Bears Embarrassed at Lambeau, Lose 37-3 to Packers
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 | Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, NFL, Sports
Ouch…
The Chicago Bears were tied atop the NFC North Division with the Minnesota Vikings, who had just beaten the Green Bay Packers. The Bears were getting their starting quarterback back after Kyle Orton had missed the Tennessee Titans loss the week before due to a sprained right ankle injury suffered the week before against the Detroit Lions. The Bears had something to prove against the Brett Favre-less Packers, who trailed the Bears by 1 game and were looking to make a statement of their own. It seemed the Bears had things going in the right direction, and then BAM!!! They actually had to play the game on Sunday.
Bears 3, Packers 37. Not good. The Bears managed only a 35-yard Robbie Gould field goal in the 2nd quarter. The Bears’ offense sputtered along for most of the game. Orton completed only 50% of his passes for 133 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions. The Bears managed only 9 first downs and only 234 total net yards. The lone bright spot was Matt Forte who compiled over 100 total yards from scrimmage – 64 rushing yards on 16 carries and 40 receiving yards on 6 receptions. After Forte, the Bears’ next best receiver was Greg Olsen who caught 4 passes for 45 yards. The offense may have been out of sync with Orton getting back up to speed after the week off, but the Bears have a lot to be concerned with as they come down the home stretch.
The Bears’ defense was ineffective once again. Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 23 of 30 passes for 227 yards. Rodgers threw 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, good for a 105.8 passer rating. Packers Running Back Ryan Grant rushed for 145 yards on 25 carries and scored on a 4-yard rushing touchdown to give the Packers a 14-3 in the 2nd quarter. Packers Kicker Mason Crosby also kicked 3 field goals, including a 53-yarder at the end of the 2nd quarter to give the Packers a 17-3 halftime lead. The Packers gained 24 first downs, controlled the clock for over 37 minutes and amassed a total of 427 net yards.
The Packers defense is good, but the Bears offense should have been to produce a better offensive attack to take less pressure off the Bears defense. Orton probably wasn’t fully up-to-speed after dealing with his right ankle injury, but the team will need to execute better if it still hopes to make the playoffs at the end of the season. The defense was atrocious. The Bears did not have 1 touch on Rodgers all game long. The front line is not getting any consistent pressure on the quarterback, as Tommie Harris, Mark Anderson, Adewale Ogunleye and Alex Brown have not lived up to the expectations going into the season. That factor is allowing opposing teams’ offenses to execute their designed game plan at will. Lovie Smith and Defensive Coordinator Bob Babich are not making any adjustments during the course of the game, and that is compounding the problem. Immediate changes are necessary if the Bears defense expects to stop anyone during the last 6 games of the season.
There is some good news. The Bears schedule is beatable down the stretch. They have road games at the St. Louis Rams (2-8) and Minnesota Vikings (5-5) the next 2 weeks. Then the Bears have 3 consecutive home games at Soldier Field – the Jacksonville Jaguars (4-6) on Sunday 12/7; the New Orleans Saints (5-5) on Thursday 12/11; and the Greeen Bay Packers (5-5) on Monday Night Football on 12/22. The Bears finish on the road at the 3-6 Houston Texans. So the Bears do not have to face a team that has a winning record currently. The Bears have already beaten the Vikings and are capable of beating both the Vikings and Packers – both wins would make it very likely that the Bears would win the NFC North and make the playoffs. The Jaguars and Saints are both having down years, and as long as neither team finds the right “answer” when they play the Bears, the Bears have a good shot at winning both of those games. The Rams and Texans are both bad football teams, so a loss to either of those teams would be devastating to their playoff chances. So even though the Bears have a lot of holes, and my rating of the Bears’ defense and Head Coach Lovie Smith’s schemes is poor at best, they still have a very good chance to return to the playoffs in 2008-9. Once in, anything can happen – just ask the 2007-8 Super Bowl Champion New York Giants.
