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Week 5 Game Recap: Chicago Bears 27, Green Bay Packers 20
What you need to know
| Chicago Bears |
After getting off to a poor start, both offensively and defensively, the Chicago Bears rallied behind stout and opportunistic defense to steal this game from the Green Bay Packers. Quarterback Brian Griese showed improvement from his week four outing, completing 60% of his passes for 214 yards, two scores, and only one interception. He confidently led the Bears back into contention in the second half, taking advantage of Green Bay turnovers and making some nice reads and throws, especially to his two tight ends.
Both Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark were targeted frequently, finishing as the top two looks for Griese. Both finished with over 50 yards receiving and a touchdown. Griese rarely looked outside to his wide receivers, with starters Bernard Berrian and Muhsin Muhammad leading the way with three targets each.
Cedric Benson carried the ball 27 times, but was nothing more than three yards and a cloud of dust, finishing with only 64 yards for 2.4 yards per carry on average. His longest run of the game was 11 yards. Despite his low totals, Benson was clearly an important cog in the Chicago offense, as his numerous rushes eventually established some play action that directly resulted in the Bears go ahead fourth quarter score.
The Bears' defense allowed 439 yards in the game, but their opportunism played a key role in determining the outcome of the game. Cornerback Charles Tillman stripped Green Bay wide receiver James Jones of the ball twice in the first quarter, both of which were recovered by Chicago, and ended drives that seemed destined to put points on the board for the Packers. Middle linebacker Brian Urlacher had a quiet game until his third quarter interception of an ill-advised Brett Favre pass shifted the momentum from the Packers to the Bears. Finally, it was safety Brandon McGowan who intercepted Green Bay's last second Hail Mary effort in the end zone to seal the victory for the Bears. It wasn't a dominating defensive performance, but it was enough to get the win.
Cornerback Nathan Vasher missed another game with his injured groin. Bernard Berrian was reportedly limited during the game with an injured toe. Defensive lineman Darwin Walker was reported to leave the game with an undisclosed injury.
| Green Bay Packers |
Green Bay got off to a hot start offensively, but turnovers reared their ugly head and prevented them from earning their fifth straight win to open the 2007 season. Brett Favre played brilliantly in the first half, completing nearly all of his passes and hooking up with wide receiver Greg Jennings for a 41 yard touchdown in the second quarter. The second half was a different story though, as Favre was less accurate and made one of his trademarked boneheaded throws that changed the direction of the game. He was picked twice, both in the second half, although it was the first, a scramble with an attempt to force something good to happen that landed directly in Bears' middle linebacker Brian Urlacher's gut, giving the Bears great field position, but more importantly, hope.
Favre's accuracy was very good, and he used it to distribute the ball to nine different targets. Most of his passes were of the short variety, including wide receiver slants, running back check-downs and screens, and tight ends slants and curls. When he did have the occasion to go deep, he preferred wide receiver Greg Jennings. His two favorite looks, with eight targets each, were wide receivers Donald Driver and James Jones. Jones had an up and down game, catching five balls for 61 yards but spending most of this day on the bench after losing two fumbles in the opening quarter. It was clear head coach Mike McCarthy wasn't very pleased with the rookie pass catcher.
The running game started strong, especially considering the label this Green Bay team has acquired as a non-running team. Rookie DeShawn Wynn had an excellent opening drive, capping it off with a two yard touchdown. Unfortunately he missed a significant chunk of the game getting treatment for dehydration. Vernand Morency made his return to the Green Bay lineup, and played well, leading the team in receptions and finishing with 91 total yards from scrimmage.
The Packers defense did a good job of limiting the Bears' running game, but gave up some crucial scores in tough situations late in the game. Brady Poppinga intercepted a fourth quarter Brian Griese pass that was tipped by a teammate, while Nick Barnett and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila combined for two sacks.
Greg Jennings left the game temporarily with a shoulder injury. Center Scott Wells left the game late with an undisclosed injury.
What you ought to know
| QB Brian Griese, Pass: 15 - 25 - 214 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0 |
Griese managed a good game, especially on the heels of week four's three interception debacle. He was 15 of 25 (60%) for 214 yards (for an 8.56 yards per attempt average) with two touchdowns and one interception. He showed decent instincts and appeared to be growing comfortable as the Bears leader on the offense. Griese preferred targeting his tight ends, throwing eight balls to rookie Greg Olsen and five to Desmond Clark. Olsen and Clark were also the recipient of Griese's touchdown passes. He didn't look to his wide receivers much, although when he did look deep it was usually to Bernard Berrian and it was usually well off target. He was much more accurate with short and medium length throws. His play action pass to Clark was the game clinching score that allowed Chicago to complete their comeback from ten points down. Head coach Lovie Smith mentioned in his post game press conference that he was pleased with the quarterback play.
| RB Cedric Benson, Rush: 27 - 64 - 1, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (2 targets) |
Benson had a season high 27 carries, but only managed 64 yards out of them, a 2.4 yards per carry average. He had a nice ten yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Benson continued to show little creativity with his running, but there also didn't seem to be very many holes for him to run through. His numerous carries were good for the Bears in maintaining offensive and clock-control balance throughout the game, and despite a lack of explosiveness, Benson's work on the ground was vital. It was a play action pass that won the game for the Bears, and it was set up by numerous Benson runs to that point. Despite his perceived ineffectiveness, it is clear that the Bears will continue to hand Benson the ball frequently.
| RB Adrian Peterson, Rush: 3 - 12 - 0, Rec: 2 - 32 - 0 (2 targets) |
Peterson played well in spot duty to both spell Cedric Benson and serve as the third down running back. He had a 30 yard on a swing pass in the second quarter, and his 32 receiving yards was good enough for third on the team.
| RB Jason McKie, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (1 targets) |
McKie served as the fullback for the Bears and while his contribution in the blocking phase of the game is questionable, he did manage to snag the only ball Griese sent his way for a five yard gain.
| RB Garrett Wolfe, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0 |
Wolfe had a two yard run that was nearly a catch, as the ball was thrown to him but it was a backwards pass.
| WR Bernard Berrian, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (3 targets) |
Berrian suffered from an injured toe and a lack of accuracy on Griese's deep ball. His only catch was of the short variety, and the two deep looks he received were well overthrown.
| WR Muhsin Muhammad, Rec: 1 - 17 - 0 (3 targets) |
Muhammad's numbers suffered as all the Bears' receivers did with Griese at the helm. Griese targeted the tight ends 13 times, and the wide receivers nine.
| WR Mark Bradley, Rec: 1 - 17 - 0 (2 targets) |
Bradley had a couple of third quarter looks from Griese.
| WR Devin Hester, Rush: 1 - 5 - 0 |
Hester was limited in the return game as the Packers decided not to kick to him on kickoffs and managed to contain him on punt returns. In an effort to get the ball in his hands, the Bears handed off to him on an end around that resulted in a five yard gain.
| WR Rashied Davis, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (1 targets) |
Davis had one first quarter catch but was otherwise not a factor.
| TE Greg Olsen, Rec: 4 - 57 - 1 (8 targets) |
Olsen had his best game yet as a professional, leading the Bears in targets, receptions, and finishing second on the team in receiving yards. He had a nice jump ball catch for a 19 yard touchdown in the third quarter. Olsen was the target on Griese's lone interception.
| TE Desmond Clark, Rec: 3 - 62 - 1 (5 targets) |
Clark and Griese have chemistry, perhaps dating back to their time in Denver, according to NBC's John Madden. Clark led the team in receiving yards and caught the game winning 34 yard touchdown on a play action pass where he was wide open and Griese made a perfect throw.
| PK Robbie Gould 2 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points |
Gould was his typically accurate and strong-legged self, easily making both his field goal attempts of 44 and 36 yards and all three of his PATs.
| CHI Rush Defense |
Chicago's rush defense started slow but recovered well in the second half. They gave up 121 yards total to Packers' rushers DeShawn Wynn and Vernand Morency, but 102 came in the first half and only 19 came in the second. They allowed an early two-yard score to Wynn, but otherwise kept Green Bay's runners out of the end zone.
| CHI Pass Defense |
Chicago's pass defense gave up 322 yards on 29 of 40 passing for an average of 8.05 yards per attempt. They allowed one touchdown and had two interceptions. Brian Urlacher made the first interception that changed the momentum of the game, while safety Brandon McGowan picked off Green Bay's last second Hail Mary attempt. The pass rush generated one sack, by Tommie Harris.
| QB Brett Favre, Pass: 29 - 40 - 322 - 1 TD / 2 INT |
Favre had an excellent first half, but fell victim to a stout second half Bears' defense. He made plenty of good throws but it was one of his worst that changed the direction of the game. Favre tried to make a play happen after a scramble in the third quarter and ended up throwing the ball straight to middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. The sense at the time was that it was a game changing play, and that proved correct. Favre preferred his wide receivers Donald Driver and James Jones, targeting each eight times. His accuracy was mostly due to the short, dink-and-dunk type throws his was making, particularly to his tight ends (eight total targets) and running backs (ten total targets). He hooked up with Greg Jennings for a 41 yard touchdown strike in the second quarter that was a beautiful, perfectly thrown pass on a streak near the left sideline. Favre's second interception was a Hail Mary toss up that Driver nearly caught.
| RB Vernand Morency, Rush: 9 - 43 - 0, Rec: 7 - 48 - 0 (6 targets) |
Morency's return to the Green Bay was a good one, as he made the most of this time in the game when the starter DeShawn Wynn temporarily left the game with cramping and dehydration.
| RB DeShawn Wynn, Rush: 13 - 78 - 1, Rec: 1 - 13 - 0 (3 targets) |
Wynn had a solid game that was interrupted by a need to get an IV due to cramping and dehydration. Wynn had these issues in college at Florida so it's worth paying attention to going forward in case this could be a trend. He had a nice 44 yard run on the Packers' opening drive of the game that was set up by great blocking and was aided by some nice open field moves. Wynn capped that opening drive with a jumping two yard score. He led the Packers in rushing attempts, rushing yards, and added a 13 yard reception in the second half.
| RB Ryan Grant, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (1 targets) |
Grant had one look in the passing game with both Wynn and Morency out of the game.
| WR James Jones, Rec: 5 - 61 - 0 (8 targets) |
Jones had an up and down game. On the up side, he tied with Driver for the team lead in targets, catching five of them for 61 yards, both good for second on the team. On the down side, he had two separate lost fumbles during the first quarter that sent him to the bench until Greg Jennings injured his shoulder. Both fumbles came on slant routes where Jones caught the ball but was then stripped by Bears' cornerback Charles Tillman who was covering on the play. Favre seems to trust him, despite his turnover problems, as he targeted him four times in the fourth quarter, tops on the team. Jones was the target of Favre's game changing third quarter interception.
| WR Donald Driver, Rec: 4 - 51 - 0 (8 targets) |
Driver tied with fellow wide receiver James Jones for the team lead in targets. Driver was mostly the target on shorter routes, and even his longest reception (26 yards) was a short route where he had a nice run after the catch. Driver suffered a bit from Favre's willingness to distribute the ball to various targets and not being targeted in the deep game. He was the target of Favre's last second Hail Mary attempt that was intercepted by Chicago.
| WR Greg Jennings, Rec: 4 - 83 - 1 (4 targets) |
Jennings looks all came in the first half, as he left the game temporarily with a shoulder injury, and wasn't targeted again upon his return. He was Favre's preferred deep target, with catches of 28 and 41 yards, the latter of which was a second quarter touchdown.
| WR Ruvell Martin, Rec: 1 - 18 - 0 (1 targets) |
Martin had an 18 yard catch and run in the first quarter. He snagged a ball behind him on a slant route, and made a great instinctual move to take the ball outside his inside leaning defender for a nice chunk of yards after the catch.
| TE Bubba Franks, Rec: 3 - 18 - 0 (4 targets) |
Franks had three quarters of his targets come in the late part of the game; clearly Favre trusts him.
| TE Donald Lee, Rec: 3 - 23 - 0 (4 targets) |
Lee was the slightly more productive of the two Packers' tight ends in this game, out gaining Franks by five yards with the same number of receptions.
| PK Mason Crosby 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points |
Crosby continued a nice rookie campaign with two made field goals of 37 yards and two PATs. He didn't miss any kicks.
| GB Rush Defense |
Green Bay's rush defense shut down Cedric Benson and the Bears running attack, yielding only 82 yards on 33 carries for a 2.5 yards per carry average. They allowed a ten yard score from Benson in the second half but otherwise kept the Bears' runner out of the end zone. They forced no turnovers.
| GB Pass Defense |
Green Bay's pass defense gave up 214 yards on 15 of 25 passing for 8.56 yards per attempt. They allowed two second half touchdowns to Chicago's tight end duo of Desmond Clark and rookie Greg Olsen. They sacked Griese twice and intercepted him once.
