The Green Bay Packers defeated the Chicago Bears 38-17 in Chicago as Aaron Rodgers and the offense got back into their normal grove. Rodgers went 22-of-28 and passed for 301 yards in the win along with tossing four touchdowns. The Bears didn't score a single point in the second half and completely melted down after a high-scoring first half.
Here's a brief recap of the game:
First half
Chicago mixed things up on the ground for their first offensive series as they managed to involved Matt Forte and rookie Ka'Deem Carey early. Julius Peppers received a good amount of boo's after registering the first tackle of the game. After Culter scrambled 12 yards for a first down, Peppers was called for illegal hands to face, which turned out to possibly be the worst call in NFL history. Right after, Forte caught a short dump-off pass from Culter to set up a first and goal for Chicago, then Cutler three plays later hit Brandon Marshall who beat a slipping Davon House on the right side of the field. The Bears went 80 yards on 15 plays while taking up eight and half minutes.
The Packers did exactly what the Bears did to them, but in only two minutes and 20 seconds. Richard Rodgers made his first pair of catches in the NFL on back-to-back plays for Green Bay while they were in a two tight end set. Rodgers' first catch went short for 9, while his second went for 43 to bring the offense to the 29 yard line. Rodgers hit Jordy Nelson on the next two plays on catches of 17 and 10 that would lead to Eddie Lacy taking it 2 yards out for the touchdown. The Packers tied the game at 7 a piece with the first quarter winding down. That's the first drive of the Packers' season that didn't have a miscue or punt, and it easily looked like the offense we were all expecting to see this season.
Chicago had to settle for a field goal on their second drive of the game after Cutler barely missed Alshon Jeffery in the end zone as a pass just sailed over his head. On that drive, the Bears still went 76 yards in 13 plays that brought them down to the five. That made the score 10-7 Chicago with roughly the entire second quarter left the play (13 minutes).
It was much of the same on the Packers' second drive as Rodgers hit Nelson 23 yards out on the first play. The drive ended after Rodgers once again hit Nelson three yards out to give the Packers their first lead of the game 14-10 at the 10 minute mark.
The Bears would then follow that up on the opposing drive as Culter threw a short quick pass to Jeffery after he fooled Sam Shields by running in the backfield and then quickly shifting to the outside. Jeffery took the ball eight yards into the end zone to put the Bears back up 17-14.
Rodgers and company began their next drive on the 39 yard line. Davante Adams caught his first ball for 15 yards on the first play of the game on the first play of the drive. After a few Lacy hand-offs, Rodgers connected with Randall Cobb on a beautiful strike down field for 22 yards. A great catch, and great throw that put Green Bay back up 21-17. Chicago would drive down the field in the remaining 1:03, but the Bears were stopped from putting any points up on the board after Martellus Bennett was stuffed by Ha Ha Clinton-Dix just short of the touchdown mark. The Bears had no remaining timeouts, so after the play was ruled complete, they couldn't stop the clock. The Packers went into halftime up 21-17.
Second half
The first drive for Green Bay resulted in three from Mason Crosby after he drilled a 53-yard attempt. The Packers went just 35 yards in eight plays, but it was a short and efficient drive to increase their lead. Not to be overlooked, Rodgers threw a beautiful pass (arguably the best of his entire career) down field to Adams in the end zone for a touchdown, but it was called back after a holding penalty. Still, the score was 24-17 early in the third quarter.
Forte and the Bears kept moving the ball down the field on the ground and through the air on their first drive of the second half. Forte managed to gain over 100 yards on the ground for Chicago, and according to the broadcast team, he is the first back for Chicago to do that in three straight games against Green Bay since Walter Payton. Cutler had a pass intended for Josh Morgan get bolted off of Tramon Williams, which landed right in the hands of linebacker Clay Matthews. The Packers scored off the turnover as Rodgers stepped up into the pocket and fired his third touchdown of the game - and second to Nelson - from 11 yards out. Green Bay scored 17 unanswered at this point, increasing their lead to 31-17.
Cutler had a miscommunication with his favorite target Marshall on the team's second drive of the half. He was intercepted again, and this time by Sam Shields after Cutler was expecting Marshall to cut to the outside. Marshall went deep down field and made the pick by Shields that easy as he returned the ball to the 11. Mike McCarthy elected for a short hitch route to Adams on third down, but it didn't go anywhere. Crosby went on for 23-yard kick that sailed through to make the score 34-17 ... but Jonathan Bostick was called for a hold that gave Green Bay another set of downs. On the very next play, Rodgers found Cobb for his second touchdown of the game and made the score 38-17. The crowd in Chicago went dead silent.
The Bears subbed in Jimmy Clausen for Cutler as the game winded down in the fourth. Chicago didn't score a single point in the second half as their offense completely collapsed and just couldn't keep up with the Packers. Green Bay improved their record and got back to .500 as they defeated the Bears 38-17.
Stay with us on APC as we'll have more reaction from the game up shortly.