Forget about what are called the “skill” position players;
Thursday’s night’s contest in Green Bay was about re-establishing defense and
their special teams. Green Bay harassed
and harried Jake Cutler all night
time, sacking him seven times, 3.5 of which were credited to Packers LB Clay Matthews. The Green Bay secondary, which was
expected to be tested, stood firm, relinquishing just one touchdown, and
intercepted Cutler four times. For the
eighth straight contest, the Packers held Matt
Forte without a touchdown, and kept him in check for just 80 total
yards. Brandon Marshall was even less effective, grabbing two catches for
just 24 yards. Heck, the Bears didn’t
manage a first down until the second quarter.
The Bears handled Aaron Rodgers
as well, holding him to just 219 passing yards and a touchdown, while sacking
him five times. New running back Cedric Benson amassed 81 yards rushing
and a surprising 35 yards receiving on four catches. At the end of the first half the only
touchdown scored was generated by the Green Bay special teams on a fake field
goal attempt. What this says about each
team is that both lines are struggling to protect their quarterbacks. In just two games, Cutler has been sacked nine times, and Rodgers eight, putting both QBs one-fifth of the way to the numbers of
sacks each had all last season. What
this also says is that both team’s defenses have just started to warm up. It also says that the Bears vaunted offense
is still learning each other, and hadn’t faced a unit as veteran and
opportunistic as Green Bay. What this says even more is how good San Francisco
really is to have held the Green Bay offense in check all day while protecting
their QB. The good news is that Greg Jennings has 11 days to heal up and
should be ready for the Packers’ Monday night contest against Seattle. Big note coming out of this game, Matt Forte
is once again injured with an ankle sprain.
Check the injury reports in the coming days to see if it’s a high ankle sprain. The Bears can ill-afford to lose Forte for an
extended period of time, even with Michael
Bush on their roster. Forte is just too crucial as a part of the passing offense. If you rostered Forte and handcuffed him with Bush, you're not going to get the same kind of output., as the most receptions he's ever had in a season was 37. He has yet to make a catch in 2012.
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