Green Bay's Packers moved to 8-3 on the season Sunday, skinning the Chicago Bears in the process with a 41-25 win.
That's the 100th Packer victory in this, the oldest continuous rivalry in the National Football League. And the two clubs will wrap up this rather strange 2020 season with the final game of the year in Chicago, the 200th meeting.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers led a balanced Green Bay attack, throwing for 211 yards and four touchdowns (all to different receivers) while running backs Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams ran for 90 and 73 yards respectively.
Still, Packer fans, don't get too excited. This was a beat-up Bears team and on-again, off-again quarterback Mitch Trubisky (known as 'Mitch Biscuits' around our house) gave up a pair of interceptions along with a fumble that Green Bay's Preston Smith returned for a touchdown.
Why the concern? Because Green Bay continues to struggle trying to stop the run. Chicago's David Montgomery rushed for 103 yards on 11 carries -- including a 57-yard run in the first quarter that put the Bears in the red zone, where the Packer defense finally stiffened to yield just a field goal. Down big by halftime, Chicago had to turn away from the run or the numbers might have been worse.
With five games remaining on the schedule, and three of those at Lambeau Field, I think the best the Pack can do is 4-1. That's because, in the next-to-last game, the Tennessee Titans come to town.
If Green Bay's run defense hasn't been able corral the likes of Minnesota's Delvin Cook, for example, what do we think the chances of stopping the Titans' Derrick Henry are? This 250-pounder ran all over a pretty solid Indianapolis defense this week for 178 yards and three touchdowns. And he just gets tougher and tougher to stop as the weather gets colder.
Just being a realist here.
Still, if the Packers can down Philadelphia, Detroit and Carolina to go to 11-3, a blip against Tennessee will be forgiven. The team holds a three-game advantage on both Chicago and Minnesota going into this week.
If all goes as it should, that finale in Chicago will be a moot point for the playoff-bound Packers.
AT LEAST the Packers have a stadium to call home! Seems that the San Francisco 49ers will be forced to abandon their home field and relocate to Arizona for the final five weeks -- because of country restrictions. The 49ers will share the Cardinals' stadium.
But, hey, it's not like home crowds factor in to games this Covid-19 season.
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