Rodgers, Packers lean on Jones, take care of Bears 27-10
By STEVE MEGARGEE | AP Sports Writer
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Jones rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown and caught a scoring pass from Aaron Rodgers, who continued his domination of the Chicago Bears by leading the Green Bay Packers to a 27-10 victory on Sunday night.
Green Bay (1-1) bounced back from a season-opening 23-7 loss at Minnesota and beat the Bears (1-1) for a seventh straight time, matching its second-longest win streak in the 205-game history of the NFL’s oldest rivalry. The Packers won 10 straight over the Bears from 1994-98. They have two other seven-game win streaks in this series, from 1928-30 and 2000-03.
The Packers built a 24-7 halftime lead by dominating the second period, then made a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter to thwart a Bears comeback attempt.
Green Bay vowed to get Jones the ball more often after he had five carries for 49 yards and three catches for 27 yards against the Vikings. Jones came through, gaining 8.8 yards per carry and leading the Packers' 203-yard rushing attack.
A week after he struggled to connect with his new crop of receivers, Rodgers was characteristically efficient, going 19 of 25 for 232 yards and two touchdowns.
Chicago's David Montgomery rushed for 122 yards on 15 carries. Justin Fields had a touchdown run and was 7 of 11 for 70 yards with an interception.
The Packers outscored the Bears 21-0 in the second quarter. Jones scored twice, both times catching pitches from Rodgers in the backfield and reaching the end zone.
The first was a backward pass that got ruled as a 15-yard carry. On the second touchdown, Jones went in motion, caught a flip pass in the backfield and scored from 8 yards out. Jones benefited from the return of right tackle Elgton Jenkins, playing for the first time since tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament last Nov. 12.
Jones’ second score was Rodgers’ 450th career touchdown pass. The only other players to reach that mark are Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Brett Favre.
Rodgers added No. 451 in the final minute of the first half with a 5-yard completion to Allen Lazard, who sat out the Vikings game with an ankle injury.
Rodgers completed passes to eight receivers. None had more than three receptions, but Sammy Watkins turned his trio of catches into 93 yards.
The Bears made the game competitive in the second half by capitalizing on Green Bay’s mistakes.
Cairo Santos’ 40-yard field goal cut Green Bay’s lead to 24-10 after a fumbled exchange between Rodgers and A.J. Dillon gave the Bears the ball at their own 31.
The Packers’ next series got foiled when a snap from Josh Myers hit receiver Christian Watson, who was in motion, and got past Rodgers. Dillon recovered the fumble, but it put the Packers in a third-and-22 situation and led to a punt.
Chicago drove toward Green Bay’s end zone and had an apparent 6-yard touchdown run by Fields overturned when replays determined he was down before stretching his arm across the goal line. On the next play, Fields ran again on fourth-and-goal from inside the 1, and officials ruled that Preston Smith and Jarran Reid stopped him just short of the end zone with a little over eight minutes left in the game.
Rodgers connected with Watkins for 55 yards on the ensuing drive, setting up Mason Crosby's game-clinching 28-yard field goal with 2:28 left.
INJURIES
Bears DB Dane Cruikshank hurt his hamstring in the first half.
UP NEXT
Bears: Host Houston on Sunday.
Packers: At Tampa Bay on Sunday.
More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
The Chicago Journal needs your support.
At just $12/year, your subscription not only helps us grow, it helps maintain our commitment to independent publishing.
If you're already a subscriber and you'd like to send a tip to continue to support the Chicago Journal, which we would greatly appreciate, you can do so at the following link:
Send a tip to the Chicago Journal