A 34-13 stomping of Indianapolis before their bye week had stood as the Packers' most impressive performance of the season.
Until today.
Running back Ryan Grant had 100 yards by halftime, and Green Bay scored the final 30 points in a 37-3 thrashing of the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field.
Last week, you may remember that it was Kerry Collins who chewed up the Bears' secondary. Tennessee just couldn't run the ball to save their lives, and Collins was able to make the Bears pay for their injury-depleted secondary.
Sunday, "conventional wisdom" dictated that the Packers would do the same thing. Aaron Rodgers is as close to healthy as he's been since hurting his shoulder, and the Packers have more-than-capable receivers in Greg Jennings and Donald Driver.
So they're throwing all day, right?
Sports
Wrong.
The Packers committed to the run game like they haven't for most of the season, allowing Grant to plow through the Bears' defense. He ran for 145 of Green Bay's 200 rushing yards, and he scored a key second-quarter touchdown that gave the Packers a double-digit lead before halftime.
Rodgers was solid, throwing for 223 yards and two scores. He recovered nicely from a bad interception he threw midway through the second quarter, and the maligned Packers' offensive line kept Rodgers clean throughout the game. No sacks, and not any moments of incredible pressure, either. The Bears were completely inept defensively.
They may have been worse than that offensively.
Held to nine first downs, the Bears picked up just 234 total yards, held the ball for 22:32, and never threatened to score after a first-quarter field goal by Robbie Gould. Kyle Orton was only sacked once, but he was pressured a lot, completed just 13 of 26 passes, and was never comfortable in the offense. Obviously, no one on the Bears will make any excuses for him, but it's hard to imagine he was anywhere near healthy.
Mason Crosby hit three field goals for Green Bay, including a 53-yarder late in the first half that tied his career-high, and the Packers never let Devin Hester going. They kicked the ball to him, but covered kicks marvelously.
The Packers recorded the most lopsided win since 1994 in the long rivalry with Chicago, when Green Bay won 40-3 at Lambeau Field.
If there was a negative, the Packers took 55 more penalty yards, and they killed a couple drives early in the game with penalties. If there are serious playoff hopes with this team, they're going to have to clean up their game. Too many false starts and other procedural penalties.
With the win, Green Bay improves to 5-5 and drop the Bears to 5-5. Thanks to Minnesota's loss to Tampa Bay, we now have a three-way tie for first in the NFC North. It's a mediocre division, but Green Bay showed today they are probably better than they have played.
The question is: Can the Packers sustain this momentum? They head to New Orleans next Monday night.
Packers 37, Bears 3: Green Bay Puts 60 Minutes Together originally appeared on NFL FanHouse on Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
