Windy City Gridiron
When the Chicago Bears lose to the Green Bay Packers, it always stings a little more, but yesterday’s 28-21 loss felt different. The sting was still there, and in the moment, it may have been one of the more excruciating in recent memory, but the further I get away from the final whistle, the more I can reflect on the big picture.
The Bears at (9-4) are still in a good place in the Conference, and they have a rematch in two weeks at home against the Packers. If they take care of business next week aganst the Browns, then they’ll be back playing for the NFC North lead when Green Bay comes to the Windy City.
The season has been a success to this point, because head coach Ben Johnson has this team moving in the right direction, and Chicago’s opponents are cognizant of the difference from a year ago.
“You see what the [Bears’] head coach is preaching,” Packers running back Josh Jacobs said after the game via ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler. “You see how the guys is embodying that. Even on the field, like they straining a little bit more, they doing a little bit more. You could tell that they are believing in what he’s preaching.”
“Offensively, they took a big step,” Jacobs added about this Bears season compared to last year. “And that’s the thing that I see the difference in, is their mentality. They actually have a belief, more of a belief of a winning culture.”
Silver linings don’t win football games, but if the opponents can see what we’ve seen with this team, then at least for this week, that’s all we’ve got.
The Bears had a tough first half, scoring just a field goal, gaining 71 yards with six first downs, but the total numbers evened out by game’s end. Green Bay did outgain the Bears (337 to 315), but the Bears ended with more first downs (21 to 17). The Packers had the edge on third downs (8-12-66.7% to 8-16-50.0%), but in the first half, Chicago was just 1 for 7. Green Bay was penalized more, 6-55 to 4-17 for Chicago.
Let’s look at the Bears’ playing time breakdowns and a few individual stats from the game.
Caleb Williams had a slow start to the game, completing just 1 of his first 7 passes for 2 yards, but there were some special moments during the game. His Houdini thing was on display, and the throws to Cole Kmet doen the sideline, Olamide Zaccheaus for teh touchdown, and Devin Duvernay late in the game were elite.
But his last pass to Kmet was bad.
“Just got to give him a better ball,” he said about his interception in the end zone.
Cornerback Kyler Gordon re-injured his groin in warmups, so the Bears again had to get creative with the secondary. There were some holes in coverage, and the pass rush wasn’t getting home. Overall, not the defense’s best day....
