Green Bay Packers Run Past Chicago Bears, Toward Playoff Berth

With a win over the rival Chicago Bears Sunday, the Green Bay Packers moved one step closer to the playoffs. If the December-challenged Dallas Cowboys lose on the road to the unbeaten New Orleans Saints, the Packers could lock up a playoff berth by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Even should Dallas somehow win, a Packers victory followed by a New York Giants loss on Monday in Washington would achieve the same goal. In any event, that result is now inevitable, and the Packers are currently sitting in the fifth seed of the NFC.

How do I know it is inevitable? All the Aaron Rodgers haters have gone totally silent. He now has a winning record as a quarterback and has secured as many victories as the Old Guy did in any of his first three years under center.

He even got another fourth-quarter comeback to his credit Sunday, even though he in no way earned it. The defense set it up, and all he had to do was not turn the ball over. But then, the defense and special teams blew five such comebacks last year (plus two ties), so maybe it’s karma.

Much like the fourth-quarter comeback, the game was not impressive. Green Bay took a 13-0 lead, only to surrender 14 unanswered points to fall behind late in the third quarter.

It looked as if the team let up for about 25 minutes, and against a good team, they would have lost. Fortunately for the Packers, the Bears are not good enough to make them pay.

Here is how each unit graded:

Quarterback: C

My friend Mark will love this—statistically, Rodgers had a good game. He was 16-24 (.667) for 180 yards (7.5 per attempt), with no scores or picks for a passer rating of 88.9. He even had a ridiculous call nullify an obvious touchdown for Greg Jennings; with that pass, he eclipses 200 yards and keeps his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown alive at 20.

But he ran twice for a loss of three yards before the kneeldowns at the end of the game, and lost a fumble. He missed three or four open receivers, and while he did have as many impressive throws into tight coverage, that is his job. He had good stats for the same reason he had a fourth-quarter comeback—his teammates picked him up.

And why not? He has done it for them often enough.

Running Back: A-

Ryan Grant showed why the Packers are a dangerous offense. There is no doubt that the passing attack is what teams will gameplan against the Packers for, but thanks to Grant (who already has over 1000 yards rushing behind an awful offensive line), this team can exploit a defense on the ground, too.

Grant opened the day up with a 62-yard touchdown on the Packers’ first play. After that, he still managed 75 yards on 19 carries, a steady 3.9 per carry, and got another touchdown.

Unfortunately, Ahman Green and Brandon Jackson had seven carries for 15 yards, giving the unit a more human 152 yards rushing on 27 carries (5.6 average). Grant and Jackson combined for four catches and 27 yards, giving the unit 179 yards on 31 touches, a 5.8-yard average.

Receivers: B

This might have been an "A" had Jennings’ touchdown counted, Jermichael Finley not fumbled, and Donald Lee not had a dropped pass, but the unit got open against a pretty decent Chicago defense. Finley still led the team with 70 yards on five catches (14 average), and Greg Jennings was the top downfield threat, getting 56 yards on three catches (18.7) average.

The rest of the unit generated only four catches for 27 yards, giving the group as a whole 153 yards on 12 catches, a fumble and no scores. But the receivers did their job we enough to be productive on over three out of four times Rodgers dropped back to pass—they had unimpressive stats because the Packers did not pass as much as usual.

Offensive Line: C+

Your eyes are not deceiving you: I am truly giving this unit a C+. They opened up a couple big holes for Grant, and while no other back seemed capable of getting any yardage, there were few times the Bears got penetration. Rodgers was sacked just twice for 11 yards against a Bears pass rush that did come into the game in the middle of the league in sacks.

A good performance against an almost mediocre defense is good enough to earn an above average grade.

Defensive Line: B

Once again, the opposing running game was smothered. Matt Forte and Kahlil Bell combined for just 60 yards on 16 carries, a 3.8 average, and no scores or runs above 13 yards without its run-stuffing nose tackle, Ryan Pickett. They had six tackles and a sack while helping the defense put pressure on Jay Cutler despite all three players having to be in on every single play.

Linebackers: B

Once again led by rookie Clay Matthews (five tackles and a sack), Nick Barnett also stood out (five tackles and an assist). In all, the unit produced 14 tackles and three assists, and was largely responsible for the pressure that kept Jay Cutler having to hurry passes, leading to one of his interceptions and the low number of yards per completion (9.1). They were also great in coverage, holding the Bears backs to five catches for 17 yards (14 coming on one play), and should get some credit for holding two good tight ends to three catches for 22 yards (12 on one play).

Defensive Backs: B

This was not a proud game for Charles Woodson, as he actually gave up a touchdown to a rookie wide receiver. This is why he was one of only two players talked about tonight during halftime of Monday Night Football as a defensive player of the year candidate, and clearly presented as the favourite: Woody still recorded a pick and three tackles on his worst game of the year.

In this game, newly-promoted cornerback Tramon Williams led the way with six tackles and a sack. Nick Collins added a tackle, assist, and interception that set up the winning score early in the fourth quarter. Atari Bigby had six tackles and Jarrett Bush had four (and a decent game, something I seldom admit with him) to give the unit a total of 20 tackles, an assist, a sack, and two picks.

Against any other unit this would be an A, but the Bears were without their best wide receiver, Devin Hester, from what I already consider the worst receiving corps in the league. Giving up as many scores as turnovers generated against this unit is nothing to brag about.

Special Teams: C-

Wow, a C- for special teams! How low our expectations for this unit have become…

However, they once again outplayed their vaunted Bears’ counterpart, the difference being Robbie Gould’s kick out of bounds. Coverage on both punts and kicks was excellent—an average of just over 18 yards per kick return (and none over 26) and a negative total on two punt returns.

One thing that helped the kick coverage average was a strategy on a couple of kickoffs of putting a line drive down the seam of the Bears return unit, leading to Mason Crosby’s failure to have a touchback and get only one kick in the end zone. But there can no longer be any doubt that Crosby is struggling on kicks, missing another from 42 that could have put the game away. He made his other two kicks, including one from the 40-49 range, but the telltale sign was that, like I did, most Packer fans probably knew he was going to miss the clutch one.

Jeremy Kapinos still cannot get a punt downed inside the 20, but he did come up with a boomer when the team needed it in the fourth quarter. That is why despite the great punt coverage, his net average was under 34 yards. Finally, Jordy Nelson did not get a kick return of even 20 yards in his two tries, and had about a six-yard punt return average.

I originally wrote this article for Sports Scribes .