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THE PACKERS POST
By: Gil Martin
Ten Things We Learned from the Packers 22-16 Loss to the Bears in Week 16
The Green Bay Packers led by 10 points with 1:59 left but saw that lead slip away and lost to the Chicago Bears in overtime 22-16. The Packers lost quarterback Jordan Love to a concussion in the second quarter. Malik Willis played well to help the Packers take the lead but couldn’t put the Bears away. Caleb Williams threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore in overtime to seal the Packers fate. The loss drops the Packers record to 9-5-1 while the Bears improve to 11-4. Here are 10 things we learned from the Packers 22-16 loss to the Bears win Week 16.
Number One: The Packers Lost Jordan Love Early but Malik Willis Stepped Up
Love left the game in the second quarter after suffering an apparent concussion. Chicago’s Austin Booker delivered a helmet to helmet hit on Love that was correctly penalized, but Love was unable to return to the game.
Willis stepped in and played well, completing 9-of-11 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown while also running 10 times for 44 yards. His quarterback rating was 142.8.
Willis was shaken up on the final play of regulation but still managed to return for overtime and led the Packers downfield before a botched snap cost them the ball in Bears territory. Chicago drove downfield and scored.
This was a heroic effort by Willis that fell just short and should have been enough to win this game.
Number Two: The Packers Blew an Onsides Kick
The biggest blunder of this game was an onsides kick that the Packers failed to field just inside the two-minute warning. The Packers put their hands team out and wide receiver Romeo Doubs had the best chance to fall on the football. But he mishandled the loose ball and the Bears recovered.
The kicking team recovers an onsides kick roughly once in every 12 tries, but Doubs’ mistake gave the Bears the ball and they managed to tie the game in the final 30 seconds of regulation.
The way this happened gave traumatized Packers fans memories of the 2014 NFC Championship Game in Seattle.
Number Three: The Defense Held Up Until Late
The Green Bay defense played their first full game without Micah Parsons. Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley blitzed more often and did a good job of shutting down the Bears offense until the final few minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Bears went just 2-for-11 on third downs and couldn’t sustain drives until late in the game. The defense did a good job of keeping plays in front of them until the end of the game when the Bears started creating some big plays.
Again, Williams threw better in a hurry-up offense than he did trying to pass from the pocket. Williams was able to do just enough late to win the game.
Number Four: The Packers Struggled in the Red Zone Again
The red zone offense killed the Packers for the second straight game. Today, the Pack failed to score a touchdown in five trips in the red zone. On three occasions, the Packers had first and goal and yet they couldn’t punch the ball in.
The trips resulted in one turnover on downs, three field goals and one fumble by Josh Jacobs at the Bears 3.
The Bears on the other hand, went 1-for-2 in the red zone as the Green Bay defense prevented them from sustaining drives.
The failure to cash in on red zone attempts was costly again for the Packers. Against good teams, you cannot allow these opportunities to go to waste.
Number Five: Romeo Doubs Played Well Until…
Doubs played a good game until he mishandled the onsides kick. He injured his wrist on that play, and we have to wait to see what his status is.
For the game, Doubs led all Packers receivers with five catches and 84 yards. He tied Christian Watson with six targets. Doubs also scored the team’s only touchdown on a pretty pass from Willis down the sideline that covered 33 yards.
With Watson limited due to injuries, Doubs stepped up and played well until the onsides kick changed everything.
Number Six: Emanuel Wilson Stepped Up
Jacobs struggled with his knee injury and clearly wasn’t 100 percent. He carried 12 times for just 36 yards and had that costly fumble. He was clearly gutting one out for the team.
As the game wore on, the Packers relied more on Emanuel Wilson and the backup stepped up and played well. Wilson gained 82 yards on 14 carries, a 5.9-yard average per run. He also picked up some key yards and first downs. The Bears knew the Packers had to run because of the windy conditions and the absence of their staring quarterback.
Number Seven: The Packers Coaches Made Good Adjustments
The coaching staff had to make some difficult adjustments in this game and did very well on both sides of the ball.
On offense, Matt LaFleur lost his starting quarterback in the first half. He was without his best offensive lineman in Zach Tom and his best running back (Jacobs) and receiver (Watson) were limited by injuries.
Add the cold and windy conditions and LaFleur had to adjust his offensive play calling to better suit Willis’ skill set. He did and the Packers kept moving the ball at least until they got into the red zone.
On defense, Hafley didn’t have Parsons, so he had to use a lot more blitzes to get pressure on the quarterback. The defense played well until the very end of the game and contained the Bears offense until the onsides kick turned everything around.
Number Eight: A Facemask Penalty Was Key
The Packers tried to keep Williams in the pocket and did a good job of it for the most part until the final five minutes of regulation time. Officially, the Packers didn’t record a sack and had four quarterback hits in this game.
But the one time the Packers did tackle Williams for a sack, a penalty wiped out the loss, and it proved quite costly. The Bears faced 3rd-and-20 at the Green Bay 46 when Warren Brinson sacked Williams to apparently end the drive.
But Brinson got Williams by the facemask and that gave Chicago an automatic first down. That kept the drive alive. Instead of coming away with nothing, the Bears kicked a field goal on that drive to pull to within 16-9 with 1:59 left in regulation. They recovered the onsides kick on the next play and tied the game a few plays later.
The facemask was unintentional but very costly.
Number Nine: The Packers Left Everything Out on the Field
This was in intense game between two very evenly matched football teams. The Packers were banged up, battered, and yet still left everything on the field in this game.
The Packers were missing so many key players on both sides of the ball and still managed to put themselves in a position to win this game. In fact, they should have won it. But, in the end, they couldn’t overcome some key mistakes and saw victory slip through their fingers.
Still, the team never gave up and made a strong effort. They have nothing to be ashamed of but a lot of reasons to be disappointed.
Number 10: The Packers Need to Bounce Back to Earn a Playoff Berth
The Packers chances of winning the NFC North are now slim. They are 1.5 games behind the Bears with two games left.
But a win over the Baltimore Ravens at Lambeau next Saturday gives them a good chance of making the playoffs which is the next goal for this team. Whether Love will be available remains to be seen. The Packers have to put this disappointing loss behind them and get back on the winning track next week at Lambeau Field. They will have to recover both emotionally and physically.
