Published: Nov. 11, 2014
Defense gets tough
Unit stops run, creates turnovers
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
GREEN BAY — In Sunday’s 55-14 thumping of the rival Chicago
Bears, the Green Bay Packers got what they wanted: a fast start to the game and
the second half of the season.
The Packers couldn’t have asked for a better start,
especially on offense.
But it was the defense that got lost underneath the
eye-popping statistics and record night by quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
“I thought the defense set the tone, with the stops and the
field position,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said.
The league’s worst defense against stopping the run held
Matt Forte to 54 yards rushing on 17 carries, with his longest rush being 13
yards. The Bears had 55 yards rushing for the game.
Going into the game, the Packers were allowing more than 150
yards per game on the ground.
“We knew we had to rebound from what happened in New
Orleans,” Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk said.
“It was good to finally be back out there,” he added. “It
seemed like we hadn’t played in forever coming off our bye.”
The defense was opportunistic.
Green Bay’s defense intercepted two passes by Bears
quarterback Jay Cutler and recovered a fumble. The first interception was key
as it came after the Packers’ first scoring drive.
Micah Hyde stepped in front of Bears receiver Martellus
Bennett inside the Bears’ 30-yard line and returned it to the 23. Four plays
later, the Packers were in the end zone, a 4-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers
to Andrew Quarless to make it 14-0.
The Packers turned the Bears’ three turnovers into 21
points, including an 82-yard interception return by Casey Hayward in the fourth
quarter that made the score 55-7.
“I was very pleased with all three areas (offense, defense,
special teams),” McCarthy said. “It was a great night.”
Clay Matthews played mostly inside linebacker throughout the
game and didn’t miss a beat.
“Great job by our defensive (coaching) staff with the
creativity,” McCarthy said. “Clay stepped in there and performed at an
extremely high level.”
Matthews had a team-high 11 tackles (nine solo, two
assists), including two for a loss, and a sack.
“I thought he was outstanding tonight,” McCarthy said.
Then there was Rodgers.
He broke an NFL record, tied another and set a mark, and he
accomplished all those feats in the first half, which got the Packers out to a
42-0 halftime-lead on the reeling Bears.
In the first half, Rodgers was 18 of 24 for 315 yards and
six touchdowns. The six touchdowns tied Oakland Raiders’ Daryle Lamonica’s
record, set in 1969. Rodgers also broke the NFL record with his 16th career
touchdown pass of 70 yards or more, breaking the tie with Brett Favre and
Peyton Manning.
“I tell people every day he’s the best player on the
planet,” Hawk said.
Rodgers also became the first player in NFL history to throw
10 or more touchdowns and no interceptions against a single opponent in one
season. In two games against the Bears, Rodgers has 15 incompletions.
Green Bay also scored on clutch plays, once on a
fourth-andgoal from the 1-yard line and once on third and long.
“I like the fact that I have to stand up here and answer
that question a lot,” said McCarthy when asked if Rodgers could’ve played any
better than he did. “He was right on tonight. His statistics at halftime, I
don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like that. He played a great game.”
Now comes a key stretch of the season for the Packers.
They host the Philadelphia Eagles at 3:25 p.m. Sunday. After
that is a road game against Minnesota and home games against the New England
Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons.
The schedule slightly favors the Packers, with the combined
record of the remaining teams is 33-29.
As for the team the Packers are chasing in the NFC North,
the Detroit Lions’ schedule is similar, with the remaining teams on its
schedule combining for a 32-31 record. However, the Lions play at the Arizona
Cardinals, who have the NFL’s best record at 8-1, and at the Patriots the next
two games before their Thanksgiving Day game against the Bears.
“After what happened in New Orleans, we knew we could find a
way to put it together and we did,” Hawk said. “Now we need to keep doing
that.”
“This is a good start, though,” he added.
Just like the offense, the defense hopes it can build on a
game like this one and it’ll start against the up-tempo offense by the Eagles.
“They have a ton of talent,” Hawk said of the Eagles. “I
have a lot of respect for them. Their offense is super explosive. It’s a huge
test for us, but we’ll be up for it.”
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