The NFL's longest-running rivalry was renewed Monday night in a close fought battle between the Bears and Packers. This game was highlighted by long drives by both teams, the Packers having 18 penalties and Devin Hester reminding us how electric he can be.
To highlight the Packers' penalty woes, the Packers offense and defenses combined had a penalty rating of -10.4, while their offense and defensive rating combined without penalties is +17.0. The Bears were able to stop the Packers' weak run game. Aaron Rodgers had a strong game but the Packers' passing attack wasn't enough for the Packers to pull out a victory.
Packers: Three performances of note
The Packers' problems in offense began with Mark Tauscher (-6.1), who had his worst game since his return during midseason last year. The right tackle had his second terrible game of the season while allowing five QB pressures and one hit. Even though Rodgers wasn't sacked, he was constantly running around the field. Tauscher also committed three of the Packers' penalties.
The Packers held the Bears to so few points because of a strong showing by defensive linemen Ryan Pickett (+3.7), B.J. Raji (+2.3) and Cullen Jenkins (+3.9). The Packers played mostly in the nickel defense with only two of those three players on the field at a time, but no matter what combination they were able to perform well against the run and rushing the passer. They each had two QB pressures, as well as one hit or sack.
The Packers' worst player on defense was inside linebacker Brandon Chillar. He was supposed to take the nickel snaps away from A.J. Hawk, but in this game Hawk played 30 plays in coverage and Chillar only had 16. In those 16 plays he was thrown at five times, allowing completions each time for 51 yards and a TD. Pass coverage is supposedly Chillar's strong point, but last year he had positive ratings against the run and pass rush, but a negative coverage rating. Chillar's -2.6 rating wasn't helped by his two penalties.
Bears: Three performances of note
Julius Peppers was the Bears' big-name free agent this offseason, and he had his best game in the past three years. Peppers is known for his pass rush, and he had two pressures and one hit, which got him a solid +1.4 rating against the pass. What made this game Peppers' best since the start of PFF rankings is that he excelled against the run — a +4.6 rating and three stops. Peppers played on both the left and right side and nether Tauscher nor Chad Clifton was able to stop him.
At left cornerback, Zackary Bowman started the game but was replaced by Tim Jennings (+2.0), which looked like a positive change for the Bears. In the first 10 plays that the Packers were on offense, Bowman was thrown at four times, allowing four catches for 43 yards for a -2.4 rating. Jennings replaced him, and in his 60 plays was only thrown at three times and only allowed 17 yards. Jennings also performing well against the run, with three stops.
The Bears struggled on offense, which was mostly due to their offensive line, highlighted by Roberto Garza‘s -5.4 rating. The offensive line allowed two sacks, four hits and eight pressures; a hit and four pressures came from Garza. Garza was also the worst of the Bears' run-blockers with a -2.1 rating. The only player who was successful in rushing for ether team was Jay Cutler, who had 37 yards on three runs.
Rookie report
The Packers continued to use rookies Morgan Burnett and Sam Shields on nearly every play on defense. Burnett had his second straight game with a positive score, thanks to two stops in the run defense which gave him a +1.7 rating against the run. What brought his rating down — like most Packers players this week — was a penalty that gave him an overall rating of +0.2. Shields struggled, allowing 82 yards on three catches and earning an overall -1.6.
Undrafted rookie Frank Zombo got his first start with the Packers in place of injured Brad Jones and he had mixed results. He had just one sack on 30 rushes of the QB, but two stops on the 16 times he was in against the run. He also had a penalty, which left him with a -0.9 rating. Tight end Andrew Quarless (seven plays) got his first action, Bryan Bulaga played just one play, and C.J. Wilson had five5.
The only Bears rookie to see any playing time was seventh-round offensive tackle J‘Marcus Webb. He played in place of Kevin Shaffer early and performed about as well as the rest of the Bears line. He had a -0.7 rating during his 15 plays. Twelve of those were pass plays, and he allowed 2 pressures.
Random notes
As entertaining as the game was, only three players had a rating in the green on either offense: Rodgers, John Kuhn and Johnny Knox. None of the starting offensive lineman had a positive rating.
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