HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

Pack Pounds Bears; Shut Marshall's Mouth

 

Christmas came a little early for the Green Bay Packers this year. They must have been exceptionally good because when they woke up on December 17 they found themselves in first place with another NFC North title, a lock on the playoffs, at least one home game in the big dance, an excellent shot at a seeding of #2, a receiver who leads the NFL in TD’s, an improving defense and to make this Christmas a complete one they did it at the expense of the hated Chicago Bears. Da win over Da Bears sealed another title for Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy and in a double whammy the win has also put the Bears recent slide into overdrive, so much so that the Bears are threatening to fall completely out of the playoff hunt.

Whenever the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears hook up there is bound to be some animosity. Close in proximity, bound by history each team plays the other with a ferocity only a few other teams know. Brandon Marshall came out early in the week by saying how much he “disliked the Packers and their players.” He then challenged, dared the Pack’s secondary to try to cover him.

Marshall has some juice behind the braggadocio. He came in leading the NFL in receptions with 101 and yardage with 1,342. He went out beaten and silenced and calling for other members of his team to lose their jobs. His reunion with Jay Cutler in the Windy City has been as trumpeted as loudly as the last big reunion when Don Henley kissed and made up with Glenn Frey of the band the Eagles.

In the first meeting this season it was Cutler gleefully wishing the Packers “good luck” in trying to cover his bevy of receivers. This time it was Marshall downplaying the Packers after they kept him to 2 catches for 24 yards. Cutler learned the hard way about shooting his mouth off. Marshall goaded the Packers in the press daring them to try and stop him one on one. Marshall was held to a paltry 56 yards and the lone Bears TD and failed to deliver on his promise of a big win.

This game was, for all intents and purposes, a playoff game. At stake for the Packers was the NFC North crown. For the Bears it was put up or shut up. The Bears have been reeling since the hallway point of the campaign. After opening with 7 wins the Bears have one solitary W to add to the count and are in serious jeopardy of finding themselves on the outside looking in, a feat almost unimaginable earlier this year. The Bears came in angry and the Packers were loaded for Bear.

While the Packers were putting in a far less than brilliant early season and getting hosed by a few incompetent officials the Bears broke fast. At one point Green Bay occupied the basement and the city of Chicago was giddy with the notion of the Pack’s demise. The injuries began to pile up. A horrendous second half collapse against Indy ensued. Last year the Packers made the blowout the norm as QB Aaron Rodgers was almost perfect in every aspect of the game. Rodgers and the offense were so dominating it covered up the suspect defense that ultimately was exposed in the playoffs.

Winning ugly has been the theme this year. After Indy rallied and the Packers blew a huge 18 point halftime lead there were more than a few doubters in the crowd. Somehow Green Bay found itself in the next matchup against the new powerhouse in the AFC when Green Bay completely and totally dismantled the Houston Texans. The Packers became hot losing only to the Giants in an embarrassing performance. Marshall may have felt confident in running his mouth.

While Marshall leads the league in catches the new TD machine of the NFL is James Jones, the quiet, often overlooked 4^th receiver in the Packers arsenal behind Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson and breakout star Randall Cobb and the last hurrah of seldom used Donald Driver. Jones clearly is the 5^th Beatle in this contingent. Remember when there was preseason talk about dealing Jones? About how Jones couldn’t make the crucial catch? Or that Jones had the dropsies? Any talk of Jones’ lack of value in the offense has been dispelled. As both Jennings and Nelson have now each missed large chunks of the season it has been Jones who has very quietly put together and almost certain Pro Bowl season. While Cobb is flashy and spectacular Jones flies under the radar and just produces. Jones’ strength is his route running and ability to find the hole in coverage. He already has at least 3 ESPN da da duh da da dunt play of the year highlight snags this year. His 12 TD’s lead the NFL by a good margin, and there are few quotes coming from Jones that could end up on a locker room wall.

While Brandon Marshall has been more like Brandon Marshmallow against the Packers Jones was a literal one man wrecking crew. He and Rodgers hooked up 3 times and each score came at a significant time. Jones first one brought the Pack out a first period funk and knotted the game 7 -7. The young defense once again swung the game on a big play. Cutler did what Cutler always does. He looked for a receiver, wound up, and fired a bullet…right into the hands of rookie Casey Hayward whose eyes were as big as saucers when he saw the perfectly thrown spiral directly at him. Hayward’s 6^th pick of the year leads all NFL rookies and is among the league leaders.

TD #2 put the Pack in front and when Jones came down with his 3^rd in the 3^rd It threatened to blow the game wide open.

If the Packers were in a funk early then K Mason Crosby has taken up an extended stay. Crosby’s first attempt from 41 yards was so bad it was almost laughable. A random kicker selected from the stands to make the same shot would have fared better. Crosby seems to be striking the ball well, but when his solid boot clanged off the left upright from 42 McCarthy had finally seen enough. Crosby himself knows how bad he has been. When McCarthy opted to go for it on 4^th down at the Bear 30 the message was clear. McCarthy has zero faith or confidence in his kicker. Granted a brilliant Rodgers play (again) extended the drive (again) and resulted in a key TD. But Crosby has become the pimple on the nose that no amount of makeup can cover anymore. The Bears lost K Robbie Gould for the year, turned right around and signed 174 year old Olindo Mare and when the old man can knock two through and your guy can’t match him  it’s time not just to bring in competition but maybe to give Crosby the boot.

But Crosby was not alone in the awful department. After the Bears closed the gap to 21 -10 on the ensuing kickoff what transpired can only be described as ‘bizarre.’  As Randall Cobb fielded the kick he ran up the right side but suddenly pulled up short. The former quarterback then wound up and threw ACROSS the field to rookie Jeremy Ross. The ball popped loose and Chicago recovered on the Packer 11. McCarthy was criticized early in his career for his lack of imagination and predicatble play calling. Lately he has been much friskier and the risks have been rewarded with few glitches. Yes, he’s pulled off a fake punt or three that have been wildly successful.

The execution and timing of this ill-fated play could not have been worse. The Packers had consumed almost 7 minutes in opening the 3^rd quarter the ended with Jones in the end zone (again). The Bears ran the clock down to just a little over 1 quarter of football to play. With a two score the notion of this play will become a “What the hell were ya thinking??” play in the years to come. The risk this time blew right up in the Packers face and suddenly the Bears could and would and most likely should turn it into a 21 -17 game.

Once again the Bears did what they always do. Cutler was hounded relentlessly by the Packers swarming defense. The last thing Cutler wanted to see was the return of Clay Matthews. Matthews and Cutler are becoming a lot like the characters in the Warner Brother cartoons where the Sheepdog picks up the wolf at the door, they exchange pleasantries as they clock into work together and then  spend the next 3hours beating the living hell out of each other. But it is Matthews who does most of the damage. Even after missing 4 games he leads the Packers with 9 sacks. His 2 on Sunday move him right back among the NFL leaders. In typical fashion the Bears then began to march a drive to their own goal line – backwards.  Penalties and sacks pushed the Bears away from the end zone. The Packer D held and kept what could have been a game changing gaffe limited to a FG by Mare, the last points either team would score.

Mike Neal also returned after a shoulder injury and looked impressive against the run and had a sack of his own. CB Sam Shields finally may have had a few go his way. But there were questions if Shields would be able to escape the flag on the penalties his opponent committed. Early on rookie WR Alshon Jeffery drew Shields and as the much taller than the much faster Shields jockeyed for position Jeffery reached out, grabbed Shields by the facemask and yanked Shields out of his way disdainfully. When the yellow laundry hit Packer coach Mike McCarthy began applauding. When he realized the penalty was on Shields the next thing he hit was the roof. The poor ref looked like he wanted a replacement right there as McCarthy unloaded on him. The only printable part of McCarthy’s tirade ended with “…bad call…”

There are good officials and there are bad officials. The bad official will make a bad call, realize it, and then call it every time because he called it the first time and hey – gotta at least be consistent. The good ones get together and go “okay fellas… we saw what happened. Keep your eyes on the guy he’s with….” Or similar words to that effect. After seeing how Jeffery had a grasp on Shields helmet and that the view was obscured on the field Jeffery had sold as much as he could, and the buyers dried up.

One offensive pass interference call is occasional but not routine. Two is a lot of offensive pass interference calls. But three? Not only is it hard to fathom but 3 were called on Jeffery late in the second half after he got away with one. Shields had some small measure of retribution when he clearly yanked Jeffery’s shirt out of his jockstrap but had no call as the game wound down. Marshall could be heard saying “yeah…try that MY way…”

Marshall was rendered as impotent as his mouth. The Bears once had a hammerlock on the division and title and for the third straight year the Packers have wiped their feet on them. There is dancing in the streets of Green Bay, and as more and more of the injured get healthy and return the playoff picture has become much clearer and has a decided tint of green and gold.

For the Bears both Cutler and Marshall got a lump of coal in their stockings. Cutler once again had a horrendous day against the Packers throwing for 135 yards with 1 TD and 1 interception. RB Matt Forte was held in check and with the exception being the Bears opening drive the Packers dominated the play after the 1^st quarter. As the playoffs are just around the corner, the Packers are suddenly becoming a hot team heading in at just the right time. As the injured get healthy and return to the ranks, the Pack looks poised for an extended run. The Bears however are in total free fall. With the Redskins playing well and the Cowboys in the same shoes Chicago could very well be on the outside looking in. The Packers shut Marshall’s mouth, locked up the title, clinched a game in Lambeau at least and celebrated at the Bear’s expense.

Now, Santa, if Crosby, or Ryan Longwell or Billy Cundiff could only add to this…?