If someone had said that the Packers would commit zero penalties and only one turnover in Monday night’s game against the Jay Cutler-less Bears, I would have predicted a blowout. Instead, an injury to Aaron Rodgers on the opening drive helped the Bears get their first win at Lambeau Field since 2007. The Packers fell at home for the first time since last season’s opener against San Francisco and now sit in a three-way tie with the Bears and Lions in the NFC North.
Positives
B.J. Raji
Raji was a force against a Chicago running game that was supposed to be the main source of offensive production without Cutler. He tallied three tackles and helped take Matt Forte out of the equation in the first half of the game. Raji has not been the special player he was during the Super Bowl run and needs to continue to play at a high level if he wants to remain a Packer after his contracts expires after the season.
Eddie Lacy
The Packers quickly became one-dimensional after Rodgers’ early exit but the Bears were unable to contain the Lacy and Starks tandem. The two accounted for 190 yards and two touchdowns on the ground in an effort to keep the offense alive with Seneca Wallace under center. Despite missing two games, Lacy has nearly 600 yards rushing on the season and is an obvious Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate.
Negatives
Pass Defense
Dom Capers and the pass defense had almost no answer for journeyman quarterback Josh McCown in the Monday night loss to Chicago. Though the unit was missing Clay Matthews and Nick Perry, the shoddy pass rushing efforts of Datone Jones and the defensive line were painfully obvious. The 270-plus passing yards allowed to an offense with an O-line as bad as Chicago’s was undoubtedly the defense’s worst showing of the season.
Stockpiling Injuries
The Packers have lost offensive starters Bryan Bulaga, DuJuan Harris and Jermichael Finley for the season and are currently without Matthews, Perry, Rodgers, T.J. Lang and Randall Cobb. Defensive stars Casey Hayward, Morgan Burnett and Brad Jones have also missed significant time already this season. Perhaps the most frustrating aspect to last night’s loss was the fact that a relatively healthy defense let down the banged-up offense.
Twitter: GPN_JR
Not only did we put virtually no rush to McCown, we also had trouble, on the other end of the ball, keeping the rush off Wallace. We’re going to need the offensive line to step it up a notch. Wallace should be able to complete passes but he’s not going to read things as fast as Aaron.
This next 4-6 weeks will be a big test for the O-line. If they pass this test…we make it through without Rodgers. If they don’t…we may have trouble getting into the playoffs.