Sunday, January 09, 2005

Packers 31, Chicago 14. It was hard to be too inspired to write anything about this game. Chicago phoned it in, at least on offense. The Chicago defense looked bad, but without their best player (LB Bryan Urlacher), they shouldn't be looking too good.

First Half: Bad tackling continues. WR David Terrell ran for a while after CB Al Harris got completely lost and SS Mark Roman continued his poor tackling. But this quick early Chicago TD was their only highlight. The Packers made it look easy scoring against Chicago, and QB Chad Hutchinson helped with the TD pass to FS Darren Sharper. It wasn't the worst decision Hutchinson could have made (although he could have stopped staring at the receiver) and it was a great read by Sharper. QB Craig Nall played well again, his four good game of the season (preseason vs. Tennessee, Tennessee, Philadelphia, and now Chicago). Considering he almost was cut in the preseason in favor of QB Tim Couch, he has really given his career a second life. He is a restricted free agent (I believe) this offseason and might be traded this offseason. Packers 28, Chicago 7.

Second Half: The only concern remains that the Packers run defense didn't play well again. RB Thomas Jones did not have a great season, only rushing for over 100 yards against the Packers twice, Minnesota once and Detroit once (highlight the poor run defense in the NFC North). NT Grady Jackson didn't play to rest his knee, but it wasn't incouraging to let a below average running back run all over you. The Packers offense played to get the game over with. Packers 31, Chicago 14.

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