Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers: Full Report Card Grades for Green Bay

Well, that was fun.

With both teams coming off their bye weeks, the Green Bay Packers (6-3) absolutely trashed the Chicago Bears (3-6) 55-14 at Lambeau Field on Sunday Night Football. Aaron Rodgers tied an NFL record with six first-half touchdown passes, and the defense looked revitalized after a poor showing in a Week 8 44-23 drubbing.

Jay Cutler was “Same old Jay,” tossing two interceptions—one returned for a touchdown—and Matt Forte couldn’t get anything going on the ground, totaling just 54 yards on 17 carries.

Let's take a look at how each positional group fared in Sunday's prime-time trashing.

Had Aaron Rodgers played the entirety of the game, he would have easily made (more) NFL history against the Bears.

The MVP quarterback took advantage of superb pass protection and blown coverages from the Chicago secondary, putting together one of his finest performances as a pro. He put the ball where only his guys could get their hands on it time and again. The way he flicks the ball 50-plus yards in the air on a rope while sprinting to his right is a thing of beauty. Just a vintage Aaron Rodgers performance.

Matt Flynn entered the game in the third quarter and was mostly ineffective, hitting on just one of his five passes for four yards.

Grade: A+

Mike McCarthy didn’t ask a whole lot out of his running backs Sunday night. 

But, when called upon, they stepped up. The highlight was Eddie Lacy’s 56-yard touchdown scamper on a perfectly executed screen pass, convoyed by the Packers offensive line and a hustling Jordy Nelson. The second-year Alabama star now has 191 receiving yards the last two games.

DuJuan Harris’ number was called often in garbage time, and the former starter impressed mightily, showing the shiftiness Packers fans came to love in 2012.

We also got some "KUHHHHNNNNN" chats in the fourth quarter, and those are always fun.

Grade: A

Aaron Rodgers’ weapons picked up right where they left off in Chicago.

Seldomly used tight ends Brandon Bostick and Andrew Quarless got the scoring started with one-yard and four-yard touchdown catches, respectively, in the first quarter. Then, it was Jordy Nelson with big grabs of 73 and 40 yards to put the game effectively out of reach. The first came off a blown coverage, and the second was just bad coverage.

Randall Cobb’s 18-yard score at the end of the first half was perhaps his finest catch of his young career, outstretched and with one hand with a defender on his back and fighting for the ball. Truly an outstanding play. Cobb did lose a fumble earlier in the game, the lone blemish from an otherwise spotless night from this group.

Grade: A

To say the Bears defensive line has had trouble getting pressure on Aaron Rodgers would be the understatement of the century.

In Week 4, Chicago did not register a QB hit, and the defense’s only sack came when Rodgers scrambled out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage.

On Sunday, the Bears were able to hit the QB some—five hits, according to the stat sheet—but no sacks. That’s a big reason why Rodgers has 10 touchdowns and no interceptions versus the Bears in 2014.

The offensive line did an amazing job clearing a path for Eddie Lacy on his screen pass that went for six. The running game averaged 4.1 yards per carry on 32 rushes. Backups Garth Gerhart, JC Tretter and Lane Taylor all saw action in garbage time. 

Grade: A+

Near the end of the second quarter, Julius Peppers completed the pass-rusher trifecta: a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery. He stood up with the ball and stared directly at the Bears sideline. He was sending a message.

Peppers and the rest of Dom Capers’ hogs up front bounced back after an embarrassing performance versus the Saints, generating the pressure up the middle that quarterbacks hate most. Peppers had two passes defensed, with one leading directly to a Micah Hyde interception.

Datone Jones recorded a tackle for loss in his first game back from injury.

Grade: A

When the Packers released their inactive list 90 minutes prior to the game, they noted that Sam Barrington would start at inside backer opposite A.J. Hawk, replacing Jamari Lattimore, who was a healthy scratch.

They were lying.

Instead, it was Clay Matthews, moving inside from his normal roll on the outside, and he had himself a day, totaling 11 tackles (9 solo) with a sack and two tackles for loss. He actually sacked Cutler twice, but one was wiped out due to a questionable personal foul penalty.

The NBC broadcast did a good job highlighting all the ground covered by No. 52 and his free-flowing locks. He looks like an entirely different player than the one we saw at Miami, when it was clear Matthews wasn’t 100 percent.

Hawk got isolated against Matt Forte a couple times, and it went exactly as poorly as you’d expect.

Grade: A

It must be fun to be a member of the Packers secondary when Jay Cutler comes to town.

It was more of the same from the former Vanderbilt gunslinger, offering up picks in his usual fashion. Micah Hyde made a nice play undercutting a pass intended for tight end Martellus Bennett and coming up with his first NFL interception. He was excellent in run support as well. 

Casey Hayward got his ninth career pick when Cutler bounced a pass off guard Kyle Long’s helmet and into the third-year player’s waiting arms. He raced 82 yards for the defensive score. 

Sam Shields was embarrassed on Chicago’s lone offensive score when Brandon Marshall stiff-armed the defensive back to the ground en route to his 45-yard touchdown.

Grade: B+

This was looking to be a banner night for the Packers special teams. But, Bears receiver Chris Williams had to go spoil it with his 101-yard touchdown return in the fourth quarter. He totaled 10 returns in all, and taking out the long return he averaged less than 21 yards per return, an excellent number.

Jarrett Boykin made a hell of a play with his forced fumble on a Bears punt attempt after their first drive of the second half stalled. Lined up on the left side of the formation, Boykin shook his man off the snap and raced toward the punter, eventually getting his foot on the ball and giving Green Bay great field position. Not that the Packers really needed it.

Tim Masthay finally got some action in against the Bears after a puntless day at Chicago in Week 4.
Mason Crosby nailed both of his field-goal attempts, a 20- and 52-yarder.

Grade: A-

I’d love to give McCarthy an A+ here, but I’m still perplexed over the challenge flag he threw in an attempt to overturn the most meaningless of three-yard completions.

Dumb challenge aside, though, this was an unbelievable coaching performance. He refocused his team after the bye week, and the hard work was evident with spot-on execution. Contrast that with the Bears, who spent their night blowing coverages, drawing dead-ball penalties and generally doing dumb things.

Defensive coordinator Dom Capers would be the greatest defensive mastermind of all time if his defense played versus the rest of the league as well as it does against the Bears. He just owns Jay Cutler.

Grade: A

This was the perfect game to wash the sour taste out of Packers fans' mouths. Blowout wins are fun, but blowout wins on prime time against your biggest rival are something else.

This team is pretty healthy—especially compared to the usual rash of injures teams endure, knock on wood—and entering the second half of the season with some serious momentum. Rodgers is hot, the defense may have found its spark with Matthews at ILB and the schedule shapes up pretty nicely going forward. Next up on the Week 11 docket is Mark Sanchez and the Philadelphia Eagles (6-2)—Sunday, Nov. 16 at 4:25 p.m. ET—who currently sit in first place in the NFC East.

Follow me on Twitter @PeterSowards.