Game-Changing Play of the Week: Preston Smith Forced Fumble Opens Up the Game
By TimBackes
It was a tale of two halves for the Green Bay Packers in last night's primetime matchup against the archrival Chicago Bears.
The first half saw the Packers' worst defensive performance since week one of the regular season, innumerable special teams snafus and occasional plodding on offense.
The second half saw the defense significantly tighten up and play to the level to which we've grown accustomed, while the offense and Aaron Rodgers heated up and took over the game.
[The special teams stayed terrible, but we won't focus on that for this post.]
Perhaps the most crucial play of the game came early in the second half. The score was still close, as the Packers had just managed to take the lead on a touchdown on the half's opening drive.
BALL IS OUT!@PrestonSmith94 #ProBowlVote | #CHIvsGB | #GoPackGo
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— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 13, 2021
As Bears quarterback Justin Fields dropped back to pass on a second and five, Smith got off to a hot start on his rush and ran right around the Bears' left tackle, who couldn't even manage to slow Smith down despite being claled for a hold.
Smith hit Fields at a perfect time, knocking the ball out for it to be recovered by Rashan Gary in scoring position for the Packers.
The very next play Rodgers hit Aaron Jones for a beautiful touchdown pass, and the Packers never looked back.
Smith has been on an absolute tear of late. All season long he's been an underrated contributor for this team, much more resembling the 2019 version of himself than the 2020 version. But in the last four weeks alone, Smith has had as many QB pressures (29) as he had in all of last season.
Partial credit goes to Joe Barry for putting Smith in a position to succeed and for getting him out of coverage so much. But most of that credit goes to Smith for coming in this season committed to delivering strong play after receiving a lot of criticism for his 2020 output. He's been a critical part of the team this year, especially in the absence of Za'Darius Smith.
Smith also was a vocal leader in the locker room at halftime, challenging his defensive teammates to step up and play better after delivering an uncharacteristically poor performance in the first half.
A strong performance for Smith yesterday and all season.
Go Pack Go!
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Tim Backes is a lifelong Packer fan and a contributor to CheeseheadTV. Follow him on Twitter @timbackes for his Packer takes, random musings and Untappd beer check-ins.
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Comments (8)
Brockrice99
December 13, 2021 at 02:04 pm
Preston Smith has been fantastic this year, and with Gary playing well, get Z back, and Kenny/Dean wrecking the middle, it could be brutal for opposing quarterbacks.
scullyitsme
December 13, 2021 at 02:44 pm
A few plays to choose from but I have to agree, that one put the bears in their place and gave them the “here we go again” attitude as a win slipped away.
PatrickGB
December 13, 2021 at 04:12 pm
Preston has really stepped up this year. With Z gone and Gary injured he has been the player who has come through during clutch time. Earned every penny with his bonuses.
Leatherhead
December 13, 2021 at 06:42 pm
I thought the fumbled punt and TD that was nullified by the penalty. I thought my heart was skipping beats.
Bitternotsour
December 13, 2021 at 09:51 pm
did anyone notice Aaron holding up two fingers after Preston's second sack? He was signifiying that Packers had to pay a big incentive in Preston's contract (further burying the Packers in cap hell)
But good on Aaron and Preston. Dude is earning his money.
MarkinMadison
December 13, 2021 at 11:23 pm
Don't look now, but as of this evening, if the play-offs started tomorrow, the Packers would not only be the 1 seed, they would have also beaten 4 of the other 6 teams in the NFC playoffs. 4-0 against the other NFC playoff teams. Let that one sink in for a second. Savor it. Enjoy it.
KnockTheSnotOutOfYou
December 15, 2021 at 10:07 am
Preston has played very well! Does anyone know whether Gary or Preston gets doubled team more than the other? Who benefits the most when it isn't Clark being double teamed?
It seems a given Zadarius is not coming back next year forcing the Packers to strongly considering to resign Preston. While I love the fact he is the opposite of Kevin King and ESB for durability I was very disillusioned how out of shape Preston came to camp last year. He obviously did not workout and take care of himself and he very much underwhelmed all of 2020. In his contract year he comes to camp in much better shape and is giving a much better effort. A guy like Preston is scary and must make Gutey not sleep at night. The Packers will go into 2022 season woefully short at OLB. Do they throw a big contract at Preston and if they do which version shows up in 2022?
Barring the Packers getting extra draft choices in 2022 due to player trades they are going to have major decisions in round 1 and round 2 whether OLB, WR, or OT. Depending on Tonyan possibly even TE in Rd 2. Tonyan's injury greatly reduces his value on the open market possibly allowing the Pack to resign him at a reasonable amount.
This offseason will likely have more drama, excitement, and anxiety than possibly any I can recall. We will see what the rest of this year brings but off-season may end up more entertaining.
TXCHEESE
December 15, 2021 at 04:35 pm
So crazy folks were wanting to run P. Smith out of town after last season. I though it was kind of cool that Smith recovered Gary's strip against the Rams, and Gary returned the favor against the Bears. What a stud duo. Hopefully Z gets back in time for the post season.