The Green Bay Packers escaped Soldier Field with a 20-19 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. A late touchdown drive engineered by Jordan Love and a dramatic special teams play as time expired allowed the Packers to improve to 7-3 and extend the winning streak over the Bears to 11 games.
Here are the stars, studs and duds from the Packers’ Week 11 win over the Bears:
Stars
DL Karl Brooks: His blocked field goal could be a season-altering play. With an 0-3 start in the NFC North a real possibility, Brooks beat a block and got just enough of Cairo Santos’ field goal attempt to avert disaster.
WR Christian Watson: He caught four passes for 150 yards despite running only 15 total routes. All four catches were impact plays. The first converted 3rd-and-11. The second — a 25-yarder — set up a touchdown. The third — contested 48-yarder between two defenders — got the Packers into the red zone. The fourth — a diving catch-and-run for 60 yards — set up the go-ahead, game-winning touchdown.
Studs
DE Rashan Gary: He led the team with five pressures and five stops. On the final drive, Gary went through left tackle Braxton Jones with power and corralled Caleb Williams for what really should have been the game-clinching play. On four different run plays, Gary was in on a tackle of a gain of two or fewer yards. More and more, Gary is relying on power to win. And more and more, he’s winning.
RB Josh Jacobs: His 21 touches created 134 yards, including a season-high 58 receiving yards. Jacobs had four plays of 10 or more yards, including two catches over 20 yards, and he scored a go-ahead 7-yard touchdown in the second half. The Packers found ways of getting him the ball in space in the passing game, and Jacobs responded with explosive plays. On the game’s first six plays, Jacobs rushed four times for 25 yards — setting the tone offensively. On the touchdown drive in the third quarter, Jacobs had 35 total yards, including an explosive play and the score.
QB Jordan Love: He extended his interception streak when he sailed a third-down throw to Tucker Kraft in the red zone, but that might have been one of his only negative plays of the afternoon. He hit five completions over 20 yards and was perfect passing against pressure, and he looked far more comfortable in the pocket and escaping to extend plays outside the pocket. The turnover was bad. The rest was really good.
Duds
LB Quay Walker: His pass breakup downfield was an impressive play, but Walker also failed to make stops on third or fourth down three different times, including one against Caleb Williams on fourth down and another on a Roshon Johnson’s 1-yard touchdown run on third down. He also took a terrible angle while trying to go under a block on D’Andre Swift’s touchdown run.
DL Kenny Clark: He played 48 snaps without recording a tackle against the run or a pressure as a pass-rusher. He’s been dealing with a toe injury all season, but it’s probably past time to start worrying about his lack of impact after signing a big deal this offseason.
S Xavier McKinney: He gave up three completions into his coverage, had a 15-yard penalty for a (questionable) late hit of bounds and missed two tackles, including one as the last-line defender on D’Andre Swift’s 39-yard touchdown run. This was McKinney’s worst game in a Packers uniform by a wide margin.
LB Edgerrin Cooper: The rookie gave up 43 yards after the catch into his coverage, twice failed to catch Caleb Williams on third-down scrambles and accomplished little as a pass-rusher despite six blitzing opportunities. He also missed a tackle, and got blocked by a receiver on Swift’s long touchdown.
DE Lukas Van Ness: In the first game of the post-Preston Smith era, Van Ness produced nothing more than one hurry and one missed tackle over 25 snaps. He was also flagged for offsides.
