The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Bears vs Packers
Aaron hands out the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from the Green Bay Packers Week 14 win over the Chicago Bears.
By PackerAaron
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Comments (39)
LetsGoPack
December 07, 2025 at 10:34 pm
An excellent win. Thought the offense was quite good. Defense furthermore was not bad however shot themselves in the foot a couple times. I noticed a lot of Bears fans this week talking trash about how good their team was, I am glad we sent them back into hibernation.
Good:
Jordan Love - Post pick six, threw the ball really well. Was accurate with midfield throws and aggressive against the blitz.
The Receivers - Particularly Watson and Melton for that big time reception.
(Semi) Bad:
Defense - Got a bit tired and run down throughout the second half. I will credit Caleb Williams though. That guy is elusive and was able to avoid many a sack that other QBs would have taken.
Ugly:
Penalties - Some really stupid penalties, particularly by the defense. Do your job and play, there is no requirement to talk trash and aggravate the opponent.
Officiating - Not great. Thought we got robbed on a couple calls.
Good team win. I think we can beat the Broncos however will require an aggressive approach and fundamentals. Bo Nix is not Peyton Manning.
Packerlifer
December 07, 2025 at 10:39 pm
Way to go Keisan.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPHfDJXE9PY
rstain99
December 08, 2025 at 06:25 am
I have to say this was a great win, its scary to think for the next 10-12 years Caleb Williams will be running around Lambeau being the escape artist. Should lend for should great games going forward. Like Drake Maye think he is going to be a star. With that said these were tough choices
Good: Jordan Love 3-1 ok, Musgrave trying to become that TE, Watson is that guy and getting better. Jacobs with some real tough running, line coming around. Erigian Cooper guy is really good sideline to sideline. Bullard and Williams were very good as well. Micah no sacks but pressure all game. Engabare was great tough inside tackling 2nd best at getting after QB
Bad: Can't say there is much bad, Caleb is getting really good Packers did all they could defense was stressed. Watching Micah play you realize Rashan Gary for all the money they paid him was no where the player Micah is. 7.5 sacks for that kind of money not much of a return on investment.
Ugly: Two stupid penalties on Nixon. I say it every week he will get a crucial penalty every game. He is tough he just doesn't need to run his mouth after every play, you could see that penalty after scrumm coming. And to give the devil his due, he makes a great tackle in the 4th quarter total stick no gain side screen. Years ago St. Louis Cards (baseball) had a player named Willie McGee great base stealer pretty good outfielder, feel like it might have have been Jim Kaat color guy for NBC that said he is the type of player that keeps both teams in the game. Great play then a boneheaded play. Well thats Nixon. Nice interception at end for sure. Take good with the bad I guess
Tex49
December 08, 2025 at 07:16 am
Caleb is going to take a few massive bone crushing hits the way he plays. If he doesn’t become a better pocket passer I wouldn’t give him 10-12 years. I’m not so sure he’s not another Mitch Trubisky yet, Mitch had the bears close a few times in games in his tenure, the game sealing int at the end isn’t new to this rivalry. I’m not saying take him lightly but I think he’s got a lot of growing to do to be the savior Chicago thinks he is.
jlc1
December 08, 2025 at 02:01 pm
I don't recall Trubisky threading a ball the way Williams did on the one touchdown. Trubisky did not have Ben Johnson as a coach. The other TD pass was a brilliant play design. And the adjustments Johnson made at half time resulted in Chicago and Williams (specifically moving the pocket) doing pretty much whatever they wanted. Williams is going to be bigger problem than Mitch. And Hafley has 2 weeks to figure something out. But so far they have. GPG!
T7Steve
December 08, 2025 at 12:46 pm
Nixon, like every corner in the NFL, is going to get burned occasionally and get penalized. The rules and the excellent receivers are going to get theirs. Limit explosive plays and trust your offense to get some. All you can wish for in today's NFL and by God that's what the Packers have been doing.
Snap the ball
December 07, 2025 at 10:53 pm
The good we won
The bad McManus kick giving them 3 points on a short field.
The ugly they had the ball 33 mins we had it 26 mins. They ran 68 plays . We ran 52 plays
We need to run 65 plus
Two backs maybe Wheel routes etc ….. more tight end action. Just to move the chains
Need more from Doubs. Golden. Wicks. Some more throws maybe two them to move the chains.
Tight end or another back to block with a Wilson or Jacob’s
Wicks Watson Reed Doubs Golden Some one will be open with any of those 3 on the field
Starrbrite
December 07, 2025 at 11:54 pm
Good: Jacobs refuses to be denied at the goaline; Musgrave is trending up; Reed is helping immensely; Watson’s speed has all DB’s on notice.
Bad: Tom Brady and his infinite wisdom is very tiring.
Ugly: The officiating absolutely sucked, but we overcame.
Go Packers!!!
Straya
December 08, 2025 at 03:45 am
Brady was sooooo grating by the end of the game
Oppy
December 08, 2025 at 05:35 am
I am no fan of Tom Brady, but I would take a game called by two Tom Brady's over having to sit through another game called by Tony Romo- he's absolutely the worst. Nobody wants to listen to a guy predict every single play and tell you what he'd do, we want to watch the game and see what they do.
SicSemperTyrannis
December 08, 2025 at 01:07 pm
Tony Romo is my favorite announcer
Oppy
December 09, 2025 at 08:46 am
Yikes, Sic.
He's horrible.. aaaannnd I'm pretty sure he grew up a bears fan.
Starrbrite
December 08, 2025 at 01:30 pm
Not a chance in hell for me Oppy. I’d rather be waterboarded than listen to Brady.
Tex49
December 08, 2025 at 07:19 am
The best: Jacob’s refuses to go down on 3rd and 1 engulfed by bears 3 yards in the back field… for a 21 yard gain
Swisch
December 08, 2025 at 01:23 pm
Thumbs up from me, Starrbrite.
I will disagree at least somewhat about Brady. To me, the "tiring" thing about him is that not only was he a great football player, but now he's also an excellent announcer, as well as being perfectly handsome and fashionable.
That's a lot to accept for us ordinary guys. I try not to think resentfully, but it takes some work on my part to rise above it.
***
There's an insightful and hilarious episode of "The Simpsons" that tackles a lot of the struggles many of us have in dealing with the supremely successful but also controversial Patriots of the Belichick-Brady Era.
As far as comparing those Patriots to the Lombardi Packers, I would point out that the Patriots never won three championships in a row, nor has any team in the playoff era of the NFL (c. 1932).
Secondly, the Patriots never won five championships in seven seasons.
Thirdly, all of this factors considerably into my opinion that Bart Starr is the best quarterback of all time. I know this is controversial, but I think one has to consider all of the attributes that go into making a great quarterback, including leadership, preparation, strategy in play calling (even if nowadays that's only audibles), and overall attention to detail.
Also, Starr turned himself into an accomplished passer of the football, as illustrated most vividly in his MVP season of 1966, which included the championship game victory over the Cowboys in which he passed for more than 300 yards with four touchdown throws.
Brady may be tied with Starr as the best QB ever, but I would want to take a good look at the accusations of cheating by the Patriots -- which may have been swept under the rug. One major concern of mine is "Deflategate." Perhaps there's nothing to it, but I wonder if Brady truly cooperated with the investigation about how those footballs apparently were insufficiently filled with air (and so presumably easier to grip).
***
Please excuse the length of this post. As some may remember, I tend to get carried away in my enthusiasm for the Packers.
Starrbrite
December 08, 2025 at 01:31 pm
Great to hear from y’all Swisch.
Swisch
December 08, 2025 at 01:52 pm
Thanks much, Starrbrite.
I hope and pray you are well -- and also all of the other old-timers here at Cheesehead, plus the newer ones.
I figure if I can talk Bart Starr to anyone, it's you.
Even if you don't agree with me, you may be interested in such a discussion.
jlc1
December 08, 2025 at 02:16 pm
Truth - life imitates The Simpsons.
TheKanataThrilla
December 08, 2025 at 06:26 am
Woohoo that felt like a playoff game with a hot crowd.
The Good: Kingsley Enagbare He had our lone sack and a key 3rd down stuff on Chicago's final drive. He is making decisions for next year quite interesting after many assumed he was gone.
The Bad: Our gassed defense on the second to last Chicago drive. It was frustrating to watch Chicago go 5 for 5 on 3rd down conversions.
The Ugly: Can somebody call an OL for holding against Parsons? The above Bad was largely assisted with no penalties for holding which were pretty blatant.
TKWorldWide
December 08, 2025 at 06:51 am
Maybe they’re afraid to call holding against Parsons bc they know if they call it once, they’ll likely have to call it about 15 times. 🤔
Swisch
December 08, 2025 at 01:31 pm
Great comment, TK, good humor.
I'll add that if the NFL did start calling the holding penalties against Parsons, then maybe the offense would stop holding by about the third time.
Nobuttkiss
December 08, 2025 at 07:35 am
Good: First half game plans both sides of the ball. Jacobs extending drives, Reed and Nixon int..
Bad: refs swallowing holding flags, calling Packers interception incomplete. Obviously keeping the bears in the game all day while MLF crap play calling in the second half kept the Bears in it and gassing the defense.
Ugly: Nixon STILL not able to control himself almost costing us the game. This is going to cost us in the playoffs eventually.
MLF not getting this under control and it's been going on forever.
pacman
December 08, 2025 at 08:12 am
Good: Team win, lots of players doing good things.
Bad: New reliance on the deep ball. And Love is still underthrowing these a bit. On the throw to Melton, it was inches from being intercepted. Maybe one of the video guys on the site here can do a review of Love's deep throws that are close.
Runner up: Hafley turning into Barry in 2nd half. Question to all: What is this team missing that he allowed this to happen?
Ugly: Refs. I don't think this will get fixed until there are more challenges allowed (not great but no other way) and open to the public reviews of refs. The NFL is still trying to bury this story.
Major Snafu
December 08, 2025 at 08:45 am
Good - we won with a better offense and defensive play yesterday.
Bad - Bears fans had to drive home with that outabe shouldhave been a victory mindset LOL
Ugly - Some of those ref calls. The league has to do something about the tush push or whatever. They need to blow the whilstle when the back is stopped prior to the whole o line rushing in and pushing them over the goal line. Thats bs
Swisch
December 08, 2025 at 01:46 pm
It seems unfair that the offense gets to push forward against the defense for so long and so many yards before the whistle, but that if the defense pushes the offense backward, the offense still gets the ball placed at its farthest point of gain.
If the runner still has momentum and is pushing the pile, don't blow the whistle; but once the play stops, blow the whistle before stray blockers come along to push the runner forward. Something like that.
Starrbrite
December 08, 2025 at 03:01 pm
Yes—it’s seems very uneven the way the refs are managing the scrum push.
greengold
December 08, 2025 at 08:55 am
Great to get the W and move onto @Broncos.
The good: LaFleur's team is showing immense poise after battling adversity. Credit where credit is due. Matt LaFleur is showing growth as a coach with this kind of leadership. Demanding his team remains humble, while playing complementary football. Josh Jacobs running like a beast, refusing to be denied, battling through his knee injury for weeks. Jordan Love keeping an impressive even keel after throwing his INT. Christian Watson's impressive return from injury to step onto the field of play and OWN WR1 position with authority. Keishawn Nixon continuing to do his best work, grabbing the game ending INT after getting some lame calls. Micah Parsons responding to reporter questions about constantly being held, illegal hands to face, face mask, etc., etc., with exemplary, controlled professionalism.
The bad: The officiating.
The ugly: The officiating.
Score would not have been close, and CHI would not have had the drives they did in the 2nd half had the refs called the multiple penalties that they should have rightly called against the Bears... and the multitude of other teams GB has faced since the Packers traded for Micah Parsons.
There are not two sets of rules in the book. Come on, NFL. Do better. The game of football has rules to protect the players and the integrity of the game, NFL. Enforce them.
Starrbrite
December 08, 2025 at 01:33 pm
Yes—the frikin officials made this a closer game than it was.
Swisch
December 08, 2025 at 01:39 pm
I've got to hand it to Matt LaFleur. Almost every season he has the Packers among the best in the NFL.
That seems more impressive looking at the ups and downs of the Vikings and Eagles, along with the major drop-offs this season of the Chiefs, Ravens, and perhaps even the Lions.
To be consistently successful is quite a challenge, so it seems our head coach is doing a lot more things right than wrong.
***
There's still a lot to be done for this season in the last four games against dangerous opponents. As much as I'd like to win all of them, and hate to deal with any loss, I think I'd be kind of happy with two of them.
It's in the playoffs that we need perfection.
The key is for the Packers to keep their edge by trying to win every game now and later.
GregC
December 08, 2025 at 01:52 pm
The Ravens are in big trouble and may even be out of the playoff picture by the time they play in Green Bay. So that should be a win. The Packers should also be able to beat the Vikings in Minnesota. And I'd like them to win one of the two difficult road games--at Denver and Chicago. So I'm hoping for three out of four. They really just held serve yesterday. The Bears are still in the driver's seat because they get to play the Packers at home.
You are right that the playoffs are what really matter, but I would like the Packers to at least win the division and get a home playoff game.
First things first. On to Denver. Our second game in a row against the top team in a conference. Somehow the Packers are the early favorite in that game, by 2.5 points.
Swisch
December 08, 2025 at 02:29 pm
I'm with you, Greg. Although I still consider the Ravens and Vikings as dangerous, I agree that beating them is more doable than with the Bears and Lions.
In the Broncos game, with the high altitude, the Packers may want to make more substitutions.
The Packers would still be going all out to win, but with taking a chance that the backups could do well with a bigger role. It seems as though we have a good bench.
In that scenario, my hope would be that the Packers could keep the game close for the first three quarters or more, at which time they could lean more on the starters for a strong finish and quite possibly a win.
I really would like to win our last four games; and if not, then three wins would be better than two. Most of all, the Packers can't get lax or sloppy.
Two more months of going at top effort physically and mentally.
cpabandit
December 09, 2025 at 01:10 pm
The odds of an NFL team winning at home is generally around 53-55% . Historically it used to be 57-60% of games. Oddsmakers now typically value home-field advantage at 1.5 points, down from 3 points historically.
DragonSilk
December 08, 2025 at 09:04 am
The Good: Definitely Watson.
The Bad: That Watson only 4 targets.
The Ugly: Definitely the kicking.
THESZOTMAN1
December 08, 2025 at 10:38 am
The Good: Keishean Nixon. Gotta give it to him --- pick saves day when it looked like we're headed for overtime..... or worse. Undercut route and flying leap. Impressive.
The Bad: The very same Keishean Nixon with the unsportsmanlike penalty. 15 yards at crucial point of game. True, KS didn't start it, but he MUST know it's always the 2nd guy who gets flagged. Bad.
The Ugly: NOT taking the game in hand with a scoring drive in 3rd quarter. If we go up 21-3
we stop Bear comeback before it even starts.
Runner-up: 2nd half defense. We gotta problem stopping the run; worse since Wyatt's down. Other teams know this; will exploit going forward.
The Szotman
Strat
December 08, 2025 at 10:53 am
Good:
OL impressive, Reed already in the mix, Jacobs...never flashy but like trying to tackle Killdozer, Watson just confident the way he catches the ball and runs after...he knows how good he is now. Love played well, but knock it off with the jump ball throws into double coverage.
Bad:
Nixon, just get a grip. Walk away. Nothing good comes out of it. If you've watched Travis Kelce over the years, he'd sucker those idiots into throwing a punch and laugh at them. Then they take the 15 and the ball and score. I get tired of every announcing crew telling us "they always catch the second guy"...well then don't voluntarily be the second guy. The whole ref thing, I cut them some slack because of all those damn rules they have to know, but the arm around the neck, that's an obvious hold call, or calls actually.
Ugly:
The incredibly lame-ass, lightning three and out to start the second half. It's like they didn't even care. Sometimes I wish they would never go into the locker room at halftime.
Starrbrite
December 08, 2025 at 03:14 pm
Right—the 3/out following halftime was seriously unimpressive.
greengold
December 09, 2025 at 11:16 am
You make some great points Strat.
The amount of holding/illegal hands to the face, etc. that Micah Parsons has experienced, without a single call having been made all season on his opponent is batshit crazy.
greengold
December 09, 2025 at 11:22 am
The NFL should mandate all personal foul punching/fighting incidents as instantly reviewable. That would definitely fix the problem.
Guessing >70% of those calls reward the instigating player/team. Seems an easy and positive rule change.
LayingTheLawe
December 08, 2025 at 12:25 pm
The jacobs 20 yard run on the toss play was a work of art for a back. There was no blocking; he made an entire crowd of defenders miss. Just awesome in a big moment.