Dhruv Koul shares his in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the Bears-Packers divisional showdown at Lambeau Field. Follow him on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Chicago Bears kept their season alive last Thursday night at Soldier Field with a beatdown of the Dallas Cowboys. That win (their third straight) improved them to 7-6 and provided plenty of positive vibes heading into today’s showdown in Green Bay.
Mitch Trubisky had his finest performance of the season (and arguably his career given the circumstances.) The defense overcame the loss of Roquan Smith early to shut down a good Dallas offense. And the special teams played well to provide a balanced win. That led us to today.
The Bears needed plenty of help to get to the postseason, but the only thing they could control was winning out. That journey started today with the opportunity to avenge their Week 1 embarrassment at Soldier Field. Win in Green Bay and live to fight another week. Lose, and their playoff hopes would end.
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In the end, the Bears just couldn’t match Green Bay’s physicality at the line of scrimmage, losing a very disappointing battle to drop to 7-7 and effectively ice their playoff hopes.
(UPDATE — The Vikings beat the Chargers in Los Angeles in the late afternoon window, officially eliminating the Bears from playoff contention.)
I shared my in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the game below. Follow me on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
Thoughts and Observations
1. (Pre-Game) The Bears are getting Akiem Hicks back for this game — he was activated yesterday afternoon (TE Ben Braunecker was placed on IR.) Hicks has been out since getting injured in London in Week 5. His return is HUGE for the defense — both against the run and for the pass rush. His return should mitigate losing Roquan Smith for the season.
Unfortunately, Roy Robertson-Harris’ injury was too much to overcome and he is out today. But the Bears will have Javon Wims active. The Packers are at full strength, as CB Kevin King and TE Jimmy Graham, both questionable entering today, are active.
2. What an egregiously awful beginning to this game. After the Bears survive the Packers on their first drive (a dropped TD pass), the Bears SHOULD have recovered a muffed punt after their second drive stalled, but the referees ruled fair-catch interference. The funny thing is, there was no fair catch signal, the hit was legal, and the Bears should’ve had the ball at midfield. Instead, GB took over at the CHI 35.
A few plays later, Aaron Rodgers hit Davante Adams for a 29 yard touchdown on 4th down, targeting Buster Skrine. None of that should’ve even happened. Bears down 7-0 thanks to an unmistakable gift from the referees (shocking!)
To make matters worse, it looked like Akiem Hicks came off the field before the fourth down play with an injury. He was caught on screen saying, “It’s my elbow.” That’s a huge loss for the Bears if it’s serious enough to keep him out the rest of the game. They’re already down RRH, too.
3. It’s baffling to me how the Packers have such a mediocre-to-poor run defense and the Bears still can’t gain yardage on the ground against them. This weather sets up ideal David Montgomery conditions, but the offensive line is struggling against that front. Credit to Mike Pettine, he knows how to call a good game against Matt Nagy.
4. Man, the Bears had a golden opportunity to get on the board with a touchdown midway through the second quarter. After gaining a few first downs thanks to some precision, strong play by the offense, Mitch Trubisky barely missed a wide open Anthony Miller on third down — the play likely would’ve gone for a touchdown. The Bears went for it on fourth down and on a busted play, Trubisky lofted a ball near the sideline to Miller — he caught it, but just couldn’t get his feet inbounds. Very tough. The third down play hurts more. The game should be tied.
5. Bears go into the half down 7-3. They had a nice drive going at the end of the first half, but it stalled in the red zone — Tarik Cohen slipped on his route on third down and GB almost picked it off. But the Bears get points. GB starts with the ball in the second half. This really should be a different game right now, but the Bears will have to play tough in the second half.
6. Kevin Toliver (when subbing in for Prince Amukamara) and Kevin Pierre-Louis are really playing good football today. It’s good to see them step up. Nick Kwiatkoski dropped an interception, but has generally played well, too. Good first half for the backups on defense.
7. The Packers marched right down the field with total ease to open the second half. Kyle Fuller slipped on Davante Adams, Rodgers took off for a big run, and Prince Amukamara missed tackling Aaron Jones on a lengthy TD run. 14-3 Packers.
Prince has had a brutal game today — getting burned in coverage and missing tackles. I know he’s a leader and a strong veteran presence, but it’s time to let Toliver play in his place. The Bears need this game, and Prince isn’t doing his part.
8. On the ensuing drive, the Bears were on the move after a nice chunk play to Allen Robinson got Chicago into GB territory. But a bad read upfield by Anthony Miller, a horrific decision to run OOB (sack) instead of throw it away by Trubisky, and a fourth down bad throw to Robinson ends the drive. There was a real NEED to answer there. But Chicago couldn’t.
9. On the next drive, the Bears officially lost all semblance of tackling on defense. Packers scored a touchdown to make it 21-3. Not winning the line of scrimmage and not tackling — this has been an ugly defensive performance.
The Bears might have to evaluate more than they originally thought on defense in the off-season.
10. The refs bite again — this time calling Cordarrelle Patterson OOB on a 3rd down catch that would’ve given CHI a 1st and goal inside the 5. It was close, but clearly inbounds. The Bears didn’t bother challenging — instead, kicking the FG to make it 21-6. It sucks, but I get it.
11. Great drive by Trubisky after a Packers punt to make it a one-score game. He and Anthony Miller have a really special relationship budding, to add to the one he already enjoys with Allen Robinson. If he can ever put it together, these two receivers can dominate the league.
12. After another punt forced, Trubisky threw an interception to Northwestern’s own Dean Lowry on the Bears’ half of the field. That was ugly. Really, really ugly.
Luckily for the Bears, they got the Packers out of FG range with a great defensive play by Nick Kwiatkoski. Trubisky from their own 5 yard line has another chance.
13. He couldn’t do it.
14. With the playoffs now out of the question, the most important thing for the Bears (and Matt Nagy) is to go into next year with some added momentum and, ideally, a non-losing record. Sure, it’s a far-cry from the expectations of the year coming in, but it’s still important for them to establish a solid record over two seasons. So, they must win at least one of their remaining two games.
15. The Bears host the Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday. The game was originally scheduled to be played on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, but after today’s brutal loss ended the Bears’ season, that game will get flexed out. This isn’t quite the sexy Andy Reid-Matt Nagy and Patrick Mahomes-Mitch Trubisky matchup we expected headed into the season. After Chicago’s rough tackling display today against the struggling Packers, there’s no chance they contain KC next Sunday with their motivation now gone.
Early prediction: Chiefs 33, Bears 16.
UPDATE — The NFL confirmed that Chiefs-Bears will actually remain on Sunday Night Football next week on NBC.
