Chicago Bears end promising run with major letdown in Green Bay

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Nothing has changed. At least, not when the Bears play the Packers.

Sunday could’ve been a full-circle moment. The Bears were whooped by the Packers in Week 1, made great strides throughout the season, and had a chance to show just how far they’ve come.

The result was a no-touchdown performance during which both the secondary and the offensive line looked shaky and the quarterback couldn’t throw for 150 yards. The Packers beat the Bears, 17-9, on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

Green Bay has won 10 consecutive games against the Bears. The current streak now ties the record for the longest win streak for either team during this historic rivalry. Green Bay also won 10 consecutive from 1994-98.

“It’s pretty disappointing,” said defensive tackle Justin Jones, who has been a vocal critic of Green Bay in the past. “I’m not even going to lie. At the end of the day, they’re a good team. Obviously, everybody knows how I feel about them.”

The Bears came in with hopes of proving that they’ve improved since a Week 1 beatdown, 38-20, at Soldier Field. A win could’ve kept the Packers out of the postseason. Instead, Green Bay will be playing next week and the Bears – who end the season at 7-10 – will not.

The futures of head coach Matt Eberflus and quarterback Justin Fields are up in the air. If the Bears do move on from Eberflus, it will likely happen quickly – first thing Monday morning. The Monday following Week 18 in the NFL is known as Black Monday for just that reason.

“The foundation has been set, the standards are set how we operate,” Eberflus said after the game. “I do know that. And I do know the locker room. I do know that, for sure. And we’re standing on solid ground. Hard work, passion for the game and enthusiasm for the game, and we’re just going to keep working together to build this thing.”

The Bears certainly improved. But this remains a team that can’t seem to sniff a win against the hated Packers.

On Sunday, Packers quarterback Jordan Love carved up a Bears secondary that had been playing excellent football and entered Week 18 leading the NFL in interceptions. Love threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns on 27-of-32 passing. He did not throw an interception but fumbled once.

“I mean, he just made the right decisions in my opinion,” Bears defensive end DeMarcus Walker said.

I mean, [Jordan Love] just made the right decisions in my opinion.”

—  DeMarcus Walker, Bears defensive end

The Bears were playing without Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who was sidelined by a shoulder injury.

The Packers converted seven of 10 third-down tries. They racked up 432 yards of total offense. If there’s a team on the rise in the NFC North, on Sunday it looked like Green Bay.

“Beating our division is always important,” Eberflus said. “We had a couple of good quality wins in our division this year, that’s always going to be the number one goal. Again, it’s always one game at a time, one process, one group versus another group and you have to keep it that way. Again we know how important this game is against Green Bay. And again, we have to put our best foot forward going forward.”

Even when the Bears pulled within five points early in the fourth quarter, Green Bay struck quickly and drove 65 yards in just two minutes of game time to add a field goal and extend it back to eight points.

On the offensive end, the Bears were without starting center Lucas Patrick. Veteran backup Dan Feeney, an Orland Park native, started in his place. The offensive line struggled as a whole. Fields took five sacks in the game. Tight end Cole Kmet injured his forearm in the second half and did not return.

The Bears had only six possessions in the game. Three ended in field goals and three in punts. The Bears totaled only 192 yards of offense.

Pretty much everything that could go wrong on both sides of the ball did go wrong.