Stock Report: Packers Fall Apart Late in Chicago

The Green Bay Packers marched into Soldier Field in the same exact place they were two weeks ago when they faced the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field.

They were looking up at the Bears in the NFC North, and they needed a win.

The Soldier Field crowd was fired up to begin the game, and the home team was clearly emotional as well, picking up two personal fouls on the opening series.

Both teams failed on fourth downs deep in opposing territory to open the game. The result was a scoreless first quarter.

With the Packers leading 3-0 in the middle of the second quarter, the entire game changed. Jordan Love was sacked on a play-action pass by Chicago’s Austin Booker, who hit him with the crown of his helmet.

The Packers gained 15 yards on the play, but lost their quarterback in the process.

Malik Willis helped lead the Packers to a field goal before the first half ended, and the Packers led 6-0 in a defensive struggle.

The second half looked a lot like the first half with the Packers continuing to shoot themselves in the foot and allow Chicago to hang in the game.

The Packers received some separation with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Willis to Romeo Doubs, which allowed the Packers to enter the fourth quarter with a 13-3 lead.

Chicago answered with a field goal drive to start the fourth quarter to pull within 13-6, but Willis answered the bell again, putting the Packers in position for a 25-yard field goal from Brandon McManus.

Disaster struck from there. Chicago scored 10 points in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, which culminated with Caleb Williams throwing a touchdown pass against an all-out pressure.

The disaster continued into overtime. Green Bay’s first series stalled out on a fourth-and-1 from the Chicago 36 when Malik Willis fumbled a snap and the play was doomed from there.

Chicago would win the game four plays later on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Williams to DJ Moore.

In the blink of an eye, the Bears had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, and the Packers were left wondering what happened.

More on that with our weekly stock report.

Stock Down: The Hands Team

Romeo Doubs was tasked with the important job of recovering an onside kick after the Bears kicked a field goal to pull within 16-9 on the other side of the two-minute warning.

If the Packers recovered the kick, they could run the clock out with a first down. That should not have been too much to ask. Onside kicks were recovered at an eight percent clip coming into Saturday's game.

Instead, Doubs bobbled the ball, and it was recovered by Chicago, which gave them time to mount a drive to try and tie the game.

They did just that with Williams hitting Jahdae Walker in the back of the end zone from six yards out. It was the second catch of Walker’s career.

Johnson did not attempt a two-point conversion like he said he would have done two weeks ago, instead his team won the game in overtime thanks to a great throw from Caleb Williams to DJ Moore.

None of it would have been possible without Green Bay’s special teams.

Stock Down: CB Keisean Nixon

Two weeks ago, Keisean Nixon was the hero, with a game-ending interception in the end zone against Caleb Williams and the Bears.

Saturday night, he was the closest man in coverage for Jahdae Walker’s game-tying touchdown, and in direct coverage for DJ Moore’s game-winning touchdown.

Overall, Green Bay’s pass defense was excellent most of the night, but all it takes is a couple of plays.

Nixon was not good last week against the Broncos, and followed that up with a rough finish on Saturday night.

There are fair questions to be had about whether a defense can be championship-level if Nixon is the team’s best cornerback.

Stock Down: S Xavier McKinney

Xavier McKinney did not have a good start to the second half of Saturday’s game. When Quay Walker was sent on a blitz for the first passing play of the second half, Caleb Williams found Kyle Monangai in the flat. Monangai is a physical runner, and McKinney learned the hard way on that play as Monangai punished him at the tail end of a 34-yard gain.

Two plays later McKinney had a ball hit him in the hands that fell harmlessly to the turf.

Dropped interceptions almost always come back to haunt defenses, and in this case it did. The Bears would get three points on a twisting field goal from Cairo Santos.

Admittedly, this is a harsh placement on this list considering how good McKinney has been all season, but the stakes have risen on the season. The margins for the Packers are razor thin. They’re even more thin with Micah Parsons out of the lineup.

That’s back-to-back weeks that McKinney has had a chance to make a game-changing play. The Packers need him to make that play.

Stock Down: Red Zone Offense

The Packers have typically been really good in the red zone this year. They’re not as good as the 2020 season where they deemed it the gold zone with the help of former offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.

Last week against Denver, they struggled, going 1-4 in scoring touchdowns inside the 20.

Saturday night, they had five trips to the red zone in the a measly nine points on the scoreboard.

The result of course was it felt like the Packers had dominated the game, but only had a 6-3 lead on the scoreboard.

The lack of success in the red zone cost the Packers dearly a week ago against Denver.

Perhaps indirectly, but it was part of the reason the game was close in the fourth quarter to begin with.

Stock Down: RB Josh Jacobs

The margin for error in games like the one played on Saturday night are incredibly thin. Small mistakes become big, big mistakes become massive.

Josh Jacobs was fighting through an injury for Saturday’s game against Chicago. He insisted he could play, but he did not practice all week, and was a true game-time decision.

Jacobs gets credit for his toughness and willingness to play through pain in a game as big as Saturday’s tilt at Soldier Field was.

As the old saying goes though, if you suit up, you’re expected to play well.

Jacobs did for the most part, except for one big mistake in the red zone. The Packers were moving the ball again with Malik Wilis and Luke Musgrave playing a starring role getting the Packers into their fourth red zone opportunity.

A touchdown would have given the Packers a 13-3 lead against Chicago’s offense which had done next to nothing since the first series of the game.

Jacobs took the ball and moved inside the five, but forgot to bring the ball with him when he went to the ground.

Chicago recovered the ball at their own two yard line, and Green Bay’s scoring chance was snuffed out.

Stock Up: QB Malik Willis

In a world where Brian Gutekunst traded for Micah Parsons, it’s possible that a trade where he threw away little more than a ham sandwich to acquire a backup quarterback might be the savviest move of his career.

Malik Willis was pressed into duty for two starts last year, and the Packers went 2-0 in those games. He played two more extended games in relief of Jordan Love, and the Packers went 1-1 in those games.