Windy City Gridiron
The Chicago Bears faced the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field in Week 13, and they fell 28-21 after putting up a fight in the second half of the game. After the loss, the Bears dropped to second place in the NFC North and are now 9-4 on the season. Losing to our biggest rival is never fun, but if nothing else, this game showed that this team can be competitive against top defenses.
Let’s hand out some Week 13’s Windy City Honors superlative awards.
Most Consistent Coaching Strength
Something that has been a constant bright spot from this coaching staff this season is their ability to make half-time adjustments. The Bears struggled in the first half, only scoring 3 points and giving up 14 to the Packers. The Bears offense only had 71 yards in the first half.
However, they came out guns blazing in the second half as the momentum swung back in their favor. The offense hit their stride, putting up 244 yards in the second half. They had a dominant second half. This has been a constant factor across the season as we’ve seen the Bears often play a stronger second half than the first.
While this team needs to start playing all four quarters of the game, it’s a huge strength to have a coaching staff that can make adjustments at the half, allowing them to put on a strong performance in the second half of the game.
Most Lackluster Unit
The Bears’ defense has been injured this season and has struggled as a result. However, this week was one of our healthier weeks of the season after CB Jaylon Johnson’s return last week and getting back LB Noah Sewell and LB T.J. Edwards this week. Regardless of having back some of those defensive players, this defense is still struggling.
The defense looked slow in comparison to Green Bay’s pass catchers. They struggled to generate pressure on the Packers QB Jordan Love. They missed tackles, and they gave up explosives. They had some good plays, but overall, it was not a great showing for them.
The defense couldn’t get a stop when the Bears needed it most. Offense had just tied up the game and needed one last stop from the defense to get the ball back in hopes of sealing the game. Instead, they allowed the Packers to march 65 yards down the field, ending in a rushing touchdown by Packers RB Josh Jacobs.
The Packers finished the game with 337 total yards of offense (220 passing, 117 rushing).
The defense needs to step it up in the last stretch of the season if the Bears want a real chance at making a playoff run.
Regardless of the tough loss, the Bears played a competitive game against a top team. They showed they can reset after a bad first half, come back from being down two scores, and that they have fight. They aren’t there yet fully, but they showed they can compete. We’ll...
