Jordan Love And The Packers Defense Come Up With The Goods As Green Bay Beats The Bears And Takes Over First In The NFC North

John Fisher. Getty Images.

What a football game we just watched. Two of the best teams in the NFC battling it out in the cold, going toe to toe for the top spot in the North. In the end the Pack pulled it out thanks to one final defensive stand that ended with Caleb Williams floating a one on one jump ball into the hands of Keisean Nixon. 

Love started the game with an awful pick, but bounced back immediately with multiple TD drives to close out the 1st half. Perfect throws. The Bears tried to blitz here and Love beat it with excellent protection and his patented fadeaway throw. 

Malik Heath was the odd man out this week off the roster with Jayden Reed returning. That gave WR/CB Bo Melton another life line and he used it well catching this bomb. Another dime. 

Love hit Watson on this quick slant which allowed Watson to zoom to the end zone with his easy speed. 

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Tucker Kraft's injury was a depressing blow to this team's Super Bowl chances, but Christian Watson returning from ACL surgery to be this guy is a game changer. He's ascended to the team's true WR1 and it's great to see. Every game it seems he's got his fingerprints all over the W. 

As great as the defense was in the first half, however, they took a step back in the 2nd half. Caleb settled in and started to really cook with countless throws on the run. Now this next part is for everyone BUT Bears fans. What Caleb showed in that 2nd half is what they thought they were getting when Chicago took him number one overall. That guy was a fucking problem once the 3rd quarter got going. This was the biggest game of his pro career and he didn't shrink. That 17 play drive to tie the game in the 4th quarter was something. Sure that last throw you wish he could have just sprinted to the first down marker, but he thought he was giving his big guy a chance there just under threw it badly. Obviously you wanted the win and now you're back to fighting for your playoff hopes, but the Bears absolutely showed up in this game and gave the Packers problems. 

For a minute there I actually thought the Bears were going to steal this. Momentum had swung all the way to their end and the Green Bay defense was gassed. The team desperately needed a solid drive from Love to eat some clock and get points. He did just that, getting a big late game lift from Josh Jacobs to take the lead for good.

Listen, this is a massive win for the Pack no two ways about it. The Bears now drop from the 2 seed all the way down to the 7 with the Lions breathing down their necks. Green Bay not only takes over first in the North, but they're also once again knocking on the door of the top spot in the NFC. Jordan Love is humming, the defense is relentless, Jaocbs is healthy again, Watson has ascended, and Jayden Reed is back. This team is clicking at the right time and have as good of a chance as anyone to go to the Super Bowl out of the NFC. 

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P.S. I hate when players flat out lie about a game not meaning a little extra. That's all bullshit. There's legit hate between these two sides, as there should be. They don't hide it at all. I love that Ben Johnson and Matt LaFleur hate each other's guts. 

P.P.S. The refs were an abomination in this game. I still don't understand why Evan Williams didn't get credit for a pick on that play in the first half. Ball never hit the ground and ended up in his possession. Incompletion was seemingly not an option and the refs chose that. Nixon got his throat grabbed in a fight and got called for the penalty. Parsons was held on literally every single play and didn't receive one holding penalty his way. I hate to bring the refs into it but they were that bad.