Green Bay Packers Continue NFC North Chase with Win over Chicago Bears

The rivalry between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers is historic in many ways. In the 190th meeting of the two, the result was not expected to go any differently. Despite Chicago's sub-.500 record, the game was played on Sunday night, when anything could happen. Fans on both sides expected a match that would hopefully propel their respective teams into the playoffs.

"

This is a pretty common sight around Lambeau this afternoon. #packers #snf pic.twitter.com/QJLPKUPuKu

— NathanPhelpsPG (@NathanPhelpsPG) November 9, 2014"

Luckily for Packer fans, the 5-3 squad was able to hang onto its second-place spot in the NFC North—good enough to qualify for the playoffs if they started after the game—with a 55-14 victory over the Bears.

Entering the game, there were some signs that the match was going to swing towards Green Bay. According to Odds Shark, the Packers opened up as 7.5-point favorites at home, but the number eventually rose to 9.5 over the week.

Per RJ Bell, a Vegas expert who hosts an ESPN radio show, Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy was perfect against the spread coming off of a bye over the span of his entire career, and against the Bears, specifically, he's had a tremendous record of 11-3 against the spread.

In terms of non-Vegas looks, ProFootballReference.com's Twitter account tweeted McCarthy's record overall when coming off a bye: 7-1

Greg Gabriel, the former director of college scouting for the Bears, also noted some particularly poor numbers from quarterback Jay Cutler when facing the Packers.

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Since being traded to the Bears, Cutler is 1-10 against Green Bay and has thrown 20 interceptions

— Greg Gabriel (@greggabe) November 10, 2014"

Not only was it looking like a Packer win from the get-go, but all data pointed at Green Bay covering, meaning it would outscore the Bears by at least 10 points.

An hour before the game, Green Bay released some good news via its official Twitter account: Starting guards Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang, along with starting safety Morgan Burnett, were indeed going to be active for the game. The trio combined with defensive end Datone Jones—who was finally coming off an ankle injury that McCarthy once said wasn't "coming along," according to ESPN Wisconsin's Rob Demovsky—to give both sides of the squad a needed boost in personnel.

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Sitton, Lang, Burnett all playing; #Packers-#Bears inactives : http://t.co/kvQ765VVUT #CHIvsGB

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) November 10, 2014"

In the inactive list announcement, the Packers also declared that Sam Barrington would start at inside linebacker with Jamari Lattimore missing the game. This turned out to be a lie, as Pro Bowl edge-rusher Clay Matthews was the one to get the starting nod, kicking inside from his typical outside linebacker role.

Fueled by the additions on defense, the Packers—unable to start the game with the ball in their hands—were able to stop the Chicago offense, giving the Green Bay offense the fresh slate that it needed to get the game going in the Packers' favor.

On its first drive, the offense was able to rock the ball to the red zone, where third-string tight end Brandon Bostick scored off a run-heavy formation, giving the Packers the first points of the day. Green Bay quickly responded on defense, as hybrid slotback and safety Micah Hyde intercepted a Culter pass. On the offense's second drive, quarterback Aaron Rodgers hit another tight end, Andrew Quarless, for the touchdown, giving the team an early 14-0 lead.

Seconds into the second quarter, the Packers were up three scores at 21-0. Quickly, the game moved out of a range where Chicago could truly compete for a win. The real killer could have been the Cutler interception, as the Green Bay Press-Gazette's Wes Hodkiewicz noted during the game that the Bears hadn't won a single game in 2014 when the quarterback threw a turnover.

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#Bears are 0-5 this year when Cutler throws an interception.

— Wes Hodkiewicz (@WesHod) November 10, 2014"

Defensively, the squad didn't help themselves, though. On several plays, Packer receivers were left wide open for a former MVP quarterback to throw lasers at them. Bill Barnwell, a writer for Grantland and a noted Bears fan, stated that, "A five-year-old drawing up coverage in the dirt would do better [than Chicago]."

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The Bears forgot to cover Jordy Nelson... And Aaron Rodgers took advantage. WOW. #CHIvsGB http://t.co/N5i13nEb2k

— NFL (@nfl) November 10, 2014"

At the end of the day, Green Bay called off Rodgers after 27 passes. According to the Packers, the passes resulted in 18 completions, 315 yards, six touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 145.8. Per Bill Huber of PackerReport.com, this put his season total against the Bears at a 149.0 quarterback rating to go along with 10 touchdowns and only 15 incompletions, an amazing mark.

Chicago just simply couldn't stop the quarterback. By the time the Packers backup quarterback, Matt Flynn, entered the game in the third quarter, the game was well out of reach.

Plummeting to a 3-6 record, the Bears are looking at the playoff race from the outside, as it seems unlikely that they'll participate in postseason football. Alone at the bottom of the NFC North, the squad's season is essentially over from that standpoint.

On the flip side, the Packers—only a game behind the Detroit Lions, who have closed out three close wins in a row—are poised to make a run for the NFC North title or a wild-card spot with their 6-3 mark on the season after a slow 1-2 start.

If the Packers can look like they did on Sunday night every week, they should have no issues reaching their goals as a team.