Beating the Packers hasn’t been for a long, long time, as Thursday night’s fanfare reminded everyone who has followed this rivalry.
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The once prolific attack that tormented division foes like the Chicago Bears is a fractured, unrecognizable imposter and will end the Packers’ season in blunt fashion unless McCarthy figures out what is wrong.
It’s clear Rodgers is not in sync with his receivers.
The Packers gained possession at their 20 with 2 minutes, 45 seconds remaining and drove to the Bears 8 with 51 seconds left.
“Every game is big, but we are still in the playoff hunt so this game was huge”, Porter said. So what’s the most surprising thing we learned from the three games?
Rodgers, who has hit on his left elbow on a third-quarter sack and said he played the rest of the game with numbness in his left hand, continued to scramble out of the pocket in order to find an open receiver.
For the first time in, well, forever, Rodgers appeared shaky against the Bears, sputtering through a night that saw him complete 22 of 43 passes for 202 yards.
Chicago Bears right tackle Kyle Long has a theory behind Jay Cutler’s sketchy history at Lambeau Field. In his four previous games at Lambeau Field, all losses, Cutler had been intercepted 12 times. The Green Bay Packers – or some of them – apparently have a video game problem.
About an hour after the Lambeau Field faithful honored quarterbacks of yesteryear, he made sure the Bears would be the ones celebrating after the lights were turned out.
Despite the loss, the highlight of the night for Green Bay was the return of Favre, whose name and No. 4 were unveiled at halftime next to the team’s other retired numbers. The Bears played spoilers.
“They’re all so hard to get”, Fox said. Then the Packers caught a break after Cutler mishandled a shotgun snap on third-and-11 to set up a punt.
The one-time National Football League poster QB for interceptions, who showed his focus on ball security by going virtually the first two weeks of training camp without throwing a single interception, threw none on Thursday. Cutler cashed in on Chicago’s next drive by finding Zack Miller for a 3-yard touchdown pass that tied it at 7 with 6:03 left in the half.
“I got more of a thrill out of that than what I was here for”, Favre said. “We had opportunities to catch the football, protect the football….” “They’re just going to trust us to get it done up front”.
With the exception of the run game highlighted by Eddie Lacy and James Starks, and the defense, the Packers’ offense was inconsistent and at times, putrid. Matt Forte returned after missing three games with a knee injury and ran for 44 yards on 15 carries.
And Cobb has been, well, exactly what Randall Cobb was when Nelson was healthy: A valuable slot weapon, best used on slants and short passes where he can attempt to add yards after the catch.
Over the past month, so much has led to four losses in their past five games.
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Denver showed last week that the best way to navigate what has become a stubborn Bears defense is by running it at them.
