The skid continues after the Bears lose six straight games, this time falling to Green Bay 21 to 13. This was a game the Bears needed to have to keep their playoff hopes alive, but Aaron Rodgers proved to be too much in the end as he threw 3 passing touchdowns, all to James Jones.
It’s almost like a broken record for the Bears; defense makes a stop and sets up the offense up with good field and the offense has to settle for a field goal. Today was no different, and that was hurt the Bears in this game. Also, penalties were costly for the Bears, costing them 91 yards.
Overall the Bears hurt themselves with the penalties, not being to run the ball in the second half, and not being able to capitalize on their opportunities.
Lovie Smith after the game
“Of course there’s a lot of disappointment when you lose six straight to your rival. We had opportunities early on, jumping up seven- zero. Even throughout. Normally we win games and we win the turnover ratio. The one turnover that we had right before the half really changed momentum. We had a couple third down situations, especially one early on when we didn’t convert, and they converted on most of theirs. That was kind of the story. We hung in there, and got ourselves back in position late where it was a one score game, but we just couldn’t pull it out. So again, it was a disappointment. They’re the NFC North Champs. We have to get to the playoffs a different way, and that’s the only thing we can think about right now. Two games left to go, Arizona is up next. Injury wise form the game, Jonathan Scott hurt his hamstring, and besides that I think we’re in good shape.”
The defense did job good of getting pressure on Rodgers and sacked him three times. But the Bears were only able to forced one turnover, and that came late in 4th quarter when the Bears recovered a fumble when the Packers tried a little trickery late and it backfired. The Bears struggle came in the secondary with D.J. Moore and Kelvin Hayden who struggled in coverage and that played a big role in the Packers success in the win.
Cutler on the play of Aaron Rodgers
“He played well. They did a good job and hit pass plays when they needed to. They ran the ball enough to keep us off balance a little bit. He’s an MVP player. That offense has been together a long time and you can tell.”
One player on the defense that was fired up about this game was Veteran LB Lance Briggs and he played like it with 5 tackles and some big hits.
On why the Bear defense was effective against Rodgers in the first quarter
“We got him down. We condensed the pocket, didn’t let him out. We were getting him down. We had a couple sacks in the first half. We kept in the well. We call the pocket the well. On some critical third downs we let him outside the pocket and he was flushed and threw pinpoint balls.”
Frustration has sunk in for this Bears team which has fallen to 8-6 after starting 7-1. This team is now on the outside looking in on the playoffs and must win out to even have a shot at the playoffs.
But it all starts with the Cardinals on the road next week, who are 5-9 following a win against the Lions. In order for the team to come out with a win, the offense must be able to run the ball effectively and score points in the red zone. And they need to cut down on the penalties. The defense must get back to pressuring the quarterback and forcing turnovers. In other words, they need to get back to the formula that led them to a 7-1 record in the first half of the season.
