Sunday Night Football: 5 takeaways from the Packers' Week 12 win over the Bears
Concluding a wild weekend of NFL matchups without quarterbacks, positive COVID-19 tests, and postponed games was the primetime NFC North battle between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears on Sunday night.
Matching up for the first time this season, the Packers were fighting for a potential playoff bye and the Bears just to keep their playoff hopes alive. Turning back to Mitch Trubisky at quarterback, the Bears offense still fell short and the Packers secured the "Sunday Night Football" win, 41-25.
5. Packers secure 100th win
Sunday night's matchup was the 201st time the Packers and Bears have faced off in their history. One of the most storied rivalries in league history has also been one of the closest, with (coming into Sunday) the Packers leading the all-time series 99-95-6.
Though the historical series is close, Green Bay has dominated the recent history — the Bears have won only three times over the Pack since 2010. With the win on Sunday, Green Bay secured their 100th all-time win over Chicago and bought themselves a larger lead in the all-time series.
4. Adams-Rodgers connection stays hot
On 3rd-and-10 in the opening quarter, Aaron Rodgers took a step back into the pocket and bounced with the football in hand. Knowing he had time with the Bears only rushing three, Rodger stood in place and surveyed the field before finding his man. Davante Adams has been Rodgers main, and often only, target all season, and he remained so early and often in Sunday's matchup.
Adams leaped into the air on the Packers opening drive and caught the first touchdown of the game, his sixth game in a row with a score. He finished with six catches for 61 yards and a score.
3. Trubisky falters, again
In his fourth start of the season, and first since week three, Bears QB Mitch Trubisky didn't show Bears fans anything new. After an 11-3 softmore season, the Bears 2nd overall pitch in 2017 has failed to lead consistent success both as a team or individually.
Coming into Sunday's matchup against the Packers, Trubisky completed less than 60% of his passes and 3.5% of his throws had been picked off. On Sunday night, with Head Coach Matt Nagy no longer calling the offensive plays, Mitch completed 26/46, threw for 242 yards, and had three touchdowns and two interceptions.
2. Packers struggle to stop the run
Coming into Sunday's game the Packers allowed 113 rushing yards per-game and 4.4 yards per carry. While the Green Bay defense dominated Trubisky and the Bears attack for most of the game Sunday, the one area they struggled was stopping the run. David Montgomery busted off a lengthy carry early in the game, instigated Packers beat reporter Matt Schneidman to comment the team "still can't stop the run."
The Bears finished with 16 rushing attempts for 122 yards. David Montgomery led the way with 103 total yards and 9.4 yards per carry.
1. Rodgers leads Packers to win
Aaron Rodgers was third in MVP odds coming into Sunday night, but those odds may change after a dominant game, including a hat trick of touchdowns in the first half alone. Rodgers finished the game 21/29 with four TDs.
Earlier this month, Packers Coach Matt LaFluer reflected on his QB's season.
“It’s unbelievable,” coach Matt LaFleur told Sports Illustrated. “You could give him the game ball every game. He is an unbelievable quarterback, just pinpoint accuracy and just what a great leader he is for everybody.