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The Green Bay Packers clinched the No. 1 seed and a second consecutive 13-3 season by beating the Chicago Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field.
Here are some quick takes from the Packers’ 35-16 win in the season finale:
– Many of the Packers’ warts showed up on Sunday, and the Bears did many of the things they needed to do to win the game, and the Packers still won by 19 points.
– An elite offensive performance and a few important stops got it done again. The formula for the Packers has been the same all season.
– The Bears ran 30 more plays and held the ball for 11 more minutes and it just didn’t matter.
– Self-inflicted damage by the Packers was the only thing that kept this game from being a runaway blowout.
– Two wins away from Super Bowl LV in Tampa Bay.
– The Packers went 4-for-4 scoring touchdowns in the red zone, finishing the season at 80 percent.
– Aaron Rodgers threw four more touchdown passes, giving him a career-high and franchise-record 48. His season passer rating ended up at 121.5, the second-best of his career and second-best of all-time.
– The Packers defense gave up five fourth-down conversions, but the Bears averaged only 5.8 yards per pass, 3.5 yards per rush and 4.8 yards per play. And Mike Pettine’s group got a game-changing fourth-down stop and two takeaways, including the game-clinching interception from Adrian Amos.
– Amos all but ended both of his games at Soldier Field since signing with the Packers in 2019. That must feel really good for the former Bear.
– Snacks Harrison made an impact. He was strong in the middle. Related, probably: Kenny Clark was dominant for most of the game. No. 97 is playing his best football to end the season.
– This game was the embodiment of the MVS experience. One long touchdown, one crucial drop. All his drops look the same. He can’t body-catch deep balls.
– Davante Adams broke the team record for catches and tied Sterling Sharpes’s franchise record for touchdown catches. A nice finish to a historic season for No. 17.
– A.J. Dillon only carried once for three yards. It’s clearly going to be a struggle for Matt LaFleur to get all three of his running backs involved. Then again, the Packers only ran 44 plays overall.
– Aaron Jones produced 85 hard-earned yards. He’s so elusive and tough. Let’s hope this wasn’t his last regular-season game in Green Bay.
– Tavon Austin had a special teams blunder. Fumbling has been an issue for him throughout his career. Sunday’s fumble was his 23rd.
– The Packers found a nice player in Dominique Dafney. He works hard as a blocker, and he can contribute in the passing game. He caught his first career touchdown pass in the first half. Dafney became the 11th player to catch a touchdown pass from Rodgers this season.
– Teams are going to keep kicking to Malik Taylor. He could be a liability returning kicks in the postseason. The Packers must have a better option.
– Matt LaFleur is 26-6 as the Packers head coach.
– This team looks like the clear favorite in the NFC. They’ll play the lowest remaining seed in the Divisional Round in two weeks.
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