Packers vs. Bears: Score and Twitter Reaction

The Green Bay Packers had their way with the Chicago Bears on Sunday, defeating their division rival by a score of 38-17 and tightening the race within the NFC North.

Chicago's offense began the game with a drive that kept Aaron Rodgers and Co. off the field for the majority of the first quarter. Jay Cutler and Matt Forte teamed up to methodically move down the field against a Green Bay defense that didn't have an answer for much of anything.

Cutler worked mostly out of the shotgun, completing quick, high-percentage passes, while Forte churned out yards on the ground. A six-yard pass from Cutler to Brandon Marshall capped off the 15-play, 80-yard drive with a touchdown, as NFL on ESPN highlighted:

In a completely different offensive style, Rodgers and the Packers offense wasted very little time on their ensuing scoring drive. After a 43-yard strike to tight end Richard Rodgers, the signal-caller hit Jordy Nelson twice to get inside the Bears' 2-yard line. Eddie Lacy took it from there, punching it in and finishing out the six-play, 81-yard drive.

Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated tweeted his thoughts following the game's second score:

The Bears went right back to Forte on the following drive. Green Bay still had very little answer for the talented ball-carrier, as he ripped off runs of 17, seven and nine yards on three of the drive's first four plays.

The second quarter began with the Bears facing 3rd-and-goal at the 1-yard line, but the Packers defense seemed to find new life. Despite a pass-interference call going against the Packers to give Chicago a fresh set of downs, the unit held strong, forcing a Robbie Gould field goal.

With Green Bay now down 10-7, Rodgers and Nelson took matters into their own hands. The duo hooked up three more times on the ensuing drive, with their third connection resulting in a three-yard touchdown strike, gaining the lead once again.

Rotoworld's Adam Levitan tweeted Nelson's success to that point in the game:

In a game featuring very little defense, Cutler went back to work once again. With Green Bay zeroing in on Forte, the quarterback took advantage, hitting Marshall and Martellus Bennett before capping off the drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Alshon Jeffery. Chicago seemed to have too many weapons for the Packers defense to handle, as the team only faced two third downs on that drive.

SportsCenter noted how well the quarterback had been performing to that point in the season:

The only problem for the Bears was the fact they left enough time on the clock for Rodgers to orchestrate a scoring drive once more. Well, that's exactly what happened. After moving down the field to Chicago's 22-yard line, Green Bay faced a 3rd-and-7. In a fashion typical of this contest, the offense didn't only pick up the first down, but Rodgers also found Randall Cobb for yet another touchdown.

Bleacher Report's Matt Bowen tweeted how Cobb was able to get open:

Adding to the drama—and offensive fireworks—Cutler and the Bears marched right back down the field during the half's final drive. Chicago smartly used timeouts and gained chunks of yards at a time to reach Green Bay's 9-yard line with just 14 seconds remaining.

After an incompletion, Cutler completed a pass to Bennett over the middle; however, the tight end fell just short of the goal line. Without any timeouts remaining, all the Bears could do was watch time expire.

Here's a look at the play in question, via Jason Wilde of ESPNWisconsin:

Regardless, the half ended without a single punt and with Green Bay leading 21-17.

The second half was all Packers.

Rodgers picked up right where he left off, using his arm to move the offense down the field. After an offensive-holding penalty nullified a touchdown pass, the Packers settled for a Mason Crosby field goal, increasing their lead to a full seven points.

On the following drive, it appeared as though Cutler was ready to answer, as he combined with Forte yet again to move deep into Packers territory. However, this time around, Clay Matthews picked him off on a deflected pass. The team's official Twitter account had the details:

Given a short field, Rodgers made quick work of Chicago's defense. Six plays later, he connected with Nelson once again on an 11-yard touchdown strike to increase Green Bay's lead to 14.

Cutler returned to the field and moved the Bears into Packer territory. He then launched a deep pass intended for Marshall, but a miscommunication between the two led to an underthrown pass and an easy interception for Sam Shields.

Green Bay began at Chicago's 11-yard line after a big return by Shields, and just as the fourth quarter began, Rodgers connected with Cobb for another touchdown. NFL on ESPN tweeted how it all went down:

The game was practically out of hand at this point, with the Packers leading by 21 and Chicago's defense unable to contain Rodgers and Co.

David Banks/Getty Images

Chicago attempted to get down the field quickly on the following drive, but the team was only able to make it just past midfield before losing the ball on downs. After a blocked Crosby field goal from the Bears' 20-yard line, Chicago's offense came out one last time—without Cutler.

With head coach Marc Trestman likely sensing the game was well out of hand, Jimmy Clausen entered at quarterback and drove the Bears down to the Green Bay 20-yard line as time expired.

Per The Associated Press via ESPN.com, Cutler said after the game, "I thought we were playing well, I thought we were moving the ball well. We were changing it up. I thought [Trestman] called a really good game. We just had some unfortunate things happen to us that kind of derailed us, and they didn't."

Rodgers was simply unstoppable for the Packers on Sunday. He finished the game completing 22 of his 28 passing attempts for 302 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions for a passer rating of 151.2. Meanwhile, Cutler's two late interceptions doomed the Bears' hopes of a comeback.

Both teams now sit at 2-2 on the season in an intense NFC North battle. Following the Detroit Lions' 24-17 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday, Detroit moves to 3-1 and sits atop the division.

Green Bay will look to keep pace with the Lions in Week 5 on Thursday Night Football against the Minnesota Vikings. If Rodgers can light up the scoreboard once again, the team shouldn't have trouble notching another win.

Chicago will attempt to stay afloat in the division in Week 5 against the Carolina Panthers. The Bears have an excellent chance of rebounding, as Carolina has been blown out in each of its last two contests. However, Chicago will need to see an improvement from its secondary to keep Cam Newton at bay.