GREEN BAY – The Packers did exactly what they needed to Sunday night, and did it impressively.
Rebounding from a tough overtime loss last week, Green Bay buried the archrival Chicago Bears under an onslaught of crisp offense and big-play defense at Lambeau Field.
The 41-25 triumph, which marked the Packers’ 100th win in the all-time series, wasn’t nearly as close as the final score. Most important, it put the Packers in complete control of the NFC North race with an 8-3 record, three games up on both the Bears and Vikings with just five games left.
“I like where we’re at,” said quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who threw four TD passes to four different teammates in posting a 132.3 passer rating. “To bounce back against a division rival in a game that could really put us in the driver’s seat, we played the way we need to play.
“I said before the game, and I believe it, if you want to be a great team, these are the games you’ve got to win.”
The efficiency from Head Coach Matt LaFleur’s offense was evident from the start, as the mix of run and pass kept the Bears on their heels. The Packers scored touchdowns the first three times they had the ball and never really looked back.
As running backs Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams combined for 163 rushing yards, Rodgers was 21-of-29 for 211 yards in surpassing 50,000 passing yards for his career.
Chicago’s defense, which sorely missed lineman Akiem Hicks (hamstring injury), came into the game ranked first in the league both on third downs and in the red zone, but the Packers dominated those areas.
Green Bay converted 6-of-11 on third down (55%) and scored TDs on 4-of-5 red-zone trips (80%), with the only failure coming on the game-ending kneel-downs.
