We were treated to two games of football in the span of 60 minutes on Sunday night. For the first 40 minutes, the were unstoppable on both sides of the ball. But over the final 20 minutes, the tweaked their offensive game plan to accommodate an injured and Green Bay overcame a 20-point deficit to over a Chicago team that could end up being really, really good this season. Bears offense flashes exciting upsideSunday night was supposed to be about one thing: the return of Aaron Rodgers. But the future Hall of Fame quarterback went down in the second quarter with the team trailing 10-0 to an upstart Bears team, and
Ronnie Stanley Jersey things got much, much worse before they got better. The Packers headed into the Sunday night as heavy favorites; all eight CBSSports.com experts . Partly because, at least on paper, Green Bay is a much better team. But also because Rodgers, who played just seven games last season because of a shoulder injury, was finally healthy and looking to make up for lost time after the Packers stumbled to seven wins in 2017 and mi sed the playoffs for the first time since 2008. But plans of complete and total domination went out the window on the Packers' first drive, which lasted five plays and 12 yards. And it all went downhill from there. Second-year Bears quarterback led his team on a 10-play touchdown drive, going 4 of 4 for 54 yards and punctuating it with this two-yard run. TRUUUUU! gives the the lead! : NBC NFL (@NFL) A Packers three-and-out later, Trubisky was back on the field. Nine plays and 60 yards after that, the Bears converted a field goal to take a 10-0 lead. For an idea of just how rare that scoreline is, the last time Chicago led Green Bay by 10 points was in 2007. As impre sive as Trubisky was (11 of 14, 109 yards in the first half), it's clear that first-year coach Matt Nagy, who comes from Kansas City, has big plans for , , , and . In Nagy's offense, which is right out of the Andy Reid playbook, Cohen is playing the role of , Howard is , Burton is and Robinson and Gabriel are and . This is where we mention the hung 38 on the Sunday. Here's a laser from Trubisky to Robinson that was his most impre sive throw on the
Orlando Brown Jr. Jersey night: ALLEN. ROBINSON.His first catch with the ! : NBC NFL (@NFL) If nothing else, Nagy's first-half play-calling was a refreshing change from the staid, predictable and ultimately ineffective offenses we were subjected to from John Fox.Mack makes instant mark for Bears defenseYes, Fox was a defensive guy, but from 2015-17, his defenses finished 31st, 23rd and 14th, according to . No, Fox didn't have the benefit of , who proved in the time it took him to make his way from the sidelines to the huddle that he's worth the Bears are paying him, and they should throw the another first-round pick for what he did to the Packers in the first half on Sunday night. Here's Mack's first snap, on the first series: . 's first snap with the : NBC NFL (@NFL) And on the
Mark Ingram II Jersey first drive after replaced Rodgers, Mack did : KHALIL MACK! INCREDIBLE. : NBC NFL (@NFL) That saved three points, and po sibly seven.But there's more! On the next drive, Mack collapsed the pocket, forced Kizer to his left where he was promptly met by rookie , who registered a sack on his very first snap. On his FIRST snap in the NFL... with the SACK. NFL (@NFL) Two plays later, Mack decided that mere sacks and turnovers weren't fully exploiting his otherworldly skills. KHALIL MACK PICK-6! Madne s. : NBC NFL (@NFL) Sweet Georgia Brown. Just a reminder: , and Mack didn't even take part in training camp or preseason. Another reminder: Jon Gruden didn't think Mack was worth the money. New Bears pa s rusher Khalil Mack is filling up the stat sheet. He already has a sack, interception, forced fumble, fumble recovery, and defensive TD in Week 1. The last player to do that in a game was...Khalil Mack in Week 12, 2016 against the Panthers. NFL Research (@NFLResearch) Unfortunately for Chicago, profe sional tackle football games are still four quarters. And while the Bears took advantage of a Rodgers-le s Packers offense for several series late in the first half, that all changed when he returned to the field clearly le s than 100 percent after intermi sion. Rodgers is the NFL's best player in case you were wonderingAaron Rodgers made his way back on the field with nine minutes to go in the third quarter and the Packers trailing, 20-0. Given that he limped to the
Ray Lewis Jersey sidelines a half-hour earlier, and took a cart into the locker room before it was announced that he was questionable to return with a knee injury, it was reasonable to expect coach Mike McCarthy to shut him down for the evening. Take the L, regroup, and get ready for next week's game against the . No reason to expose the franchise quarterback to an extended whipping all for what felt like insurmountable odds, right? Nope. Instead, Rodgers was back under center on Green Bay's first drive of the second half, and the Packers' offense finally found its rhythm to the tune of a 12-play drive. And with three-and-a-half minutes to go in the third quarter, Green Bay finally got on the board with a 42-yard field goal. Baby steps. On the next series, it was vintage Rodgers, starting with a rope on third-and-14 that moved the sticks. Five plays later, he dropped a 39-yard dime to cut the lead in half, 20-10. That dude. goin' DEEEEEP. : NBC NFL (@NFL) It started to feel like everybody -- Packers fans, Rodgers, Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth and, of course, the Bears -- knew how this was going to end. The Packers' decision to go no-huddle in the second half neutralized the Bears' dominant first-half pa s rush, making McCarthy's decision to return to his veteran quarterback a smart one. Also making McCarthy look smart: Rodgers doing on the very next drive: . for SIX!17 unanswered points for the . : NBC NFL (@NFL) Seventeen unanswered points seemed to indicate the inevitable Bears implosion, but after back-to
Marlon Humphrey Jersey -back three-and-outs, and the score at 20-17 with nine minutes to go, Chicago held on for dear life. On their penultimate drive, the Bears were 3 of 4 on third down, which included Trubisky running for a first down then calmly rolling right and finding on third-and-7 from the Packers' 49-yard line with 3:28 to go. Then Howard on second-and-13 rushed for 11 yards down to the Packers' 14. After an incomplete pa s, the Bears kicked the field goal, giving them a 23-17 lead with 2:39 to go. But here's the thing: Should the Bears have gone for it? If they failed to convert, the Packers would have started on their own 14-yard line. Given the way Rodgers was playing, Green Bay wasn't settling for a field goal. By kicking, Chicago led by six points, which would basically guarantee a one-point lo s after a Rodgers touchdown drive. Put another way: There are several reasons John Fox is out of work. One of those reasons i
