Nov. 11--With 13 minutes, 22 seconds left in the third quarter of Sunday's game at Lambeau Field, the Packers sent Tim Masthay out to punt. It seemed like a novelty.
After all, at that point the Packers had gone 14 possessions against the Bears this season without punting.
Between the Packers' 38-17 win in Week 4 and the first half of Sunday's 55-14 sequel, they averaged 7.6 yards per play and scored 80 points on 14 possessions.
"We went six quarters without punting," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. "That's pretty exceptional."
The Packers' explosive 358-yard first half Sunday night included five plays of longer than 20 yards.
Jordy Nelson's 73-yard touchdown reception, Bears coach Marc Trestman acknowledged Monday, was the result of a communication breakdown in the secondary. Cornerback Tim Jennings, playing press coverage, remained in Cover-2 after the snap with most of the defense in Cover-3. Rookie safety Brock Vereen, the lone deep safety in charge of the field's middle third, never had a chance to get to Nelson once the Packers receiver cruised past Jennings.
Nelson's 40-yard touchdown grab later in the first half, Trestman said, came with Rodgers extending the play. Rolling right, Rodgers found Nelson in a huge void in the Bears' Cover-2 zone between Jennings and safety Ryan Mundy, who was attempting to cover two vertical routes on his half of the field.
And on Eddie Lacy's 56-yard TD on a screen pass, the Bears were overpowered, outhustled and overwhelmed as a wall of blockers escorted the Packers running back to the end zone untouched.
"We didn't leverage the play properly," Trestman said. "We had poor pursuit angles on the play."
'He's our guy': Immediately after Sunday's loss, receiver Brandon Marshall said he was baffled that a talented Bears team had made its way to 3-6.
"I'm confused," Marshall said. He said the Bears' 51-23 loss to the Patriots was shocking. "Then you look at this game, and the reality of it is this is the team we have, and we have to accept it."
On Monday on WMVP-AM 1000, Marshall offered a vote of confidence in Trestman to get things turned around.
"Trust me on this," Marshall said. "I have a few years left in my career and I want to win. And I really believe the best formula for that is Coach Trestman."
Lambeau-ners: The Bears' 163 penalty yards Sunday marked the third-highest total in franchise history. That total did not include a third-quarter holding penalty on Kyle Long that the Packers declined.
The error parade began on the opening kickoff return with an illegal block above the waist called on rookie Christian Jones. That was one of three special teams flags. The Bears also had five offensive penalties and three on defense.
On that lengthy log were unnecessary-roughness penalties against Jordan Mills and Kyle Fuller and another personal foul on Teddy Williams.
dwiederer@tribune.com
Twitter @danwiederer
