The Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears 31-7 at Lambeau Field on Sunday, and the game turned on ball security. Chicago gave it away 5 times and Green Bay never once, which is about as clean a margin as a box score can show.
Time of possession was nearly even, and Chicago ran more plays than Green Bay. The Bears simply kept ending drives with turnovers instead of points.
How It Happened
Green Bay struck first with 5:51 left in the first quarter. Jordan Love found Christian Watson for a 42-yard touchdown, and Trey Smack's kick made it 7-0.
The Packers doubled the lead at the start of the second quarter, when MarShawn Lloyd ran in from 7 yards out. Chicago answered late in the half with a D'Andre Swift 1-yard touchdown run, and Cairo Santos' kick cut it to 14-7 at the break.
That was as close as the Bears got. Early in the third quarter, Love hit Watson again, this time for 53 yards. Smack missed the extra point, but Green Bay led 20-7.
Smack made up for it with a 35-yard field goal with 1:58 left in the third, pushing the lead to 23-7. Lloyd then opened the fourth quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run, and Love's two-point pass to Matthew Golden made it 31-7 with nearly the entire quarter still to play.
Key Performers
Christian Watson: 2 receiving TD – 42 YDS, 53 YDS
Jordan Love: 2 TD passes, 1 two-point conversion pass
MarShawn Lloyd: 2 rushing TD – 7 YDS, 4 YDS
Packers passing: 25-31, 358 YDS, 0 INT
Bears passing: 23-40, 165 YDS, 3 INT
Bears turnovers: 3 INT, 2 fumbles lost
Watson's two touchdowns were Green Bay's longest scoring plays in a game where neither team ran the ball well. Green Bay averaged under 3 yards a carry, so the offense lived on big throws, and his two scores covered nearly 100 yards on their own.
The Packers' passing game was efficient as well as explosive. Green Bay completed 25 of 31 throws and averaged nearly 11 yards per pass, more than double Chicago's rate.
What It Means
The yardage gap tells the story. Green Bay piled up 428 total yards and averaged about twice as many yards per play as Chicago, despite running fewer plays.
Chicago's offense struggled on the money downs. The Bears went 4-for-14 on third down and 2-for-5 on fourth, and they were sacked 4 times. Add the turnovers, and the Bears managed only one touchdown on 12 drives.
Green Bay's offense was efficient when it got close. The Packers scored on 2 of 3 red-zone trips and added the long Watson strikes from outside it.
The result leaves both teams at 3-2 after Week 5. For Green Bay, a turnover-free game and a passing attack this sharp is the formula to build on. For Chicago, the fix is obvious: 5 turnovers left no room to win this one.