Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Packer Plus
TOM SILVERSTEIN
O-line has successful block party against Bears
Green Bay — During preparation for the Chicago Bears earlier this week, offensive tackles Bryan Bulaga and David Bakhtiari were delivered the 15-play script that Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur draws up to start the game.
They immediately looked at each other because it was a deep ball that would put one of them out on an island against one of the Bears’ two lethal pass rushers.
“You don’t know which way it’s going to go, who’s going to be the open-end tackle, and then you’re most likely oneon-one with one of those guys,” Bulaga said. “It’s one of those you hear the first 15 and you go to bed that night, ‘all right, first play, it’s going to be on from the start.’
“You have to be ready from Play 1.” It turns out the play was blocked beautifully, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw a gorgeous deep ball to receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
Six points maybe, 60 yards at a minimum.
Only Valdes-Scantling short-armed the ball and let it slip right through his hands.
By the time the 21-13 playoff-clinching victory at Lambeau Field on Sunday was over, Bulaga, Bakhtiari and the rest of the offensive line had proved not only were they ready from “Play 1,” they had held the Bears front four to no sacks and two quarterback hits.
It was only the fifth game this season in which all four of the Bears’ top four pass rushers — Khalil Mack, Leonard Floyd, Akiem Hicks and Nick Williams — failed to get a sack. It came on the same day Hicks came off injured reserve following an eight-game absence to play against the team he regularly dominates.
“You look back at Week 1 to what happened today, especially in pro(tection), it was a big improvement, something that I know the five guys upfront take a lot of pride in when you go up against a unit like that, has studs up and down it,” Bulaga said. “You have to be ready. It was something like I felt we did a nice job.”
There are all kind of caveats such as Hicks having to leave the game twice because he aggravated his elbow, the game was played on a slow grass track and the Bears’ two outstanding inside linebackers — Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan — did not play, but the fact of the matter is Rodgers spent a lot of the day on his feet.
But here’s the thing: as well as the offensive line played against the fearsome Bears pass rush, the offense still looked stuck in mud.
The Packers had touchdown drives of 35, 73 and 66 yards, but they only ran 58 plays (compared to Chicago’s 83), gained just 12 first downs (to Chicago’s 20) and gained just 292 yards (to Chicago’s 429). They converted just 5 of 15 third downs and lost time of possession by almost 10 minutes.
Not many teams run the ball very well against the Bears, but if anyone comes out of a game holding them to one sack, they played well enough to win.
“I thought the O-line was excellent,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “I thought they did a great job. It seemed like Aaron had time to throw the football. But that’s a really good front. That’s one of the best fronts in football. There’s no doubt about it.”
As LaFleur noted in his post-game press conference, the Bears did blitz their inside linebackers a couple times, but the pressure mostly came from the backs not being able to hold their ground. It’s notable that Rodgers only ran three times and one of those was a bootleg in which he slid to the ground to keep the clock moving under 2 minutes.
Having more time to throw than the opener when the Bears sacked him five times and knocked him down two others, Rodgers completed just 16 of 33 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown (78.2 rating).
It’s true there were four dropped passes, but Rodgers made too many mental and physical errors on a day he had more time to throw than he has had in previous games against the Bears.
When LaFleur went for it on fourth and 6 at the Chicago 36 with 5 minutes, 8 seconds left in the first half, Rodgers left a ball too far out from receiver Davante Adams for him to even make a play on it.
When the Packers got the ball back with 1:36 left, he held the ball too long and tried to throw it away before getting sacked, drawing an intentional grounding penalty on third and 4 at the Bears 31.
Without the penalty, kicker Mason Crosby would have had a shot to increase the Packers’ lead to 10-3.
On third and 20 at the Packers 15 with under 8 minutes left, he decided not to slide at the end of a scramble and fumbled. Lucky for him, the replay official ruled his elbow was down and so the Packers retained possession instead of giving the Bears the ball at the 22.
And finally, on third and 4 at the Bears 27 with 5:04 left, he took an 11-yard sack that knocked the Packers out of field goal range. Had he thrown it away, Crosby would have been in position to attempt a 45-yard field goal that would have given the Packers a 24-13 lead.
“I thought there were more opportunities out there,” LaFleur said.
The saving grace were a couple of big plays: Rodgers hit Adams on a crossing route for a 29-yard touchdown; he hit Adams again on a backside slant for 34 yards that set up running back Aaron Jones’ 21-yard touchdown run; and he hit receiver Jake Kumerow for a 49-yard catch-and-run against zone coverage that set up Jones’ 2-yard run.
“I just think it’s so imperative in this league, especially when you’re playing against a good defense, you’ve got to get those chunk plays,” LaFleur said. “
The protection part was there for those big plays.
Bulaga estimated that he faced Mack on 80-90% of his snaps, which means Bakhtiari went all day long against Floyd. The edge rushers typically split left and right 50% of the time, but they were keyed in this week to try to beat the guys they felt they had the best chance of beating.
As a group, the Bears loaded up the line of scrimmage almost the same way the New York Giants did to stop Jones and it made running the ball tough. Jones had 13 carries for 51 yards and two touchdowns and Jamaal Williams had eight carries for 26 yards.
Up ahead are the Minnesota Vikings, whose pass rush is every bit as disruptive and way better at home where the fast turf and crowd noise play to their advantage. But at least LaFleur knows he can count on his offensive line in clutch situations.
He just can’t say the same about his offense as a whole right now.