Yeah, I’m getting excited for Thursday night myself. This would be a HUGE opportunity for the Bears to step up and demand attention that they’re an elite team or it could be a game where the Packers show that week 1 was a fluke and they’re the same team that went 15-1 last year.
I think that the Bears recievers match up with the Packers secondary far better than last year and I’m hoping that if they can establish a lead, then they’ll be able to grind out the clock and keep Rodgers off the field. The defense needs to limit Green Bays big plays, take away the recievers so Rodgers doesn’t have anything to throw to.
There are definitely a lot of questions going in. The Bears looked great against a sub-par opponent, the Packers looked tired against a stellar opponent. The Bears have upgraded their receiving corps. I will be interested to see what kind of run game the Packers can muster against the Bears. Very excited, but I am not sure I will get to watch…stupid Thursday night game.
Damn. Not that the Packers don’t have pretty good depth at WR (Nelson, Jones, Cobb, Driver, Boykin), but Greg is a special receiver and a multiple pro bowler, so he will be missed. Between that, and losing Desmond Bishop, it just makes it that much tougher.
I love Greg Jennings, but with Jones and Nelson signed and the emergence of Cobb, I’m guessing they’re going to let him go after this year, though. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
In the past couple years, it seemed like the Packers were throwing to as many as 8 different players in a given game. On Sunday, I only really noticed Jennings, Finley, and Jones, with Nelson for just 1 pass attempt. I think Benson was only in there to run. Did I just not notice the rest, or did the Packers really limit spreading the ball around against the 49ers? That’s one thing that kills me when I’m cheering against Green Bay. There are so many damn weapons.
You left out Cobb. He got the most touches for the Packers, even a couple of quick throws when he came out the backfield. He ended up being the focus of the offense.
Nelson wasn’t featured because often he’s the guy going long, and that was the part of the Packers’ game that the 49ers keyed on to take away. Whether it was the pass rush, or playing the Cover 2, or giving safety help, there wasn’t a whole lot for Rodgers to find deep down the field. So that part of the game was taken away.
I don’t think that I’m giving anything away to say I think that’s exactly the gameplan the Bears will use. Take away the big play, force Rodgers to throw short, tackle well and make sure nobody breaks a big play after the catch. It’s worked for the last 4 teams the Pack have played. McCarthy needs to make a few adjustments I think if he doesn’t want another bad day for his offense.
It looks like from a cursory examination of the play-by play of the Bears game that Colts were able to run on the Bears a bit. I expect the Packers will have more success than they did in the Niners game (nobody runs on the Niners), which should help.
First quarter done. In some bizarro world, the Packers are running the ball, their defense is playing well, holding the Bears to 0 yards, and it’s 0-0.
If the Packers stop fucking dropping the ball, this would be a completely different game.
I haven’t enjoyed a NFC North football game as much as this since the Packers beat Chicago in Chicago for the NFC Championship. Granted that wasn’t that long ago, but the combination of the hopes of the Bears and their fans coming into the game and Cutler’s jawing while throwing 4 interceptions was a thoroughly enjoyable time. I’m disheartened by how not spectacularly the Packers offense played, but I’ll worry about that after I revel in how, after last weeks’ domination of the Colts, the Bears’ offense were so utterly bad this game. Good times. Good times.
Anyone else notice just how beautiful a day out it is this morning? Birds are singing a happy song; the sun is shining just a bit brighter than yesterday, and the crisp fall air smells like victory.
Positives: Defense, running game, special teams
Negatives: Dropped passes, poor route running, short yardage, third down conversion, protecting Rodgers, rush defense
The two biggest perceived weaknesses for the Packers turned out to be pretty good last night. The defense was stellar, the running game wasn’t stellar, but it was very much improved and it was good enough to take time off the clock when needed and also allowed the play action to work with some success.
The secondary clearly stepped up, shutting down Brandon Marshall (although he did get away on the dropped TD pass), and getting interceptions. Of course a lot of that was the pressure they got on Cutler. Not all of this though is the Packers, the Bears need to be concerned about their offensive line. The Packers also still are having problems against the run, Bush was getting 4-5 yds pretty regularly.
As for the negatives, they are more specific. The passing game still seems to be out-of-sync. Of course Jennings being out hurt, but there was more than a few times when the routes were poorly run and/or the QB and WR were not on the same page. There were several drops (Finley and Jones specifically). They also failed to convert on a several short yardage situations. The inability to get a yard when needed is troubling. Finally Rodgers was under more pressure than I would like to see.
I sound negative, but my complaints are about more specific things, while the positives are much broader. Excellent win, lets build on that, work on some of the details and get better throughout the season.
I think Tramon either slipped on the turf or got tripped up and fell down. I’m not sure Marshall would have been that open had that not happened.
Charles Woodson, after the game when asked about Cutler wishing the secondary “good luck”: ““We understand that Jay is excited about his new weapons, but it’s the same old Jay. We don’t need luck. We just need to be in position. Jay will throw us the ball.””
Clay Matthews was just a beast, but I really liked the game Capers called. The very first play set the stage when DJ Smith came on an inside blitz and Forte whiffed on him for the sack and Capers kept coming.
He averaged less than 4 ypc, and Forte was just over 4. I really thought the rush defense took a small step forward last night (especially after that horrible showing in the first game), and BJ Raji actually had a good game.
One thing that struck me was that the preternatural accuracy that Rodgers showed in the Super Bowl win and most of last year isn’t there as often. Nelson, Jones, and Finley’s drops should have been catches, but they weren’t pin point accurate passes by Rodgers. They don’t drop those passes, it’s a completely different game.
On Rodgers’ interception, it looked like Rodgers thought Jones was going to undercut the defensive back, but Jones went behind him. That kind of miscommunication happens sometimes and they should work it out (although I did laugh watching Rodgers yell at Jones).
I was hoping for some more creative play calling, especially with Rodgers who can move pretty well.
Agree wholeheartedly. Julius Peppers is a monster and a bad matchup for Marshall Newhouse, but I also think Rodgers may have contributed to a sack or two.
Still, a great game. And watching Cutler have a meltdown and throw his O Line under the bus was great.
