Bears vs. Packers: Score and Twitter Reaction for Thursday Night Football

The Green Bay Packers (4-2) recovered after a sluggish first half to pull away from the Chicago Bears (1-6) en route to a 26-10 victory at Lambeau Field on Thursday night.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers set a franchise record for completions, according to the Journal Sentinel's Michael Cohen, connecting on 39 of his 56 pass attempts for 326 yards and three touchdowns.

Wide receiver Davante Adams nearly doubled his receiving output for the 2016 season. After entering Thursday night with 15 receptions, he caught 13 passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns in the win.

Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr praised his former Fresno State Bulldogs teammate's performance:

Bears signal-caller Brian Hoyer's streak of 300-plus-yard passing games ended at four after he exited in the first half. Chicago announced Hoyer suffered a broken arm.

That left Matt Barkley to assume quarterback duties for the Bears, and he finished 6-of-15 for 81 yards and two interceptions.

While the offense came alive in the third and fourth quarters, the Packers couldn't find a groove in the first half. Mason Crosby provided their only points of the first quarter with a 32-yard field goal at the 8:53 mark.

The biggest play of the first half came with 21 seconds left in the opening frame, when the Packers had 4th-and-1 on the 1-yard line and used Ty Montgomery on an inside run. Chicago stopped him short of the goal line and took possession on downs.

NFL on CBS showed how close Montgomery was to breaking the plane:

Green Bay missed Eddie Lacy on the play, whom the team announced it placed on the injured reserve list earlier in the day.

Football Outsiders' Cian Fahey questioned head coach Mike McCarthy's play call:

"

You have Aaron Rodgers and no running back. You are running on the one-yard line after using a play design that wouldn't allow for scramble. pic.twitter.com/NhGNc08sYy

— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) October 21, 2016"

The Ringer's Bill Simmons was disappointed the Packers didn't opt for the newly acquired Knile Davis:

Two possession later, Connor Barth tied the game at 3-3 at the 1:56 mark of the second quarter.

Randall Cobb was inches away from recording the first touchdown of the game with less than 30 seconds remaining in the half. He couldn't get both feet down in the end zone, though, which forced Green Bay to settle for a 40-yard field goal to take a three-point lead into the locker room.

The Packers' advantage lasted 30 seconds into the third quarter. Bears linebacker Leonard Floyd sacked Rodgers on his own 5-yard line and forced a fumble in the process. The rookie pounced on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.

The NFL shared a replay of the score:

Green Bay responded with a 13-play, 85-yard drive to retake the lead when Adams adjusted and reached back to haul in a five-yard touchdown catch with 9:11 left in the quarter.

The Packers created some breathing room five seconds into the fourth quarter with Adams' second touchdown of the night. The ensuing extra point gave Green Bay a 20-10 lead.

Nine minutes later, Rodgers hit Cobb in the end zone on a two-yard pass. Crosby missed the extra-point attempt, though it didn't have an impact on the outcome, as Green Bay held Chicago scoreless in the fourth quarter.

CBSSports.com's Tom Fornelli thought the Minnesota Vikings were the biggest winners Thursday night:

"

If the Bears-Packers game has taught me anything it’s that the Vikings can probably rest their starters for the rest of the season.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) October 21, 2016"

For Packers fans, the victory was a positive, but the team's performance won't end the general sense of skepticism around Green Bay. The Bears are a mess, so a comfortable win was the expectation.

Former NFL executive Joe Banner questioned whether the coaching staff is putting the team in the best position to win:

Making the playoffs for the eighth straight year is within reach for Green Bay, which owns the second wild-card spot in the NFC.

But the Packers need to make improvements to be considered Super Bowl contenders. In particular, using Cobb and Montgomery—14 combined carries Thursday—in the backfield may work in the short term but likely isn't sustainable over the long haul.

If they weren't effectively out of the postseason race already, Thursday's defeat would've been a bigger blow for the Bears. Hoyer's broken arm compounded an injury-ravaged campaign for Chicago, which lost quarterback Jay Cutler to a thumb injury in September.

The only drama left for the Bears might be whether they finish with the worst record in the league. Sports Illustrated's Melissa Jacobs posited bottoming out could be a good thing for Chicago:

Cutler will return at some point, which will be a boost to the offense. In all likelihood, though, he won't get back in time to salvage the Bears' playoff hopes.

Postgame Reaction

Bears tight end Zach Miller was blunt in showing his disappointment following the loss, per Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times: "That's the third time in a row we've been on a national stage and, in my opinion been embarrassed. I don't think anybody's proud of what we've done so far. What are we, 1-6? One-and-six is not good. You can describe it many ways. It's no fun. We're not playing well."

Bears head coach John Fox didn't provide a timetable for Cutler's return but said he was "getting closer," according to Adam Hoge of WGN Radio.

Rodgers had words of praise for Montgomery, who ran for 60 yards on nine carries and caught 10 passes for 66 yards.

"Really proud of [Montgomery]," Rodgers said, according to the Packers' official Twitter account. "Lot to build on. He has a very good feel on routes out of backfield. He had great focus this week."

"Davante and [Montgomery] were given a lot of opportunities," said McCarthy, per the team's Twitter account. "We definitely took advantage."