Cory's Corner: Packers Win Despite Struggles

The Packers didn’t bring their “A+” game on Sunday night, but they still blew out the Bears 27-10 at Lambeau Field. 

“I didn’t play great,” said Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was 19 of 25 for 234 yards and two scores. “I feel like the stats look a little better than the game. I missed some throws that I should never miss. There were some opportunities for more points out there.”

That’s exactly what you want your quarterback to say after a 17-point win. And yes, Rodgers is right. The offense did look plenty clunky at times. There was a fumble that was caused when Rodgers and AJ Dillon bumped into each other on a handoff, a shotgun snap hit rookie wideout Christian Watson who was in motion. 

But there were two things that I really loved about Sunday night. First, Rodgers was four-for-four on third down. There are three pillars of being a successful quarterback: How successful are you on third down, how successful are you in the red zone and how successful are you in the fourth quarter. He kept the chains moving and did a great job keeping his offense on the field. 

The second thing I loved was that Rodgers played within the offense. This is what this offense is going to be for the foreseeable future. The Packers resembled a 1960s team by rushing a total of 38 times. That is the reason why the Packers ran 66 plays and the Bears ran only 41.

Aaron Jones proved that he can put Green Bay’s offense on his shoulders as he ran through and around Chicago’s tired defense. Jones racked up 132 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries and 38 yards and a touchdown on three catches. It was the most rushing yards since a Week 15 win over Carolina in 2020. 

“You know what’s coming, but you have to stop it,” said Jones, who averaged 8.8 yards a carry. “That’s not easy to do. I just say kudos to our whole offensive unit and our whole team for responding and bouncing back from last week.”

But it wasn’t just the offense. The defense looked like it was playing with 15 guys flying all over the place. Preston Smith gave a tutorial on how to set the edge and Jaire Alexander may have had the most athletic interception I’ve ever seen. 

The best news of the night was that the Packers still are figuring out who they are. And they can do that and still blow an NFL team out of the water.

We saw that the Packers can control the line of scrimmage by pressuring Justin Fields 10 times and sacking him three more. And we saw that Green Bay can win even when they make mistakes. 

That’s a good thing because there’s still a long way to go before the Packers climb the mountain. 

 

 

 

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Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on "Clubhouse Live" and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn

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Comments (14)

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T7Steve's picture

September 20, 2022 at 07:17 am

Thanks Cory. Isn't It nicer to be able to pick apart a win than sulk all week after a loss?

Do you wonder if they don't take some ideas from you guys on CHTV? Can't believe they're as smart as all of us together but, I'll give them credit. We probably don't have any coach of the year candidates on the roster yet this year.

This week hopefully they'll keep cleaning up some more stuff in the trenches on both sides of the ball and practice tackling.

Till they get it all figured out keep running the ball and resting the D for 38-40 min during the game.

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wildbill's picture

September 20, 2022 at 07:25 pm

As it has been stated, if you listen to the fans you will end up sitting with them..,,

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egbertsouse's picture

September 20, 2022 at 08:14 am

It would be nice if these defensive players flying around looking like 15 guys would learn how to play the run. Flying around is fine but they actually need to make a tackle once in awhile.

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Since'61's picture

September 20, 2022 at 08:51 am

I won't take anything away from the Packers performance on Sunday evening but they were playing at home against the Bears. I will take any and every win no matter how it happens or whoever the opponent may be. However, this week's game against the Bucs on the road will be a much bigger challenge than the Bears and will give us a much better idea of where the Packers are at this point of the season.

Hopefully Bak returns and and hopefully we can maintain a strong running game against the Bucs defense.

We will need a better performance from our DL against the Bucs ground game and we need to get consistent pressure on Brady from our interior DL pass rushers. It might be a good idea to send Walker on blitzes up the middle and utilize his speed to quickly get on top of Brady.

Yes the Packers overcame their mistakes against the Bears but that is not likely to be the case against a team like the Bucs. The Packers will need to play close to a perfect game in all 3 phases to defeat the Bucs on the road. Go Pack Go! Thanks, Since '61

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T7Steve's picture

September 20, 2022 at 09:14 am

We need the ILBs to show up too in the run game. They need to watch some old game film to see how to support the D-line. The D-line should just have to take up all the blockers and they can finish the play with a hard tackle. Where were they?

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Tundraboy's picture

September 20, 2022 at 09:33 am

Sounds a lot like coach Lombardi there since 61!

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Since'61's picture

September 20, 2022 at 10:05 am

Tundra It’s a matter of execution. That’s why it worked for coach Lombardi. If the OL makes their blocks the run game will be successful. Thanks, Since ‘61

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Tundraboy's picture

September 20, 2022 at 09:31 am

"The Packers resembled a 1960s team by rushing a total of 38 times"

And that's not such a bad thing now is it?. Got to do what you got to do to win the game. How fitting it was against the Bears.

I think it's time to use that recipe on Tampa Bay for a good chunk of that game.

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SanLobo's picture

September 20, 2022 at 11:24 am

Of concern is snap count on Jones and Dillon. They didn’t play 17 games in the 60s. We want our guys to have strong legs come January and February. Hopefully there will be some games ahead where we can be a bit more balanced in our offense.

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T7Steve's picture

September 20, 2022 at 12:13 pm

I think if they can keep splitting touches and keep it under 20 ea per game it's doable. When/if Hill comes back they can use him to mop up and Amari till then.

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wildbill's picture

September 20, 2022 at 07:30 pm

Agree, that’s why I thought they brought up Taylor to give them some rest, but maybe he was only for emergencies.

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PatrickGB's picture

September 20, 2022 at 11:43 am

I heard some negative reports about Quay. Some were correct yet I think that he was utilized as a spy. So it’s a bit unfair on the rookie. The other first rounder has yet to be seen and Reed has been getting pushed around. That’s not what I expected from him. All in all a good performance against an inferior team.

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T7Steve's picture

September 20, 2022 at 12:29 pm

Also is anyone worried about Savage (another 1st rounder)? Is he having trouble coming back from his hamstring injury?

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Packers0808's picture

September 20, 2022 at 12:59 pm

Talking about "Flying Around", not sure Alexander wasn't literally flying on that interception, he came out of nowhere to pluck that thing!

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