The Green Bay Packers have been out of sorts since the end of last season, but appear back on track after beating the Chicago Bears.
No division win is easy in the NFL. Even the hapless Chicago Bears were a threat for the Green Bay Packers on Thursday Night Football. That was especially true for the Packers on the national stage. The Packers were floundering (at least for them) at 3-2 and looked decidedly different from the club that dominated the NFC North division until 2015 (and still made the playoffs even then).
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It got so bad that before the game, Chris Chase over at Fox Sports wondered “Could the Packers actually fire Mike McCarthy?” In a league that demands success, that suggestion sounded ludicrous. In a league where the Jacksonville Jaguars suffer through the historically bad Gus Bradley era and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers churn through coaches at a legendary pace, it’s downright crazy to think of a team like the Packers firing someone as successful as McCarthy.
Gone are the pre-Brett Favre struggles, faded from the league’s memory. McCarthy’s 108-57 record has exposed just how short some memories are. His winning percentage (.654) is 16th best in league history. And in Week 7 McCarthy showed exactly why he is so good and deserves to stick around.
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McCarthy and the Packers were aggressive on the national stage. They went for it on fourth down twice, proving they were willing to do what it takes to win. That aggression wasn’t paying off in the first half after a stalled goal line drive ended with zero points. But McCarthy and the Packers showed their great marriage again in the second half, making the necessary adjustments to turn a 6-3 halftime lead into a 26-10 dominant performance.
In the span of one game, we saw the Packers reestablish themselves. Despite not having a running back of note on the field in the game, the Packers still managed enough of a run game with wide receivers Randall Cobb and Ty Montgomery (81 yards on 14 combined carries) to present a threat opposite Aaron Rodgers‘ arm.
And Rodgers was back, in a big way. Before the game, Deion Sanders said playing the Bears was just what the doctor ordered for the Packers. He was absolutely correct.
Rodgers was forced to throw 56 times and completed 69 percent of those passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns. That’s the kind of completion percentage, yardage, and scoring production Rodgers has delivered repeatedly through his career. His yards per attempt weren’t great (5.82), but everything else was back on track.
With no real run game and pressure building, the Packers got back on track. Rodgers returned to form by running the entire office on his own and McCarthy once again proved his value to the team.
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From Week 8 onward, expect the Green Bay Packers to be back to form. They’re already two games behind the Minnesota Vikings in the division, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Packers get back to the postseason in 2016. The Bears game could just prove to be the catalyst they needed.