GREEN BAY, Wis. — Sunday marked Jonathan Gannon’s finest hour yet as the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator.
His unit stifled the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field, limiting them to just seven points and a scoreless second half. The Bears were missing Caleb Williams under center and Kyle Monangai, who rushed for 146 yards the week prior, in the backfield. Under head coach Ben Johnson, though, the Bears have showcased the ability to win in spite of injuries.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Case Keenum engineered an impressive primetime win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Even sans Monangai, D’Andre Swift is the Bears’ preferred starter at running back, and he has 468 yards from scrimmage this season with four touchdowns.
The Bears didn’t start Keenum. They rolled with Tyson Bagent for the second consecutive week, and he struggled so mightily that he was benched in favor of Keenum later in the game. That didn’t throw much of a wrench into the Packers’ plans—they presumably spent the week preparing for all three of the Bears’ quarterbacks, including Williams, even though he was unlikely to play due to his hamstring injury.
Whether it was Bagent or Keenum, the Packers’ defense smothered the Bears’ attempts to generate any consistent offense. They finished the game with four sacks, three interceptions, and five total takeaways.
Xavier McKinney ended the game with two of the Packers’ three interceptions, with Ty’Ron Hopper securing the other on a fourth-down goal-line stand. Devonte Wyatt had a pair of sacks, including a strip-sack of Keenum in the fourth quarter that helped punctuate the Packers’ victory. The rookie tandem of Brandon Cisse and Dani Dennis-Sutton both had a sack of their own. Zaire Franklin also forced a fumble from Rome Odunze that was recovered by Dennis-Sutton.
Sunday was the first time since 2016 that the Packers have registered at least five takeaways without turning the ball over once.
I compiled some of their best plays from the game below. Sit back and watch Gannon’s squad brutalize the Bears.
