The Green Bay Packers looked like they would have their hands full with the Chicago Bears after their first offensive drive of the game. Chicago, who had a come-from-behind victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1, looked like they were carrying that production over into their Week 2 trip to Lambeau Field.
After the Packers scored a field goal on the first drive of the game, the Bears marched right down the field for a score of their own. Justin Fields had a three-yard run to cap the drive off with a touchdown that spanned 71 yards and took 3:56.
That must have woken the Packers’ defense up, as they were dominant from that point on. Chicago gained only 157 total yards the rest of the game on eight drives. On their next four drives, not including the one at the end of the first half after one play, the Bears went 3-and-out on.
What was surprising about the offensive output for the Bears was that they found plenty of success running the ball. David Montgomery gained 122 yards on 15 carries while Khalil Herbert had 38 yards on four carries. Fields carried the ball eight times himself for 20 yards as well.
Anytime a team runs the ball for 180 yards, they usually find more success on the scoreboard. Not Chicago, who scored only a single field goal after their opening drive touchdown. A big reason for that was Green Bay shutting down their passing game.
Fields completed only 7-of-11 passing attempts for 70 yards and one interception. Having that anemic of a passing game makes it tough to win. That performance against the pass was the best one that the Packers have had since December 4th, 2005 when they gave up only four completions.
After getting touched by Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson in Week 1, the Packers defense was determined to turn things around in Week 2. They did just that against the Bears, taking full advantage of their lack of explosive weapons at the wide receiver position.
This was a nice bounceback game for Green Bay as they will be tested in Week 3 as they will travel to take on Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Packers can be sure that they will face more than 11 pass attempts in that game as Brady could throw that many in a single quarter or drive.
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