Acme Packing Company
Until there were 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter on Saturday, the Green Bay Packers held a 13-3 lead over the Chicago Bears. From that point on, the Packers lived through an absolute walking nightmare, a path that ended in a 22-16 loss to the team’s bitter rival.
If you happened to miss Saturday’s action, here’s your full recap of the game, a total team collapse where the offense, defense and special teams shot themselves in the foot to earn this loss.
Penalties by the Bears on the opening kickoff essentially gave the Packers the ball at midfield for their first play of offense on the day. Speaking of that opening play, it set the tone for what Green Bay wanted to do personnel-wise for the game.
The Packers came out in 11 personnel (1 back, 1 tight end, 3 receivers) with Darian Kinnard playing the tight end position. Kinnard had previously replaced Zach Tom, who was out in this game with a knee injury, at right tackle. Instead, to keep Kinnard available with only two tight ends on Green Bay’s gameday roster, the Packers started Jordan Morgan at right tackle.
A roughing penalty on this drive kept the chains moving, ultimately coming down to a fourth-and-one in the red zone. The team adjusted this play-call several times, with head coach Matt LaFleur calling a timeout and then quarterback Jordan Love checking at the line of scrimmage. The play ended up being an out route at the front pylon against the Bears’ man coverage, but Love wasn’t able to connect.
I’m sure plenty of people will have opinions on whether that call was the best margin of error available to the offense, considering that the Packers lined up in shotgun with Chris Brooks lined up in the backfield, giving Chicago the obvious tell that Green Bay was going to throw the ball.
On the Bears’ first drive of the game, Chicago carried the ball eight times for 46 yards, moving like a hot knife through butter against the Packers’ defense, before a fourth-and-one of their own. But Green Bay survived the drive thanks to a high snap on a trick play where the running back was supposed to be snapped the ball after the Bears presented a quarterback sneak (with a tight end under center) look.
The Packers made it deep into the red zone on the next drive, too, but again fell short because of the passing game. Love attempted to target receiver Christian Watson on the backline on third down, but as Tom Brady pointed out, the strong winds actually pushed the ball away from the receiver. Green Bay settled for a field goal, drawing first blood to go up 3-0.
With help from a false start penalty, the Packers were able to get off the field on the Bears’ next offensive drive, after quarterback Caleb Williams threw the ball away on a third and 13 at around midfield. By the...
