Staying Alive: Why the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears

Veterans make an impact

We all know by now that the Packers are a team built through the draft; with that comes a focus on young talent to build up their talent base. With a glut of young players comes a deficit in experience however, making the contributions of the few veteran options on the team even more important.

In this contest, we saw a bundle of said veterans stepping up to make those key plays to supplement (and overcome) the efforts of those young players.

Rodgers of course is as veteran as they come on this roster, and though he didn’t have any touchdown passes he made an assortment of throws to keep the ball moving and take advantage of the turnovers his defense provided to lead his offense to scores — with none bigger than his final throw of the game. This was despite facing some of the worst pressure his offensive line allowed all season (4 sacks) and myriad injuries sapping his trademark mobility and elusiveness.

Jordy Nelson hasn’t been quite his old self this year as he returns from the ACL injury which stole his 2015 season, but despite lacking some of that past explosiveness he’s managed to stay productive with short-to-midrange gains and catching touchdowns in cramped spaces (12 on the year). No touchdowns in this one, but with fellow receiver Davante Adams struggling with drops (including two possible TD drops on one of Green Bay’s drives) Nelson was the steady pair of hands his team needed. He caught 7 of 10 targets for 124 yards, being the one on the receiving end of Rodgers’ late toss to secure the game-winning field goal attempt.

Jared Cook may be new to Green Bay this year, and his season hasn’t quite gone as hoped, but his towering presence on the field makes him the sort of player offenses crave. He had one of his best showings with Green Bay in this game, grabbing 6 catches for 85 yards; three of those were at least 15 yards, coming on early drives which allowed the Packers to take the lead (two on the Packers’ first drive to put Green Bay up 7-0) and tie the game (one on Green Bay’s early field goal drive to tie the game at 10-10).

Micah Hyde has been the embodiment of the struggles at cornerback for Green Bay in 2016, but without the caveat of inexperience to fall back on. He showed up in a major way against the Bears, however. He allowed only 2 catches on 5 targeted passes; they went for 12 yards. He made an interception on a Matt Barkley Hail Mary before the half, saving a possible score to keep things tied 10-10 at the half. He also made the most important defensive play of the game to save another touchdown, this time on Chicago’s final offensive drive.

Julius Peppers was relatively quiet for most of this outing, but it was his sack/forced fumble/fumble recovery combo which started of what became a 17-0 Green Bay run to begin the third quarter.

And of course, the man who officially sealed the win deserves a mention. Crosby has had some struggles this season, but had a perfect scoring game. He made all three of his extra points, but his field goals were the main focus. He tied the game up before halftime, helped Green Bay take the lead soon after the half, and then pushed through the game-winning attempt with no time remaining.

Young players will be what builds this team as long as Ted Thompson is running things at Lambeau, but the contributions of their veterans is what makes the difference between wins and losses in close games like this.