The renewing of the rivalry between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears on Sunday night at Lambeau Field produced one of the wildest 15-minute stretches of football in the history of the NFL.
It’s going to be hard to forget the avalanche of entertainment delivered by the second quarter.
After just three points scored in the first quarter, the Packers and Bears combined to score 45 total points during a big-play frenzy over the next 15 minutes.
Just how incredible was the second quarter? According to NFL Research, Sunday night was the first time since at least 1925 that a single quarter produced five total touchdowns of at least 35 yards.
Amazingly, four of the five touchdowns came during the final five minutes of the quarter, including a defensive and special teams touchdown.
Here’s the rundown:
1. Jakeem Grant 46-yard touchdown pass from Justin Fields (11:09)
2. Rasul Douglas 55-yard interception return touchdown (4:59)
3. Damiere Byrd 54-yard touchdown pass from Justin Fields (3:21)
4. Jakeem Grant 97-yard punt return touchdown (1:32)
5. Davante Adams 38-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers (0:44)
The Packers also scored a touchdown on a fourth down conversion from Rodgers to Allen Lazard.
Both teams scored three touchdowns each in the quarter, and the Bears tacked on a late field goal as time expired.
All the scores were incredible in their own way.
Grant caught a shovel pass from Fields moving to his left, turned on turbo speed down the far sideline and raced into the end zone to give the Bears a 10-0 lead.
Douglas jumped a pass to the sideline from Fields and delivered his second pick-six in as many games, giving the Packers a 14-10 lead.
Byrd lined up in the backfield and beat Henry Black on an angle route before sprinting past the rest of the Packers defense, once again giving back the lead to the Bears.
Grant caught a punt inside the 5-yard line, danced around a swarm of defenders and then jetted through a crease in the coverage, creating the first punt return touchdown in the NFL this season and giving the Bears a 24-14 lead.
Adams beat Bears cornerback Xavier Crawford with a double move and made an incredible juke after catching the ball in traffic inside the 5-yard line, capping off a frantic 75-play scoring drive that took only 48 seconds.
Here’s how the second quarter looked in the box score, via ESPN:
From 3-0 to 27-21 in the span of just 15 wild minutes.
Halftime provided a breather of both times, but only one team kept pace after the break. The Packers took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and marched down the field for a touchdown, and then Preston Smith’s strip-sack of Fields set up Aaron Jones’ 23-yard touchdown catch on an improvised play by Rodgers one play later. Just like that, the Packers turned a 27-21 deficit into a 35-27 advantage, and Matt LaFleur’s team never looked back.
