The Bears walked into Lambeau Field Sunday night with dreams of taking advantage of another team mired in uncertainly. By the end of the 2nd quarter it was apparent the Bears weren’t quite ready for primetime. The Bears fell to the Packers 27-10 and Aaron Rodgers improved his personal record against the Bears to 24-5. Entering Sunday night’s game Aaron Rodgers boasted a career passer rating of 109.9 and 63 TDs against the Bears. After a rocky 1st quarter Rodgers began to pick apart the Bears’ young, inexperienced secondary. Rodgers finished 19/25 for 234 yards and 2 TDs but that wasn’t the main reason for the Packers’ dominance. The leaky Bears defense gave up 203 yards on the ground. With the Packers’ ground game in total control they held the ball for over 37 minutes.

For the Bears, it got off to a great start. After holding the Packers to just a field goal on their 1st drive, the Bears responded with a 7-play, 71-yard drive that culminated with a Justin Fields’ 3-yard TD run. After that it got rough for the Bears. The next 4 times the Bears had the ball they ran just 10 plays for 3 yards. The run game the Bears used to gain the early advantage became non-existent. Why the coaching staff would get away from what was working for them was definitely a head scratcher. By the time the 1st half came to an end, the Bears were staring down the hole of a 24-7 deficit.

The 2nd half saw the Bears open with another 3 & out before putting together a 7-play, 43-yard drive that stalled and forced the Bears to settle for 3. Their next drive saw them drive the length of the field with run plays of 11, 14, 28 and 27 yards. The Bears seemingly got another Justin Fields 6-yard TD run to pull within 7 but the call was reversed as it was determined Fields’ knee hit the ground before the ball hit the pie line. The next play can only be described as asinine:

https://youtu.be/Is1F84-wT8c

The Bears’ failed 4th down & inches attempt to score effectively ended any chances of a comeback. Bears’ head coach Matt Eberfleus defended his call on 4th down to run a shotgun play but he will have to admit the Bears have a long way to go.

The Good, Bad & Ugly

• The Good: Bears RB David Montgomery had himself a game. Montgomery responded from last week’s putrid performance with 15 rushes for 122 yards. He added 2 catches for 14 yards. The offensive line seemed to put together a cohesive run blocking game plan as the Bears averaged 6.7 yards per game on 27 attempts. Also having a good night on the defensive end was Trevis Gipson. Gipson recorded 4 tackles (2 TFL) and 2 sacks.

• The Bad: Let’s face it – Justin Fields didn’t have a good game but that wasn’t all his fault. Fields finished just 7/11 for 70 yards and 1 INT. The Bears’ passing game only averaged 3.5 yards per attempt. There were moments when Fields held on to the ball a bit too long. There were moments when Fields had protection but no one was open and that should’ve been the moments where Fields used his legs. WR Darnell Mooney was MIA last night. On the season, Mooney 2 catches for 4 yards. That’s it. You can’t call yourself a #1 WR with those numbers. On defense, the young DB corps were picked on all night by the Packers. Rodgers would find his beleaguered WRs in the right spots and the DBs were a step slow in coverage and missed tackles. Add to that the Bears had 7 penalties for 50 yards. While it wasn’t a ton of yardage it seemed as though those penalties came at the most inopportune times. Also not having a great night was LB Roquan Smith. Through 2 weeks Smith has not established himself as the leader & best player on the defense. If the Bears are going to have any success at all this season, Smith is going to have to play like he’s a top ten LB in this league.

• The Ugly: The playcalling. After the Bears’ 1st drive, the play calling from OC Luke Getsy left many scratching their heads. The Packers were unable to stop the run yet the Bears went away from it. The play call on 4th & inches inside the GB 1-yard line was trash, plain & simple. When you are a team that’s not very good you don’t get the luxury of being cute. A bigger question is how can you only run 11 pass plays in 2022 NFL. You can’t fully judge whether or not Justin Fields is your franchise QB when you only draw up 28 pass plays over 2 weeks. Last week was different as there was a monsoon in Chicago but what was the coaching staff’s excuse for Sunday night? This entire team is work in progress. The Bears’ coaching staff don’t have the luxury of being conservative and constricting the playbook on either side of the ball. You have to use this year to effectively judge what you have and build off of going into 2023.

Next Up: Week 3 vs. Houston Texans. This is a winnable game for the Bears IF they keep it simple, use Justin Fields the right way and get a push on both sides of the ball. There will be added incentive to win as the Bears go up against Lovie Smith.

About Author