The Green Bay Packers welcomed in the Chicago Bears for the latest in their long-running rivalry, but the game, which the Bears won 17-13, was of secondary importance on this Thanksgiving night.
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A prime-time game between the longtime NFC North rivals Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers is usually enough to make for must-watch viewing on Thanksgiving.
Robbie Gould’s 21-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for Chicago was the only scoring for either team in the second half of a game played in dreary conditions.
Green Bay’s Jeff Janis returned the ensuing kickoff 64 yards, but an offense pass-interference penalty killed the drive and the Packers had to settle for kicker Mason Crosby’s 22-yard field goal. Adams has struggled badly, both with injuries and with horrific drops – in Thursday night’s loss to the Bears he managed just 14 yards on 11 (eleven!) targets, for a 1.272 yards-per-target average.
However, for the first time in 13 games against the Packers as the Bears’ quarterback, Cutler did not throw an interception.
The Bears are now 5-6 on the season and Fox should be receive some consideration for being the NFL’s Coach of Year.
Rodgers said he lost feeling in his hand after the hit for the rest of the quarter and into the fourth quarter. So what’s the most surprising thing we learned from the three games?
One was the status of his left arm, which Rodgers hurt in the third quarter on a hit by Bears linebacker Lamarr Houston.
Rodgers, who was 22-of-43 for 202 yards and a touchdown, couldn’t connect with Davante Adams in the end zone on 4th-and-8 from the Bears 8-yard line.
Cutler was a little better, somewhat of a surprise given how poorly he has played at Lambeau in his career with the Bears.
Most of the storylines in the local media today focused on Jay Cutler winning just his 2nd game against the Packers and first ever in Lambeau, but the real story is the Bears defense.
Green Bay had won six of its previous seven at Lambeau in the series. He had four shots from the Bears 8-yard line with around a minute left in the game, and for once Rodgers didn’t come through. “Those power runners, when they fight for extra yardage, sometimes the first thing that gets sloppy is the ball security”.
Eddie Lacy found himself benched in this game for what head coach Mike McCarthy deemed an inexcusable fumble.
Adams dropped another pass in the open on third-and-long in the first quarter that could have led to a big gain.
John Fox said that this game didn’t mean much to the new regime but deep down inside I know it did. “We better take care of the football and we better take it away when we have opportunities”. The second half, when we did get them called, it seemed like they were still working for us. His lone touchdown pass came on a 25-yard middle screen to Eddie Lacy, who combined with fellow halfback James Starks for eight catches that totaled 75 yards.
However, the game went down hill for Rodgers after that touchdown as the Packers (7-4) fell to the Chicago Bears 17-13. Jeffery caught seven passes for 90 yards.
The defense made the biggest statement.
On the other side of the ball, strong safety Chris Prosinski played well in his second straight start. “This isn’t an easy place to win so this is definitely one we’re going to take into the next five weeks”. He finished the game with one tackle and four passes defensed – a terrific ratio for a cornerback. Randall Cobb handled punt returns again with Micah Hyde sidelined, but the star receiver managed only one yard in two runbacks.
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