Chicago Bears defeat Green Bay Packers 20 to 17 – First Quarter
With Monday’s win the Chicago Bears are now the only unbeaten team in the NFC standing at 3-0 while the Green Bay Packers slip to 2-1. For the Bears it is their first 3-0 start since 2006 and this time they have clearly earned it. Monday night football was a spectacle as always.
The Bears were off to a very rough start. Returning a 74 yards kick by Mason Crosby to the Chicago 18 yard line, Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler took the Green Bay Packers defence to task. The Packers are one of the strongest defensive sides in the NFL and this Monday they showed what makes them so good. In the second minute of the first quarter Cutler started the drive for Chicago with a deep middle pass to Johnny Knox for 23 yards. The Packers came back strong.
Next play saw the Bear’s quarterback sacked. It was Frank Zombo for Green Bay who got the credit for the sack but the entire Green Bay defence crashed into the quarterback. Cutler was crushed between the linebacker and nose tackle B.J. Raji. Cornerback Charles Woodson and linebacker Clay Mathews cut off the Quarterback when he tried to escape the Packers to the right forcing him into the middle and between Zombo and Raji. The Bears lost 10 yards in the play.
After the sack the Bear’s offence took a step back. While Chicago continued to cover yards they were visibly more cautious. No play in the next 8 covered more than 12 yards. They started focusing on the running game with the quarterback passing only 3 times, one of which was an incomplete pass and the other two earned Chicago 13 yards. While the quarterback took a back seat, running back Matt Forte upped the ante.
The drive in the end was still fruitless but the Bear’s offence can’t really be blamed. They put up a good fight and got kicker Robbie Gould within 31 yards of the end zone. Gould attempted the field goal but the distance was too much for him and the attempt was no good.
The Packers offence wasted no time; Green Bay travelled 41 yards in 3 plays with quarterback Aaron Rodgers completing 11 and 26 yard passes consecutively. Aaron took the ball deep and to the right behind the line of scrimmage while he looked for an open receiver and found Jermichael Finley. The pass was virtually flawless, but Safety Chris Haris was the one who pulled down Finley.
The packers were into the red zone but stopped in their tracks. They lost a yard in one play and were penalized 5 yards in their next move. Rodgers though wasn’t deterred. He came back again with an 18 yard pass to wide receiver Greg Jennings to bring them 7 yards from touchdown. Packers called their first timeout with four and a half minutes on the clock remaining.
Rodgers picked Jennings for the final dash into the end zone. Jennings came around the middle from the left and went deep into the end zone to open himself up for the pass. Rodgers completed the 7 yard short middle touchdown pass to put the first points on the board for either team. The extra point was also good.
After the touchdown the Packer first kicked from the 30 yard line but a penalty on Desmond Bishop pushed them back 5 yards. The Crosby in return kicked 7 yards further next time. Bear’s Danieal Manning returned for 44 yards from the -1 yard line. The drive that followed should have been led by Chicago’s quarterback but appeared to be all about penalties instead. On the 43 yard line Cutler attempted to pass to tight end Greg Olson but could not complete. An offensive holding penalty pushed the Bears 10 yards back to the 33 yard line but it was followed by a face mask penalty on Packers’ linebacker Clay Matthews for 15 yards. Two plays later Cutler was intercepted.
Cutler was way off target. Greg Olson was the intended target of the deep middle pass but the ball overshot him and landed in the safe hands of free safety Derrick Martin. While Olsen could get nowhere near the pass he was able to get a hand on Martin and trip him. Martin got back again but Chicago had caught up to him by then. Martin raked in 15 yard in the play for Green Bay. 2 minutes remained in the quarter. The Packers drive was short and unsuccessful and the quarter ended with Chicago in possession.
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