From 2-5 with many saying the Packers should pack it up and tank for high draft picks, to 9-8 and a playoff birth. I was extremely fortunate to witness this game for the ages in person at Lambeau Field, hence your game recap coming much later than usual, but it was all worth it. If there was one thing that I never saw in this game, it was the Packers taking their foot off the gas. The score may not indicate it, but the Packers never punted in this game. The Packers offense had no trouble moving the ball on the Bear's defense and given where this team was at the beginning of the season, that's an outstanding improvement to get to where they are now. 

Jordan Love put together his second 300+ yard game with over 316 yards through the air and 2 touchdowns. Of course, there was the fumble at midfield that was the only turnover of the game, but it ended up not making much of a difference in this one with the Packers answering the following Chicago score back quickly which essentially put the game on ice. It's been said a lot that Jordan Love is spreading the ball to all of his receivers and once again that was on full display with seven players recording receptions, six of them with three or more. And just how good is Aaron Jones? How vital is he to this team's success? Another big game for Jones with 22 carries for 111 yards, alongside five catches for 30 yards. The offensive line gave him some holes big enough to drive a truck through on a few plays and he made the best of it.

When you look at the defense in this game I think one of the biggest things on paper that jumps out to me is Justin Fields only having 8 carries for 27 yards, and Fields being sacked a total of five times. A big concern heading into this game was that the Packers' defense just seemed to always get gashed by mobile quarterbacks. They did an excellent job in this one of bottling up Justin Fields to ensure if he was going to beat them, he'd have to do it through the air. Which of course, he couldn't, finishing with only 11 completions for 148 yards. Some plays for this defense made me cringe, but overall a pretty good job all around by the Packers as a team to seal this one up.

Let's get to the recap:

First Quarter:

The Bears winning the coin toss elected to receive to start the game and they came out looking like they could drive against this Packers defense. After facing 3rd down early, Justin Fields scrambled for 6 yards to pick up the first down and they began rolling. Highlighted by an 18-yard pass to former Packer Equanimeous St. Brown, the Bears drove down to the Packers' 26-yard line. The very next play, however, the Packers' defense fought back as Lukas Van Ness sacked Fields for a loss of 6 yards and the Bears would not recover. They had to settle for a 50-yard Cairo Santos field goal that bounced off the upright but essentially landed between the goalposts putting the Bears up 3-0 in this one with 8:54 remaining in the first. 

After the touchback on the kickoff, the Packers began their first drive from their own 25-yard line and got out to their 37-yard line off two Aaron Jones carries and a Jones reception before Jordan Love hit Dontayvion Wicks for a 19-yard reception down to the Chicago 44-yard line. Aaron Jones wouldn't be out-shined however, as on the next play he took off on a 14-yard run, rumbling down to Chicago's 30-yard line. Green Bay was in business and knocking on the door of the red zone after a Bo Melton 7-yard catch and two more Jones runs to the Chicago 15-yard line. Unfortunately though, after this Jordan Love would be sacked on third down by Walker for -8 yards and the Packers would have to settle for 3. On Carlson's field goal attempt, however, he pushed it wide left and the Bears would take over again with the ball at their 31-yard line with 2:36 remaining in the opening quarter. 

Chicago looked to be off to a good start on their second drive as Fields hit two passes totaling 23 yards and then Roschon Johnson ran up the middle for another 8 yards down to the Packers' 38-yard line. The next play facing 2nd and 2 though, Justin Fields had nowhere to run and Rashan Gary tackled him in the backfield for a loss of 4. That is where the first quarter would come to a close in a very quick opening stanza with the Bears up 3-0.

Second Quarter:

Starting the 2nd quarter facing 3rd and 6 from the Packers' 42-yard line, Justin Fields would be sacked by Devonte Wyatt for a loss of 8 yards forcing the Bears to punt. 

The Packers would take over starting their 2nd drive of the game at their own 8-yard line with 14:09 remaining in the half. On the second play of the drive, Jordan Love would hit Jayden Reed up the middle for a 32-yard catch to the Packers' 44-yard line. They moved the chains again on this drive with an end-around to Bo Melton gaining 2 yards before facing 3rd and 5 from the Chicago 41-yard line. Love would hit Melton again for a 10-yard gain to the CHI 31 and Aaron Jones would follow it up with a 12-yard run to the CHI 19 before a few shorter plays later the Packers faced 3rd and 1 from the CHI 10-yard line. On the third down conversion, Love hit Dontayvion Wicks who found the endzone for the touchdown to put the Packers on the board 7-3 with 7:20 remaining in the half.

After a good kick return by Velus Jones, the Bears would start their next drive from their own 34-yard line. Two runs and an incompletion set up 4th and 1 from the CHI 43 where the Bears would go for it with Justin Fields running up the gut for a yard. Upon first glance, it seemed he did not get the first down, and the stick measurement didn't look like it either. But alas, the referees called first down with the Bears drive continuing. A few plays later on third down Fields hit DJ Moore on a 33-yard completion down to the Packers' 17-yard line. The pass just looked like a broken coverage and from my vantage point in Lambeau, I hate to say it seemed as if we had another linebacker on the opposition's best receiver situation. No idea how this continues to happen game after game, but here we are.  Luckily the Bears wouldn't get much further as on third down from the GB 13, Karl Brooks and Kenny Clark pulled off a beautiful stunt move at the line and Clark got to Justin Fields quickly, sacking him for a loss of 8 and forcing the Bears to settle for 3 taking the score to 7-6 Packers with 1:17 remaining on the clock until halftime. 

With the Packers taking over having two timeouts, they started out on a huge play with Love hitting Bo Melton on a 24-yard catch to midfield. Love then hit Jones for 13 more yards and they were down to the Chicago 38 with 0:46 on the clock. Love hit Kraft for 9 yards to the CHI 29, and then hit him again for 7 to the CHI 22. One issue on the second catch, however, is Kraft had a chance to run out of bounds, but tried to get more yards and was tackled in-bounds forcing the Packers to spend their 3rd and final timeout with 0:16 on the clock. After the timeout, Love threw an incompletion to Malik Heath in the endzone taking the clock to 0:11 remaining. This is where they should've kicked a field goal having zero timeouts. But, alas, they didn't. Instead, Love hit Wicks for a 3-yard pass toward the sidelines, but Wicks went out of bounds backward resulting in the clock to continue running. Without time to spike the ball and no timeouts, the clock expired and the Packers left an excellent field position with zero points. From my vantage point I thought the clock should've stopped, but regardless it was some poor clock management there resulting in zero points and the Packers going to the half up 7-6.

Third Quarter:

Beginning the second half with the ball, the Packers game out firing. Highlighted by a Bo Melton 17-yard catch, and an Aaron Jones matching 17-yard run, the Packers were down to the CHI 30 within four plays. Five plays and 14 yards in Aaron Jones rushing yards later, Jordan Love hit Dontayvion Wicks once again for the touchdown from 12 yards out. After the extra point, the Packers would be up 14-6 with 9:47 remaining on the clock in the third quarter. 

Starting their first drive of the second half, the Bears completely relied on their ground game to get them 30 yards to the GB 48-yard line before Justin Fields would be sacked on 3rd and 7 by Quay Walker forcing the Bears to punt. The Packers would take over from their own 20-yard line with 4:54 remaining in the quarter.

The Packers next drive got out to a good start moving the chains three times highlighted by a Bo Melton 12-yard end around before they would face 3rd and 2 from midfield. On the play, Jordan Love scrambled to the right attempting to get the first down, but fumbled the football, recovered by Jacquan Brisker of the Bears setting up first down for the Bears offense at the CHI 42 with 1:17 remaining in the third. 

Two short runs into the Bear's next drive would end the third quarter with them facing 3rd and 7 from their own 45.

Fourth Quarter:

Kicking off the 4th quarter with 3rd and 7 from their own 45, Justin Fields would pass to Moore for a gain of 11 yards. At first glance, it looked like Moore did not have control of the ball and the Packers would challenge. From my spot in the Lambeau bleachers I never quite saw an angle that showed a true completion as the ball seemed to touch the ground without full possession, but the referees disagreed and the call stood. As if adding insult to injury, the next play Fields hit Cole Kmet on a 27-yard pass down to the GB 17-yard line. However, the Bears wouldn't go anywhere but backward on a holding call and would need to settle for 3 again taking the score to 14-9 with 13:03 remaining in the game.

Taking over at their 28 to start the next drive, the Packers wasted no time as Jordan Love immediately hit Jayden Reed for 59 yards down to the CHI 13-yard line. Three plays later on third down Jordan Love hit Bo Melton in the endzone for the touchdown. The call on the field was initially incomplete, however, the officials changed the call to a touchdown which seemed to be to review the play. The call was reversed however on the review, no touchdown and the Packers would have to settle for 3 with Carlson booting it through the uprights to take the score to 17-9 Packers with 10:54 remaining in the game. 

Following the field goal the Bears took over from their 32-yard line following the kickoff and highlighted by a 16-yard pass to Herbert, they drove to the Packers' 43-yard line where they ended up facing 4th and 5. With the Bears electing to go for it on 4th down, I got to hear Lambeau get louder than I think I've ever heard, but unfortunately, it was all for nothing as Rashan Gary jumped offsides on the play giving the Bears the free first down. A holding call then had the Bears facing 2nd and 16 from the GB 44 where Justin Fields would be sacked by Karl Brooks setting up 3rd and 22 which they would not convert and the Bears would have to punt it away with 6:08 remaining in the game.

With the Bears trusting their defense on this drive, the Packers' offense showed them it was a bad choice despite starting from their own 6-yard line. A loss of three on the first run was the only mistake the Packers would make on this drive as the next two plays, Love hit Musgrave from a gain of 11 and then hit Reed for 15 before Aaron Jones took over with two runs for 11 yards and a first down to the GB 40-yard line and Chicago had to take their first timeout with 3:15 remaining. A few short plays later the Packers faced 3rd and 7 from their own 43 where Love hit Tucker Kraft for a 15-yard gain to the CHI 42 which forced Chicago to take their final timeout. Two plays and the two-minute warning later, Aaron Jones took off for a 10-yard gain that would essentially put the dagger in the Chicago Bears and stamp the Packers' ticket to the playoffs.

The Packers would be victorious moving to 9-8 on the season with a playoff birth.

Offensive Player of the Game:

Aaron Jones. Showtyme himself gets the award this week. I contemplated Jordan Love for it, but Jones carried the offense in this one. 22 carries, 111 yards, 5 receptions, 30 yards when Aaron Jones has a day, the Green Bay Packers have a day. He is the literal heart and soul of this offense, if not, the entire team. Every player on the Packers roster wants to go to battle for Aaron Jones, and he wants to go to battle for them. He is vital to the success of this team and I can't wait to see how far it can get them this season.

Defensive Player of the Game:

This one is going to Quay Walker. The stat line for Walker reads 9 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss. What's not on the stat sheet is how he spied Justin Fields the entire game and helped hold Fields to his lowest rushing total of the season on 5+ carries, only racking up 27 yards. That's a big deal considering Fields has averaged approximately 50 yards on the ground this season per game. Not to mention taking into account how the Packers have struggled against mobile quarterbacks. An outstanding outcome for Walker so he's getting these honors for his performance.

What Went Right:

Holding Justin Fields to under 30 yards rushing. 

Previous drive amnesia. The Packers missed a field goal on their first drive, and they responded with a touchdown on the next. They ended the half without any points in scoring range, they responded with a touchdown again on the next. After Jordan Love's fumble, they picked themselves back up and drove down for another three points. This team doesn't seem to dwell on their mistakes. They move on, and that has been huge for their success. 

Putting the game away. The Bears had to punt with the ball at midfield with 6:15 remaining in the game down by one possession and holding three timeouts. I'm sure they thought they could trust their defense to give them some time for one last drive. Nope. The Packers offense drove 61 yards in 12 plays to wind out the game. It was all over the moment the Bears lined up to punt. 

What Went Wrong:

Time management at the end of the first half. This was awful. The Packers had a chance to score before the half down to Chicago's 22 yard-line but without timeouts perhaps made some boneheaded mistakes keeping the ball in bounds on the part of Tucker Kraft on one play and then perhaps on behalf of Matt LaFleur not just taking the three points with 11 seconds on the clock and no timeouts. Many debated if Wicks' catch should've stopped the clock but regardless, in hindsight, MLF should've kicked the 3 instead of getting greedy.

Looking Forward:

The Packers are in the playoffs and they will be taking on the Dallas Cowboys at 3:30 PM from AT&T Stadium in Dallas next Sunday. We're playing with house money at this point. I'm honestly just happy to be here in the playoffs in Love's first season as the starter. But boy oh boy would it be sweet to knock off the Cowboys in Jerry World. Even though the Packers have had the Cowboys' number in the last decade, I still harbor PTSD towards the 90's when the Cowboys would constantly steam-roll the Packers. So, to knock out the Cowboys in their stadium while they're riding high as the 2nd seed? That would be perfection. The last time Aaron Jones played in Dallas he scored four touchdowns, so here's to hoping that happens again with a nice Packers victory. Until then, Go Pack Go.