Aaron Rodgers

Rodgers’ numbers weren’t stellar. He did not throw a TD pass and finished with a QB Rating of just 87.0. Part of the reason for that was certainly dropped passed by Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams. The cold didn’t help and neither did Rodgers’ injured calf. What really matters, however, is how Rodgers made plays when it mattered most. He may have been a bit out of sorts earlier in the season, but Rodgers is still the best quarterback in the NFL.

Ty Montgomery

Boy, oh boy, can Ty Montgomery run the football. Finishing with 162 yards on 16 carries, Montgomery averaged a whopping 10.1 yards per carry on his way to scoring 2 TDs. Monty is an offensive terror. As a receiver, he can catch the ball coming out of the backfield better than any running back in the league, but he is also a legitimate threat as a runner. He isn’t the fastest or strongest back but he has great vision and hits even the smallest of holes quickly (see below). He runs hard, as well. He was moving scrums yesterday, forcing the Bears to get three or four defenders on him before he’d go down.

Haha Clinton-Dix

Clinton-Dix continues to be a playmaker in the defensive secondary. He picked off Matt Barkley twice and also had two passes defensed. When you add Morgan Burnett into the mix, the Packers have a very solid set of starting safeties.

Julius Peppers

Amidst strange boos from fans of his old team (the Bears cut him), Peppers continued to make impact plays for the Packers. He’s not racking up sacks in the same way that he used to, but Peppers still has a knack for showing up and turning a game around right when the Packers need a spark. Peppers made a strip sack of Barkley and then recovered his own forced fumble.

Honorable Mentions

Christine Michael, Jared Cook, Joe Thomas, and Mason Crosby.

 

Davante Adams

Davante was back to his old bad habits, dropping several perfect throws from Rodgers, two of which would have resulted in TDs. The good news is that Adams is continuing to get open. He’s proven that he has all of the skills necessary to be an elite wide receiver in the NFL, but the Packers will need him to dust this one off and come into the game on Christmas Eve with a clear head.

Cornerback Play

Matt Barkley might have thrown three interceptions, but he was also slinging the ball to the tune of 363 yards and 2 TDs. The Chicago wide receivers were wide open over the middle against Green Bay’s soft coverage all day. Dom Capers and company will need to get that taken care of if the Packers want to continue their push into the playoffs, especially when they face a very potent Detroit Lions passing attack.

Damarious Randall

While the entire cornerback corps was ugly yesterday, Randall was especially bad. He missed several tackles and was benched in the 4th quarter. The Packers really need Randall to step up his game as they continue to make a push toward the playoffs.

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Taylor O\'Neill is a Packer fan born and raised in Oshkosh, WI. He currently lives in Florida and is pursuing his PhD. Taylor is a writer with PackersTalk.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @TaylorONeill87 for more Packer news.

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