By Adam Hoge-
CHICAGO — New year. New defense. Same result against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.
Nevermind that Green Bay’s offense left Detroit last week a sputtering mess. Rodgers came into Solider Field Sunday and completed 79 percent of his passes for 302 yards and four touchdowns as the Packers rolled the Bears 38-17.
Guess we know why Rodgers spelled out R-E-L-A-X to his fan base this week. Nothing relaxes Rodgers like facing the Bears.
“It’s a long season. There’s always going to be mini freak outs along the way,” he said after the game.
This week, all the freaking out will be in Chicago. And it’s hard to blame anyone for freaking out about the Bears’ ineptitude against the Packers. Rodgers is now 11-2 against the Bears, not counting last year’s game at Lambeau when he suffered a broken clavicle on the opening drive and Chicago went on to win.
Despite the lopsided recent history, this seemed like a game the Bears could and should win — especially at home. After all, if you expect to win the NFC North, you need to beat the three-time defending division champion on your own field.
“Certainly a disappointing loss for us and the guys in the locker room. Home game, divisional opponent,” Bears head coach Marc Trestman said.
And not just a divisional opponent, but the Packers. A big reason why Lovie Smith was fired was because he stopped beating the Packers, a trend that took off when Rodgers became Green Bay’s starting quarterback in 2008.
Trestman is now 1-2 against the Packers in his brief tenure as Bears head coach, but 0-2 at home. And 0-2 when Rodgers plays more than one series.
Coming into Sunday’s game, the Packers were just 27th in the league in points scored (18.0), 28th in total offense (289.3) and 21st in passing offense (210.7).
Sunday, the Packers put up 38 points, 358 total net yards and 302 passing yards as Rodgers picked apart the Bears’ defense.
“We didn’t get the kind of pass rush we needed today,” Trestman said about his defense, which played without Jared Allen (illness). “When Aaron was in the pocket, he was able to have the time to get done what he needed to get done.”
It’s a shame Packers punter Tim Masthay even had to make the trip to Chicago, considering Green Bay didn’t need him. The Packers only had one empty possession all day and that came on a blocked field goal by Willie Young when the game was well out of hand.
Oddly enough, the Bears didn’t punt either, making it only the second regular season game in NFL history without a punt. But the Bears’ reasons for not punting were different. They had four second half possessions. Two ended with interceptions, one ended with a turnover on downs and the fourth ended with the clock hitting 0:00, mercifully ending the beatdown.
And therein lies the other side of the story. Not just Sunday’s story, but the recent history of the Bears-Packers rivalry. If Rodgers is 11-2 against the Bears, someone else has to be on the losing end. That someone else is Jay Cutler, who is now 1-10 against the Packers in his career.
Of course, Cutler isn’t playing defense, but he can do his part to keep the ball out of Rodgers’ hands by keeping in his own. Cutler has 20 interceptions to just 12 touchdowns in his career against Green Bay.
Now, if you listen to Trestman and Cutler, neither interception Sunday was the Bears’ quarterback’s fault. Cutler denied that the first pick was a forced throw and instead credited Packers cornerback Tramon Williams for jumping the slant, something he said he hadn’t seen the Packers’ do on film. Meanwhile, Trestman said Brandon Marshall was supposed to run an 18-yard hook on the second interception. Instead, he ran a go-route.
It seems hard to believe Cutler was blameless on the interceptions, but either way, he once again wasn’t as good as the quarterback wearing green and gold on other side of the field. Sure, it’s not fair to hold Cutler up to that kind of Hall of Fame standard, but together he and the defense both have to be better if the Bears expect to beat the Packers later this season at Lambeau Field.
Because you can’t count on Rodgers getting knocked out of the game again.
And in case you’re wondering, the trend of Rodgers dominating the Bears isn’t getting any better. The 38 points the Packers put up Sunday were the most they’ve scored against the Bears with Rodgers under center.
“He is as good as it gets,” Trestman said. “We just couldn’t get it done today.”
It was the fifth straight time the Bears couldn’t get it done at home against the Packers, which you would think is getting frustrating for the players.
“I was worried about this one. I didn’t know that,” Cutler said when asked about that streak. “The next one we’ll worry about that.”
Hmm. Considering the Bears haven’t won the NFC North since the last time they beat the Packers at home, maybe they should have been more worried about that Sunday.
Adam Hoge covers the Bears for 87.7 The Game and TheGameChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AdamHoge.
