bad sign for Jordan Love and the offense.

A sack put the Packers in a hole on third down before Love uncorked the ball into the middle of the field looking for Matthew Golden. Instead of Golden, the pass was underthrown, which hit Chicago defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson right in the chest. His interception put the Bears in prime scoring position.

Much like Love did last week against Detroit, he shook off some early mistakes and delivered another big game for Green Bay’s offense.

Love completed 17-of-25 passes for 234 yards and three touchdown passes. All three of his scoring strikes came from more than 20 yards. His passer rating was 120.7.

Division games. Rivalry games. Playoff atmosphere style games. Quarterbacks are expected to play, and play well. Love has done that each of the last two weeks.

On the receiving end of his passes was Christian Watson, who led the team with 89 yards, including a 41-yard score in the third quarter on a run-pass option when Watson caught the ball in the middle of the field and ran away from everyone else.

Jayden Reed returned to the lineup and caught four passes for 31 yards, including a 16-yard reception on the game-winning drive.

Green Bay Packers receiver Christian Watson (9) celebrates a touchdown against the Chicago Bears on Sunday. | Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The biggest play of the first half came courtesy of Bo Melton, who caught a 45-yard bomb during Green Bay’s 2-minute drive to give it a 14-3 lead going into halftime.

The offensive line kept Love clean save for one play where Montez Sweat sacked Love for a 14-yard loss, which was more of a coverage sack. The turnover is the only thing that holds this grade back from being a second consecutive A.

Grade: B-plus.

Rush Offense

Coming into Sunday’s game, most of the discussion surrounded Chicago’s powerful run game, which entered play ranked second in the NFL and first by a wide margin since Week 5.

Green Bay’s run game has not been anything special this season, but it’s been getting better as the season has gone along. Having the same five starters on the offensive line with Anthony Belton taking over at right guard has helped.

The final numbers are not sexy. When you account for one Jordan Love kneel-down, the Packers ran 25 times for 116 yards. That’s not flashy, but it got the job done. Where the grade gets boosted is by making the biggest play of the game.

Fantasy football and modern analysis surrounding football will tell you that the running back is a dying position. The player back there, to some extent, does not matter and that almost anyone could excel.

The people who say that do not watch Josh Jacobs on a weekly basis. Jacobs has looked fresh since a one-game absence with a knee injury, and saved his best for the biggest plays of the game.

Facing a third-and-2 from Chicago’s 28, LaFleur dialed up a pitch to Jacobs that had no chance. He was bottled up and appeared destined to be thrown for a loss. Instead, Jacobs made a man miss in space, ran through a tackle and turned what could have been a loss into a 21-yard gain.

Three plays later, he was dancing in the end zone with a game-winning touchdown. The biggest plays in the biggest moments go to the best players on the field. That’s why Jacobs was trusted with the ball in that situation, and it’s why the grade is better, despite some relatively average numbers.

Grade: B-plus.

Pass Defense

The passing game was a tale of two halves for the Bears. Caleb Williams was uncomfortable and juiced up at the beginning. His first two passes sailed well over his intended receivers’ heads.

He started the game 1-of-7. He finished the game 19-of-35 for 186 yards and two 1-yard touchdown passes. Williams found a rhythm in the second half as Ben Johnson made some adjustments to keep Williams more protected and get him on the move.

Missing his best receiver, Rome Odunze, Williams leaned on rookie Luther Burden, who caught four passes for 67 yards.

The Packers’ pass rush, which has largely relied on Micah Parsons, did not harass Williams as much in the second half as it did the first as Chicago’s balanced attack beat it up for three scoring drives.

The biggest play of the game, however, came from one of Green Bay’s defensive backs.

Green Bay Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon (25) intercepts a pass intended for Cole Kmet to beat the Bears. | Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Facing a fourth-and-1 from the Packers’ 14, Johnson and Williams dialed up a play-action bootleg to get Williams on the edge. He rolled to his left and fired a pass for Cole Kmet, who was breaking open behind the secondary.

Instead, Keisean Nixon made the headiest play of the game when he dropped off his man to cover up a mistake made by Evan Williams, who left Kmet open in the back of the end zone because he was covering Quay Walker’s man, D’Andre Swift.

Nixon caught the ball, saved the game and catapulted the Packers into first place in the NFC North.

“We was in like a zero call,” Nixon said. “My guy went behind the backfield and I was chasing him. I saw the tight end free so I knew he was the only person who was going to get the ball.”

Nixon’s heady play was one of the biggest plays of the season and gives this group a big-time grade.

Grade: A

Rush Defense

Chicago’s run game is as tough as any across the NFL. The Bears entered the game ranked second in the NFL in rushing yards per game behind only the Bills. The Packers were facing an added challenge of having to stop that run game without Devonte Wyatt in the lineup.

Through the first half, the Packers kept Chicago’s run game under wraps. It carried the ball 13 times for 48 yards, or just 3.7 yards per carry.

The second half was a different story. The Bears carried the ball 19 times for 90 yards, which is worth more than 4.7 yards per carry.

That was the big catalyst for three of Chicago’s scoring drives, including a 17-play, 83-yard drive that chewed through the end of the third quarter before spilling into the fourth quarter.

The final numbers look good, but it was clear by the end of the game that the defense was tired, and Green Bay’s offense did not do it any favors with two three-and-outs in the third quarter.

To their credit, Kingsley Enagbare helped make a big stop on the final third down of the game, tackling D’Andre Swift short of the first-down marker, setting up Nixon’s game-saving interception.

The numbers in the first half are good and deserving of an A. The numbers in the second half are bad, which may have been a failing grade. We will split the difference.

Grade: C

Special Teams

Green Bay’s special teams was a disaster last year against the Bears at Lambeau Field, giving up a touchdown on a trick play that helped put the Bears in command of that game.

Sunday’s game was different. Bo Melton was flagged for a block in the back on the first punt return, which set the offense back to the 11 instead of having good starting field position.

The first punt of the second half was flagged for holding on Matt Orzech, which cost the Packers 16 yards in field position and put the Bears in prime position for the first series of the second half.

Kick coverage, however, was excellent with Ty’Ron Hopper and Arron Mosby playing starring roles against Chicago’s dynamic return man, Devin Duvernay.

The one big exception was Brandon McManus kicking the ball out of bounds before Chicago’s second possession of the second half. McManus has struggled on kickoffs the last two games, and that is something that will become even more of a pressure point as the stakes rise in these final four games.

Grade: C

Coaching

Sometimes the coach knows more than the bystanders. That was the case in Sunday’s game, when the Packers had Bo Melton on the field for a 2-minute drill for the offense. Melton has not played much receiver this season after converting to cornerback this offseason. His only memorable contribution to the offense was a big drop against the Eagles in November.

Even with Matthew Golden and Jayden Reed returning from their injuries, Melton’s number was called, and he made his coach right when scored a 45-yard touchdown before halftime to give the Packers what felt like a commanding 14-3 lead.

Matt LaFleur’s job is to ensure that his team is playing its best football at the end of the season.

With wins in all three games of this pivotal stretch against divisional opponents, it appears he has them on the right track.

One thing that needs to be cleaned up is the number of self-induced errors the Packers make. The first two possessions of the game were marred by penalties, a sack and an interception. Had that not happened, the game may have gotten out of hand sooner.

Jeff Hafley did a good job keeping Chicago’s offense guessing in the first half, but Ben Johnson certainly got the better of him in the second half.

On the other side of the ball, however, LaFleur defeated Dennis Allen by knockout, as the Packers piled up more than 300 yards of offense and could have been more had they not continued to get in their own way.

The rematch in two weeks should be fascinating to see how the two teams adjust.

Grade: B

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