Things that made Quin mad:
Secondary Play
I will keep on complaining about our secondary until they get better. I will also complain about Damarious Randall until he gets cut or traded. At times, Bears receivers were left wide open, making Mike Glennon look good. One of the main occurrences was the first touchdown they got at the end of the first half when Randall got smoked by Kendall Wright. There was another time when tight-end Zach Miller got a huge run after the catch because of a blown coverage and a lot of horrible tackling attempts. Luckily, the Bears offense was so bad and in disarray that they couldn’t really take advantage of the defense they were playing. I get that Capers likes to blitz, but blitzing can only be successful if a defense has a secondary that can defend in single coverage. The Packers don’t have corners like that yet and they only had ONE sack Thursday night to show.
Penalties
It’s been a problem all year, as the team just doesn’t seem disciplined. It culminates in a lot of offsides, false-starts, pass interferences, and holding calls. Fortunately, it wasn’t a huge deciding factor in the game since the Packers won by three touchdowns and the Bears committed more penalties. They still can’t commit stupid penalties that are costing first downs and touchdowns on offense and fourth downs on defense.
Things that made Quin happy:
Filling In
There were a lot of injuries Thursday night and a lot of factors can be attributed to that. Montgomery went out early in the game due to broken ribs and backup Jamaal Williams left shortly after a knee injury. That meant rookie Aaron Jones stepped in after being brought in from the practice squad this week and he made the most out of his opportunity. He ran very hard, tallying up 49 yards rushing and a touchdown. With all of that, Packers fans shouldn’t be worried about the run game if Aaron Jones is starting.
Turnovers
Throughout the season, the Packers have struggled with getting turnovers but that changed Thursday whether they were forced or not. Kentrell Brice and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix both got interceptions, while Blake Martinez and Jake Ryan both recovered fumbles. Even though half of those turnovers were mostly due to the Bears’ bad play, they still did a great job of taking advantage of that. Also, those turnovers gave Aaron Rodgers and friends a short field which makes any offense’s life easier. Despite the offensive line having issues, Rodgers had a considerably easy game which included four touchdowns.
Defending the Run
Going into the game, one of the things the Bears did well offensively this season was running the football with their two talented backs: Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen. Early on, they neutralized Howard and Cohen. They only did most of their damage at the end of the game when it was already out of reach. It’s a good sign going forward if the Packers can do this against one of the more elite run teams in the league.