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Home , Adrian Amos, Jake Kumerow, Jamaal Williams, James Looney, Jason Spriggs, Joe Philbin

Rating the Packers: Week 14 at Bears

By Bob McGinn Posted: Dec 18, 2018

The scored 17 points on Sunday at Soldier Field. They probably should have had twice that many. There were receivers running free and targets to be found in the end zone. You don’t expect that against a defense as formidable as the Bears, but interim coach Joe Philbin found ways to make it happen. The Packers left all those yards and all those points on the field because their quarterback, , had another off day in a season filled with them. You could count half a dozen opportunities downfield for Rodgers on passes he used to complete all the time. On Sunday, those opportunities were missed when his wayward passes fell incomplete.

Minus nine starters at kickoff, the Packers lost running back Aaron Jones to a knee injury on the first play of their second possession. In their wounded condition, the Packers needed their heralded quarterback to carry the day. Instead, Rodgers was outplayed by , the Bears’ second-year quarterback. Here is a rating of the Packers in their 24-17 loss to the Bears, with their 1 to 5 football totals in parentheses. As a team, they received two footballs.

The three stars of the game were: 1. Jamaal Williams; 2. Fadol Brown; 3. .

RECEIVERS (3) Even this late in the season, there still doesn’t seem to be much, if any chemistry between Aaron Rodgers and young receivers Equanimeous St. Brown (played 42 of the possible 68 snaps on offense), Marquez Valdes- Scantling (21) and Jake Kumerow (21). Of the 39 passes that Rodgers threw to a player, 20 went to either (64) or Randall Cobb (47) whereas only six were directed to the three young players. If there is a communication gap, it’s long past the time when it should have been fixed. Kyle Fuller is a top-flight . It’s hard to remember the last corner to break up two passes intended for Adams, which Fuller did. Thus, when St. Brown beat Fuller to the post early on third and 9 from the Chicago 23, it was a big deal. That was the hard part. The easy part was for Rodgers, who was afforded a clean pocket, to deliver a strike and tie the score, 7-7. It was a much bigger deal when the pass was so poor that the 6-4 ½ St. Brown never even had a chance to catch it. MVS played more snaps than St. Brown in each of the first 12 games. Now, despite a right elbow injury that requires a brace, St. Brown played four more snaps last week and then almost doubled MVS’ total Sunday. Adams accounted for the team’s three longest gains (28, 28 and 23 yards). It was his fifth 100-yard game of the season. Cobb had the only drop, and it was a bad one on a body catch about 10 yards downfield. Otherwise, Cobb ran some excellent routes but didn’t have much to show for it due to subpar quarterback play. “When Randall’s healthy, I think our offense has been different because we have a true slot guy who can make plays in the slot consistently,” Rodgers said. “Having a slot guy like that who legitimately can get open time after time when we need him.” Just as he did in the opener, defensive coordinator occasionally required one of his edge players to chuck (47, including four with his hand down) before joining the rush. Graham was partly at fault on the end-zone because he didn’t put a move on . He was held up by Mack, and thus entered the route a count late which might have thrown the timing of the route off. Of course, Graham has been a bust in the red zone with merely two . He really can’t outrun anybody. His three catches for 32 yards were short shots when the Bears were playing underneath zones and just let him release. Lance Kendricks (nine, seven hand down) equaled his career-high in receptions as a Packer with four. (11, nine hand down) made a great block on SS for a 10-yard TD run. (eight, one hand down) wasn’t targeted. Rookie J’Mon Moore played 17 snaps in the kicking game but none from scrimmage.

OFFENSIVE LINE (1 ½) RT (knee) didn’t play. RG Byron Bell is on injured reserve, and the Packers must have tired watching Justin McCray play Games 12-13 because he was benched in favor of . LT and LG Lane Taylor have had injury problems, and Rodgers indicated C was playing hurt, too. Given the fact the five starters allowed four sacks, one knockdown and 12 hurries should tell you the unit was overwhelmed. Yet, for as good as the Bears’ front is and how low expectations were for the Packers’ line, it might be said that the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. Take Patrick, the Pier Six brawler. His numbers – two pressures, no “bad” runs – were lows in each category. He’s cumbersome in space and sometimes late to the second level. He also went belly-to-belly against massive Akiem Hicks and held up. Of Hicks’ 3 ½ pressures, 2 ½ came against Linsley. Both of ’s pressures came at Linsley’s expense as well. You’d have to go back many moons to find the last game Linsley yielded 4 ½ pressures but massive men like Hicks and Goodman are the types of players that give him the most trouble. Mack, in his 62 snaps, basically did what he wanted. Of his six pressures, 4 ½ came against RT Jason Spriggs and 1 ½ against Bakhtiari. Joe Philbin slid the line to help Spriggs but didn’t often designate a or back to assist him. Spriggs’ one-hand stab style of pass blocking leaves him vulnerable to power and edge rushes. He also had two penalties. Shortly before the half, the Packers called a third-and-3 run against a light box that would have converted easily had Spriggs been able to sustain his solo block at the point against LB Leonard Floyd. Williams fell a yard short because of Spriggs, giving the Bears 1 minute, 42 seconds to score another TD before intermission. Some of Bakhtiari’s one-on-one protection against Mack would be worthy of a highlight reel. At the same time, Bakhtiari was too inconsistent with 2 ½ pressures and one-half “bad” run. Taylor missed blocks twice that resulted in sacks for others. His foot still must be a problem. On Monday, rookie T-G Alex Light was suspended by the league for one game (Jets) for violating the substance abuse policy.

QUARTERBACKS (1) Aaron Rodgers was moving along nicely in the first 1 ½ quarters. He was getting the ball out fast, probing with screens and run-pass options and generally keeping Vic Fangio and the Bears off balance. Then he missed that throw to St. Brown and wasn’t the same thereafter. In the end, his 59.5% completion day included seven misfires downfield that doomed his team to defeat. The Packers certainly didn’t have the personnel to play over two or three missed chances like that, let alone seven. One week after a strong showing against Atlanta, Rodgers reverted to the skittish form that has stained his 14 th season. Rodgers sailed two passes over the head of Randall Cobb when he was in the clear 30-plus yards downfield. He put too much air (it resembled a Hail Mary) under a bomb to MVS and instead of a 76-yard TD it was another brutal overthrow. He didn’t put enough air on an end-zone shot to Cobb and nickel back Sherrick McManis was able to break it up. At point- blank range for Rodgers, he threw behind Graham in the end zone when a pass in front of him results in a 9-yard touchdown and not an interception. Even Rodgers’ acute sense of clock management deserted him in the final minute. As always, Rodgers made a few plays. His 28-yard sideline toss to Davante Adams was beautiful. When Leonard Floyd had him dead to rights on fourth and 6, Rodgers shook him off and, keeping his eyes downfield, gunned a 23-yard ball to Adams. Fangio seldom has blitzed Rodgers much over the years. This time, his rate was merely 11.5%. Fangio banked that Rodgers lacked the accuracy to beat the Bears with his coverage people in place, and he turned out to be right.

RUNNING BACKS (3) Aaron Jones (seven) didn’t make much headway in his four carries before exiting with a knee injury. That put the game in the hands of Jamaal Williams (59), and with Ty Montgomery in Baltimore and Tra Carson on injured reserve the only other runner was FB Danny Vitale (four). The Packers had reason to be confident in Williams at Soldier Field. The venue marked his coming-out party as a rookie; he broke eight tackles in 20 carries, gaining 57 of his 67 yards after contact. Williams broke just two tackles in his 16 touches this time but made a favorable impression with 97 yards from scrimmage. He was a boring, twisting ball carrier. On the sideline, he carried Leonard Floyd for four extra yards. He took on ILB , a vicious hitter, rather than step out of bounds. Williams made a few questionable cuts plus a rare miscue in protection when Sherrick McManis slipped underneath his block for a knockdown. Williams’ physical, north-south style means precious few negative plays. On his carry for minus-4, OLB Aaron Lynch blew it up because Vitale ducked his head and was out of control whiffing at the point of attack. With Jones on IR, the Packers on Monday claimed RB Kapri Bibbs (5-9 ½, 203, 4.64) off Washington’s waiver wire. Green Bay is his fourth team since entering the league as a free agent from Colorado State in 2014. In 10 games this season he carried 20 times for 101 yards and caught 13 passes for 102. DEFENSIVE LINE (3) Tyler Lancaster has a future in Green Bay. As well as he played Sunday, it might be a bright future. Lancaster is Chicago through and through, having played at Northwestern and Plainfield East. Some NFL teams graded him as an offensive lineman, but Lancaster has improved as a nose tackle in each of the nine games he has played. Seven times Lancaster came off blocks (four by C Cody Whitehair, two by RG Bryan Witzmann, one by RT Bobby Massie) to make the tackle on runs totaling 21 yards. On Tarik Cohen’s carry for minus-3, he bounced wide and into blitzing Bashaud Breeland after penetration by Lancaster forced the issue. He showed short-area pursuit working down the line on a hit for no gain. Lancaster needs to be more aware of his containment responsibilities on stunts, and on Cohen’s 22-yard run he was beat at the point of attack on Witzmann’s solo block. Lancaster played a career-high 51 snaps (of a possible 60 on defense) because Kenny Clark (elbow) was out. It was obvious the rookie has learned how to use his hands from Clark and Jerry Montgomery, the defensive line coach. (53) wasn’t as stout as Lancaster but also made some plays. He was in position to recover Cohen’s because he had shoved back a double-team from LT Charles Leno and LG James Daniels. Fadol Brown (12), who was claimed off Oakland waivers Dec. 5, started ahead of (16) at base end in the 3-4. He was active and aggressive. On third and 3, Brown beat Daniels inside and then was athletic enough to find the ball carrier and make the tackle for a 1-yard gain. It’s possible that the quick penetration by Brown inside of Massie led Cohen to forego handing the ball off to on the zone read that was fumbled. He also jacked up Leno, shed and made the tackle on a 5-yard gain. Adams trashed Witzmann for a sack (Clay Matthews was credited), which was the lone pressure by a D-lineman all afternoon. On a shovel pass in the red zone, he showed improved awareness by scrambling back into the play. Adams isn’t nearly as stout as Lancaster and Lowry but isn’t the liability that he was in the first half of the season when opponents were pushing him around. Rookie James Looney, a seventh-round draft choice, debuted with one snap. LINEBACKERS (2) Clay Matthews (49) failed to register a pressure against Bobby Massie or Charles Leno, two middle-of-the-road tackles. Coach Mike Nagy didn’t game-plan for Matthews, either. Matthews’ double-team rate was a low 11%. On the other side, (51) had 1 ½ pressures and (21) posted two along with a batted pass on third down that stopped a drive. It’s unclear why Fackrell is playing so much more than Gilbert. Aside from Fackrell’s pair of three-sack games, their pressure numbers are comparable. In the Bears’ first two series, Matthews was on the left outside and Fackrell on the right outside for all 14 plays. Using two players at that position for that many snaps in a row without a breather is unheard of in the last decade in Green Bay. On the inside, (60) usually was joined by a safety because Anthony Morrison (eight) didn’t play much and rookie again played only on special teams. Martinez made one great play, beating C Cody Whitehair to the spot on a promising screen to Tarik Cohen and making a jarring tackle. Martinez was getting off blocks, too, and making stops on short-to-medium gains. Morrison pressured three times, two fewer than Martinez, and had one hurry on a cross-blitz that epitomized his effort level. Whitehair reacted well and knocked Morrison down, but he leaped right back up and forced Mitchell Trubisky into a misfire.

DEFENSIVE BACKS (2) Other than CB (60) and FS (60), the Packers continue to shuffle personnel in unusual fashion. On Sunday, they benched SS Kentrell Brice (18) and started journeyman Eddie Pleasant (31), who arrived on Nov. 28. Josh Jackson (40) started at the other outside position and Bashaud Breeland (53) was the nickel back. Both (48) and Pleasant played extensively at inside linebacker. Tony Brown (28) rotated outside. Of the nine active defensive backs, only didn’t play from scrimmage. The longest of Mitchell Trubisky’s 20 completions was 30 yards to Allen Robinson on the second play of the game. What was a 5-yard hook ruptured when Alexander went for the ball over the improper shoulder, missed and wasn’t in good position to make the tackle. Not a week has gone by that Alexander hasn’t given up a sizeable play. Trubisky’s second longest pass was 23 on a scramble to TE Adam Shaheen. On the play, Pleasant had a free run at Trubisky but blew the sack by coming in out of control. Pleasant did play with good energy and blew up a screen. Brice didn’t help his chances for future employment by getting outflanked on a check-down to Tarik Cohen that turned into a 12-yard TD. Jackson seemed to hit the proverbial rookie wall several weeks ago. In this game, he was turned in circles by Taylor Gabriel on an 11-yard curl, tried a feeble shoulder-block tackle that missed and enabled Robinson to gain 19 on second and 17, and lost containment on a blitz so Trubisky had room to scramble for 14 on third and 10. Breeland didn’t practice all week because of personal reasons but played pretty well again. Williams always provides value by patrolling the deep middle and taking away the deep ball. Jones had several solid plays in coverage. He hasn’t been an explosive tackler, and on the goal-line took himself away from Jordan Howard’s 9-yard TD run. Later, he short-circuited by playing too soft and reacting poorly on the 13-yard winning TD pass to TE Trey Burton.

KICKERS (3 ½) turned in an outstanding performance, connecting from 41, 43 and 45 yards. His four kickoffs averaged 66.8 yards and 3.99 seconds of hang time. There was nothing wrong with his onside kick that the Bears recovered. JK Scott’s five punts had averages of 41.6 yards (gross), 31.0 (net) and 4.37 hang time. Scott’s worst punt – 39 yards to the middle of the field with 3.93 hang time – was brought back 44 yards by Cohen.

SPECIAL TEAMS (2) The Packers’ eight-man front was all over the Bears’ direct snap to RB Benny Cunningham in punt formation. The key was Fadol Brown slicing across the face of SS DeAndre Houston-Carson, recognizing where the ball was and leaving Cunningham with nowhere to run. Jake Kumerow assisted on the tackle. Cohen broke free when the two gunners, Tony Brown and Josh Jones, not only didn’t beat their double-team blocks but got knocked down. The forgetful Brown was late rushing onto the field, too. The nearest tackler was eight yards away when Cohen started up field with Scott’s line drive. Once Kyler Fackrell took a bad angle, Cohen was off to the races. Jaire Alexander was benched after fumbling two punts a week ago. With Randall Cobb deep, Will Redmond actually ran into his teammate as he prepared to make a fair catch and a fumble almost resulted. Later, when Redmond failed to hold up Chicago WR Joshua Bellamy, he proceeded to down a punt at the 2. After Cobb got hurt (concussion), Josh Jackson tried to field the last punt and fumbled it out of bounds. On the onside kick, Alexander jumped offsides. Not that it mattered because of the penalty, but the flattening of Pleasant by LB Nick Kwiatkoski helped Allen Robinson make a routine recovery.