The Green Bay Packers are NFC North Champs!

Packers 21 Bears 13

In the NFL it is about the Quarterback first, everything else comes after. The difference in this game is obviously Aaron Rodgers over Jay Cutler. The Packer QB is the reining league MVP who won't win the MVP this season but team goals are always more important to him anyway. The Bears QB is the best one they have had since Jim McMahon but that is not saying much. The 20+ guys that have tried to play QB for the Bears in the past couple of decades were so unsuccessful that Jay Cutler looks good by comparison but simply is not very good. Worse yet he is not a leader and his body language makes him hard to like. As the Bears Defense gets older it looks like the Packers will be the better team for many years to come. The Packers Defense played great today and is young. Casey Heyward could be the Defensive rookie of the year in the NFL and Clay Matthews came back after missing more than a month and made an instant impact. 

I must mention that Randall Cobb had another great game but my MVPs of this game are James Jones (3 Touchdowns) and Mike Neal (1.5 sacks) there impact needs to be noticed. They might not be the big stars of this team but they were amoung them on this day.

This was a total team effort and they was some bad as usual:

As Mike McCarthy said after the game "Excellent Team Win" and yes, he also took the blame for an ill-advised trick play on a return when Randall Cobb's throwback was miss-handled by seldom used Jeremy Ross.

This may be the game that forces Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy to find a new kicker. Mason Crosby missed a pair of field goals Sunday. His 43-yard attempt sailed wide left and his 42-yarder hit the left post. It appeared Crosby may have turned a corner the last two games at Lambeau Field. Yet in Chicago, the funk continued. His second attempt could have given the Packers a two-touchdown cushion with 10:16 to play. 

However on the opening drive of the second half, the Packers drove downfield and faced a fourth and 6 from Chicago’s 26. Rather than kick a field goal, Green Bay went for it and Rodgers hit Randall Cobb for 12 yards. Soon after, Jones caught his third touchdown and the Packers were ahead, 21-7. A lack of confidence in the kicker paid off.

The Packers made a real statement today and now tonight if the New England Patriots take down the San Francisco 49ers (and I think they will, just look at the Quarterbacks) the Packers will move into the #2 spot in the NFC which at season's end can give us the first round bye and then a home game in the second round of the playoffs. The Falcons made an even bigger statement as they shut out the defending champion Giants. As I have been saying all season long, I look forward to the NFC Championship game at Atlanta in the Georgia Dome.

One more fun fact: The Vikings are now in second place in the NFC North and the Bears fall to third. The Bears and Vikings are both 8-6 now and would not even make the playoffs as it stands right now. If they sneak in I would love to play them but they would be knocked out in round 1 anyway while Green Bay is enjoying a playoff bye week!

The Journey is the Reward and we should all celebrate this newest title in Titletown!