PACK SACKS SAD SACK CUTLER

Jay Cutler is a man of many emotions. He is trying to rehab his image after sulking on the sidelines in the playoff game against Green Bay. He wants to be the leader, the firebrand, the heart, soul, and voice of the Bears.

Jay Cutler wished the Packers secondary “good luck” in covering his receivers before the 1 – 0 Chicago Bears took the field against the Packers on Thursday night.

Turns out they didn’t need any luck. They had Cutler. “I know Jay’s excited about his receivers, but we didn’t need any luck tonight” said defensive leader Charles Woodson. “We had Jay. And he did what he always does – he threw the defense the ball. We know he’s going to come out and he’s going to throw picks. ”

Ouch.

Jay Cutler can also be the type of teammate to inspire his teammates. Witness LT Jamarcus Webb, all 6’ 5” and 320 lbs. of him being chewed in in a profanity laced tirade after Clay Matthews deposited Cutler onto his backside for the 3 third time last night, a tantrum that also included Cutler shoving his left tackle. Now, to be fair, the best effort Webb could muster against the suddenly resurgent wild man of the Packers was to be a matador to Matthews’ raging bull and yell “OLE!” every time Matthews blew past him. And as Cutler implodes he tends to behave much like a 6 year who didn’t get chocolate pudding.

For a Packer fan base that was dangerously close to jumping from the ledge this game came as a tonic at the right time. News flash: The Packers did not win it with offense last night. They did not have any home run strikes that Aaron Rodgers and his band of receivers have come to be known.  In fact, Rodgers like rather pedestrian and the Packers looked like a completely well rounded team. The Pack won the game against the Bears in the NFL’s oldest rivalry in a fitting fashion. They did it the old fashioned way, with defense and with a pounding running game.

 You read that right – the Packers won with defense and a running attack.

Former Bear Cedric Benson did not rip any huge gains off but he relentlessly hammered away at a Bears defense that began to show a lot of wear by the end of the game. Benson hauled the rock 20 times, a staggering number given Green Bay’s passing prowess. His 81 yards were hardly spectacular, but they were exactly what Mike McCarthy has been seeking for more than a couple years. Benson’s consistent 4, 5 and 6 yard runs thru the heart of the Bears defense drove a stake right through their heart. Cutler may have inadvertently awakened a slumbering giant as the entire Packers team played as complete a game in all 3 phases – offense, defense, and special teams as any Packer squad in recent memory. In this game the offense was the 3^rd of the 3 groups.

Give McCarthy credit for having the cajones to dare to try what he and special teams coach Shawn Slocum dared to try. Last night Mason Crosby lined up for a 45 yard field goal. The Bears tipped their hand by stuffing the middle of the field knowing it would be a low trajectory kick and they would make every effort to block it. But MM and the Packers had a little trickeration up their sleeves.

As the ball was snapped, Crosby immediately broke to his left. In doing so he pulled edge rusher CB Charles Tillman with him to cover Crosby in the flank as a receiver. TE Tom Crabtree then cut right under Crosby unnoticed and holder P Tim Masthay calmly flipped a short shovel pass into Crabtree’s hands. The casual nature of Masthay’s flip and its trajectory decoyed the mass of humanity in the middle of the line into thinking the ball had come from Crosby’s foot. The Bears committed all but Tillman, the only player on the field with enough speed to run down Crabtree from behind, to the center of the field allowing Evan Dietrich Smith and newcomer Don Barclay to plow the road ahead of Crabtree who then sprinted untouched into the end zone for the Packers first TD, opening up a 10 point margin.

The Packers defense, the much maligned Packers defense, a defense that ranked dead last a season ago and was one of the worst passing defenses in history is showing early dividends. LB Nick Perry has yet to register a sack, but he is not needed to do that. Perry did a great job in taking heat away from the double teams Matthews so routinely saw last year, and OLB Erik Walden returned from a 1 game suspension to add fuel to Matthews’ fire. The biggest weakness on the Bears is their porous offensive line, a line that saw no key additions in the off season. Webb had the misfortune of lining up across from Clay Matthews and is probably not sleeping well after Matthews ran under, around, and over him in dropping Cutler 3 ½ times and applying constant pressure all night. After 2 games Matthews leads the NFL with 6 sacks, the exact same total he had all of last year.

The off season mandate of the Packers couldn’t be any more obvious than the “G” on their helmets – improve the pass rush and improve the defense as a whole. One thing became perfectly clear last night. When – no longer ‘if’ – the Pack generates a pass rush their secondary is a hell of a lot better. Tramon Williams looked the All Pro he was 2 years ago in picking off Cutler twice. Williams also covered WR Brandon Marshall so closely the Marshall may have felt he had to peel Williams’ jersey off along with his own after the game. Marshall, the Bears’ new weapon of whom Cutler thought so much as to spit in the face of the Packers, had 2 insignificant catches and a very significant gaffe when he dropped an easy TD pass after Williams slipped in the only time he was truly open. Sir Charles, his pride deeply wounded by Cutler’s scathing assessment of the Packers secondary, also had a diving interception, putting him right behind the Raven’s Ed Reed for most picks among active players. Newcomer S Jerron MacMillian also joined the fun in grabbing a Cutler misfire.

The only term that can be applied to the Pack’s pass rush is relentless. 7 times Cutler was deposited onto his keister. The best news of all is how the newcomers joined the attack of the Pack. D.J. Smith, now playing full time for IR’d Desmond Bishop, had a sack early, Erik Walden was in on a Matthews body slam and rookies Jerel Worthy and Mike Daniels both registered sacks. As Worthy and Daniels get more comfortable in the pro game their talent will eventually rise. And as this game was a throwback in its old school approach how fitting was it that the only offensive touchdown came from a Rodgers strike over the middle of the field to the ageless Donald Driver, who showed off a few ‘Dancing with the Stars’ moves in the end zone.

This is a Packers team that should continue to grow especially on defense.

The defense is still a work in progress. The Bears, and especially Cutler, found out in a very painful way it is one thing to beat up on the weak sisters of the NFL in Indy and another thing altogether to think they’re ready to bang heads with one of the NFL’s elite teams.

Yes – the Packers are just that… an elite team. They no longer need to light up the scoreboard like a pinball machine. They are not singularly tied to Rodgers to win. They won’t need to win shootouts. This team is beginning to show signs that they are capable of winning almost any type of game. It’s good – very good – that San Francisco was first on the schedule. It served as a wakeup call and the Niners are also an elite team. This was a statement game and the Packers answered the bell as a team in all 3 phases.

There’s an old saying that goes never wake a sleeping Bear. In this case the Bear should have just kept his big yap shut.