Not since “Beauty and the Beast” has such ugliness coexisted with such excellence.
The excellence was Aaron Rodgers, the tough, resilient, and usually reliable receivers, the pass rush, and the overall game plan.
The ugliness? Oh, my! Major special teams failures, embarrassing offensive line play, and a truly scandalous lack of overall team discipline.
Last year, Green Bay threatened early on to set a regular season record for sacks allowed. This year, we distinguished ourselves with a franchise record for penalties.
I’m sure Coach McCarthy will promise that they’re ‘gonna go back and fix that this week.’
In the first few series, it looked like Green Bay was going to have a cake walk. We moved the ball efficiently on offense, and we stifled Chicago on defense. Even into the second half, when it was obviously a closer contest, the Packers showed the kind of ball control, time-of-possession, sustained-drive offense that is the hallmark of champions.
On the other side of the ball, you can hardly fault our defense. The Bears scored 20 points, but 7 belonged to a kick return for a touchdown. So technically the defense only gave up 13 points, which really ought to be few enough for the Packers to win.
Bottom line? Mistakes. Offensive penalties that broke our rhythm and undermined what Rodgers and the receivers were trying to do. Plus the unbelievable penalty yardage our defense gave up on Chicago’s final drive. That was really beyond belief. And then, of course, there was the fumble.
I am not an overly optimistic fan, but I felt quite confident that Green Bay was going to win when we got the ball back with 3-plus minutes and a 17-17 tie. I was confident that we’d be able to work our way into field goal position, and I was even fairly certain that Crosby would make whatever kick we gave him. It was that fumble. Heartbreaking! If that ball had only bounced out of bounds, I’m sure we’d have gone ahead for the win.
But our offense gave them the ball, and then our defense gave them the game – not so much by being outplayed as by being careless.
This is going to be a tough one to live with. Fortunately, it’s a short week before we get to host the Lions on Sunday afternoon and get back in the win column.
Meanwhile, the Bears go into Week 4 as the only undefeated team in the NFC. Who’d have thunk it? Perhaps the Giants can correct their errors in time to deal Chicago its first loss next Sunday in New York.
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