The good: Even though they have been eliminated from playoff contention, the Bears will still get a prime-time game next Sunday, no doubt because of Chicago’s market size and the allure of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The bad: A bad call on the Bears’ punt coverage — taking away a fumble recovery after what appeared to be a clean hit by Cordarrelle Patterson — led directly to the Packers’ first touchdown.
The ugly: This loss — coupled with the Vikings’ victory over the Chargers — eliminates the Bears from playoff contention.
Let’s get to it ...
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Offense: Mitch tips cap to Pack
Mitch Trubisky arrived riding the most promising roll of his career. But he left Lambeau Field still searching for the watershed moment when he can rise above the muck of a developing offense and turn a subpar performance into a winner.
The Packers’ defense won the day and there was nothing the Bears’ quarterback could do about it. “Credit to [the Packers]. They’re a good defense,” he said.
By the numbers:
- 334 PASSING YARDS: Mitch Trubisky topped 300 yards passing for the second time in the last three weeks, although he’s also thrown at least one interception in five consecutive games.
- 96 RUSHING YARDS: David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen ran 22 times for just 67 yards, an average of just 3.1 yards per carry.
Defense: Packers’ ugly ‘O’ gets best of ‘D’
A defense tasked with covering for the offense’s inconsistencies all season was forced to again — and couldn’t.
Though his numbers were uncharacteristically ugly, Aaron Rodgers went 16-for-33 for 203 yards with one touchdown and one sack. His 78.2 passer rating was his second-lowest mark of the season, but the Packers’ offense did just enough damage against the Bears’ defense, writes Patrick Finley.
By the numbers:
- 1 SACK: Nick Kwiatkoski’s sack didn’t come until late in the fourth quarter.
- 0 TAKEAWAYS: They should’ve gotten one off of the fumbled punt return.
Special Teams: Nothing special about officials’ call
Cordarrelle Patterson’s perfectly timed tackle on a first-quarter punt — causing Tramon Williams to fumble and the Bears to recover — was ruled interference, paving the way for the Packers’ first touchdown. Replays clearly showed Patterson’s hit was legal, but the call was not overturned.
Patterson’s girlfriend sent him video of the play and he watched it on his phone at halftime.
By the numbers:
- Eddy Pineiro: 2-for-2 on field goals; 1-for-1 on extra points
- Cordarrelle Patterson: Two kick returns for 44 yards
What They’re Saying
- Matt Nagy: “We could have played better in really all three phases and you could point to a lot of different things, but I’m going to stay positive with our guys because I appreciate their fight.”
- Mitch Trubisky: “We didn’t do enough today. The plays we didn’t make, we either got out-executed or didn’t do our jobs or weren’t on the same page, making mistakes.”
From Our Notebooks
- When life hands you Mitch Trubisky and Blake Bortles as your quarterbacks, make lemonade. Allen Robinson has been the best thing about the Bears’ offense and sometimes the only good thing. He caught seven passes for 125 yards, pushing him over 1,000 for the second time, but it felt hollow. “Anything that is positive that will come out of [this] is hard to enjoy in the moment,” he said.
- Prince Amukamara, who practiced last week after missing the Cowboys game with a hamstring problem, rotated with second-year cornerback Kevin Toliver. He was pulled altogether after the Packers went up 21-3. Amukamara said the move might have been “to be more on the safe side” with his injury.
- He’s just a rookie, but running back David Montgomery hasn’t quite lived up to the hype. He came in averaging 3.5 yards per carry and ran for 39 on 14 attempts Sunday.
Here are even more game highlights.
What’s Next?
The Bears host Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs on “Sunday Night Football” in a game that suddenly doesn’t mean all that much.
View From Green Bay
- It wasn’t pretty, but it was enough for the Packers to clinch a playoff spot — thanks to the Rams’ loss to the Cowboys.
- Tramon Williams’ alert play thwarted the Bears on a game-ending circus play of laterals.
On the Podcast
On today’s episode, Patrick Finley, Jason Lieser and Mark Potash break down the Bears’ loss to the Packers and their playoff elimination — and wonder what role Matt Nagy played in it.
In the “Pot-Cast,” Mark talks about sleep — and then takes a phone call.
Also, got any questions for the Bears? Email us or tweet at @suntimes_sports and we’ll see if we can get them answered in one of our next newsletters.
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