The Good, Bad And Ugly From The Green Bay Packers’ Rout Of The Bears

THE GOOD

WHOLE LOTTA LOVE: Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love looked like an MVP candidate, delivering one of the best performances of his career.

Love completed 25-of-31 passes (80.0%) for 367 yards and two touchdowns to wideout Christian Watson. Love finished with a stellar passer rating of 137.5 and was remarkably sharp with not just short and intermediate passes, but the deep ball, too.

Love had 53- and 42-yard TD passes to Watson, a 50-yard bomb to Matthew Golden and a 46-yard pass to tight end Tucker Kraft.

“Obviously, NFC North matchup and all these teams we take just a little more pride in these games,” Love said this week. “We gotta win these ones.”

Love was a huge reason the Packers did just that on Sunday.

CHRISTIAN WATSON: The Packers gave wideout Christian Watson a four-year, $92 million contract extension in June and he’s been worth every penny.

Watson had six catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns Sunday. Watson had a 42-yard TD on Green Bay’s opening possession, then hauled in a sensational 53-yard TD pass between two defenders on the Packers’ opening drive of the second half.

Through five games, Watson has 26 receptions for 474 yards and six touchdowns.

TAKE IT AWAY: The Packers entered the day with just four takeaways through four games. Green Bay then had five takeaways against Chicago.

Xavier McKinney had two interceptions and Ty’Ron Hopper had a pick. Evan Williams and Dani Dennis-Sutton both added fumble recoveries.

Green Bay started the day minus-2 in turnover differential, but is now plus-3.

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: Green Bay is now 53-18 against Chicago since the start of the 1992 season and took a 110-98-6 lead in a series that began in 1921.

The Bears held an 80-57-6 advantage in this series after the 1991 campaign. But the Packers have swung things a remarkable 35 games in just 34 ½ years.

Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur also improved to 13-3 against Chicago.

QUITE THE START: Green Bay put together an impressive 10-play, 91-yard touchdown drive to start the game. Love capped the march with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Watson that gave the Packers a 7-0 lead, one they’d never relinquish.

Green Bay opened with a flea-flicker to tight end Tucker Kraft for 13 yards, went 2-for-2 on third downs, and had as many run plays (five) as passes on the march.

LLOYD IMPRESSES: Green Bay running back MarShawn Lloyd had the first two rushing touchdowns of his career. Those also marked the Packers’ first two rushing TDs of the season.

Lloyd had arguably his finest run as a Packer on a 6-yard TD burst to open the second quarter. Lloyd encountered Chicago’s Jaylon Johnson in the hole, ran the cornerback over and scored to give Green Bay a 14-0 lead.

Lloyd then had a 4-yard TD run off left tackle to begin the fourth quarter that gave Green Bay a 31-7 lead and largely ended things.

A WYATT SIGHTING: Packers defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt — who signed a three-year, $57 million contract extension in July — had two sacks, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits.

Wyatt entered the day with no sacks, no forced fumbles, no fumble recoveries, and just 11 tackles in four games. So having Wyatt deliver was mandatory for a defense playing without stars Edgerrin Cooper and Micah Parsons.

JAVON BULLARD: No Packer player has been as outspoken as Green Bay safety Javon Bullard about his dislike of the Bears.

“It’s old fashioned hate,” Bullard said.

So it was fitting that Bullard had a tremendous game.

Bullard deflected a pass from quarterback Tyson Bagent in the first quarter that was intercepted by safety Xavier McKinney.

Bullard also finished the day with seven tackles and broke up a pass.

“I love it. I love it,” Bullard said of the rivalry. “And these are the type of games that nobody’s got to get you up for this game. Like, if you ain’t ready to play this game, you might as well sit your (tail) out.”

HIGH LEVEL ROOKIE: On back to back plays late in the second quarter, Green Bay rookie cornerback Brandon Cisse came up large.

First, on a second-and-5 from Chicago’s own 15, Cisse blitzed and sacked Tyson Bagent for a 5-yard loss. Then on third-and-10 from the 10, Cisse had blanket coverage and Rome Odunze and broke up a pass for the Bears wideout.

PAYING PROPER RESPECTS: The Packers and Bears — the NFL’s oldest rivals — don’t care for each other.

But Green Bay did the right thing and had a moment of silence for former Chicago coach Mike Ditka before the game. Ditka, who played for the Bears from 1961-66 and coached Chicago from 1982-1992, died of natural causes on Oct. 9.

THE BAD

FADING FAST: The Packers’ first two drives of the game — both touchdown marches — gobbled up 20 plays and 136 total yards. Green Bay’s final three drives of the half combined for eight plays, no first downs and minus-2 yards.

THIS AND THAT: Zaire Franklin was called for defensive holding to keep a Chicago drive alive late in the first half. Three plays later, D’Andre Swift scored and pulled the Bears within 14-7. … Bo Melton had a drop late in the first half to kill a Green Bay drive. … MarShawn Lloyd had a drop midway through the second half.

THE UGLY

SMACK DOWN: Green Bay rookie kicker Trey Smack missed a pair of field goals and an extra point, and questions will arise if he’s the right man for the job.

Smack was wide left from 43 yards, wide right from 47 yards and missed an extra point.

Smack is now 7-of-10 on field goals this season (70.0%) and 11 of 13 on extra points (.846).

NIGHTMARISH ENDING: The Packers took over at the Bears’ 49-yard line with 39 seconds left in the first half and were in terrific position to add to their 14-7 lead.

But Chicago defensive end Austin Booker whipped Green Bay left tackle Jordan Morgan for sacks on consecutive plays, taking away any chance of the Packers to add to their lead.

Morgan entered the day with a 50.1 grade from Pro Football Focus, which ranked 64^th out of 69 tackles. He had allowed two sacks, five hits and 14 pressures in the first four games.

Things didn’t get any better Sunday.

“I’m building every week,” Morgan said last week. “Every week as we go on is just getting more familiar, getting more comfortable.”

It didn’t seem that way Sunday.