Thursday Night Football Grades: Week 4 (Bears at Packers)

Unable to stay awake for the entirety of Thursday Night Football? Watching the highlights is a great start to getting caught up, but they rarely paint the entire picture. Good news: we’ll be offering in-depth analysis of each Thursday Night Football matchup, including grades for the noteworthy players from the game.

Green Bay Packers:   35
Chicago Bears:             14

As if it’s not already hard enough for you east coasters to stay up for the entirety of Thursday Night Football, last night’s game between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers saw a 46-minute delay after the first quarter due to lightning in the area. Mother Nature is definitely getting an “F” for her performance last night.

However, if you decided to call it quits after seeing the Packers take a quick 14-0 nothing, very little changed when the players got back on the field. The Bears’ offense continued to turn the ball over, while Aaron Rodgers and the Packers continued to capitalize on the short fields. (I warned you of this.) Perhaps the most agonizing part of the game for Bears fans comes from the fact that we saw a backup QB enter this game who wasn’t named Mitchell Trubisky.

Here’s how the game’s most noteworthy players graded out.

Green Bay Packers

Aaron Rodgers: A

Though he only had to throw the ball 26 times, Aaron Rodgers made the most of his attempts, completing nearly 70% of his passes for 179 yards and four TDs, and a good handful of his incompletions were drops in the rain. If you don’t like seeing the game look incredibly easy, stop watching Rodgers.

Aaron Jones: B

After both Ty Montgomery and Jamaal Williams were forced to leave the game with injuries, fifth-round pick Aaron Jones was thrust into the Packer backfield. The rookie turned 13 carries into 49 yards and one TD. It was a promising performance from Jones, who was much more effective than fellow rookie Williams. He ran hard between the tackles while showing some speed and elusiveness in the open-field. With Jones likely serving as the Packers lead back for the next few weeks, expect the rookie to continue getting better as he gains experience and comfort within the system.

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix: B+

Sure, the INT on the stat sheet looks nice, but Clinton-Dix was simply in the right place at the right time. The interception didn’t take any extraordinary effort.

.@haha_cd6 with the PICK. #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/HukQGJpeig

— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2017

Fortunately for Clinton-Dix, I was watching more than just his INT and graded him on much more than just his return skills. (Get up field!) The Packer safety was all over the field the rest of the night, as well, recording a game-high eight solo tackles. For the Green Bay’s defense to complement its high-powered offense, Clinton-Dix will need to continue these monster efforts on the backend.

Damarious Randall: D+

After getting burned by Kendall Wright for a TD just before halftime, the Packers decided to sit Damarious Randall on the bench for the second half. In his place, second-year corner Josh Hawkins came in and played very well. Adding to Randall’s bad night, he was sent to the locker room early after getting into an argument with a coach. With Davon House returning soon, and Hawkins outplaying him last night, Randall’s field-time may be severely limited moving forward.

Packers’ Betting Outlook

After the win last night, Green Bay sees its odds to win the NFC get a little shorter. They’re now tied with Atlanta at +400 as the favorites to get to Super Bowl LII. Though you’ve lost some of the value that was there 11 days ago, +400 is still enticing. Keep in mind, the Packers have been missing both their starting offensive tackles for all but one game this season, while Mike Daniels and Davon House have each missed the last two weeks. This is a very good team with a relatively easy path to homefield advantage in the playoffs.

Chicago Bears

Mike Glennon in the last two minutes of the first half: B

Glennon completed 6/7 passes on the Bears final drive before halftime, leading Chicago on a 72-yard touchdown drive. The 27-year-old looked confident and decisive in the pocket, while showing off his arm strength on the drive.

Mike Glennon in the other 58 minutes: D

You cannot blame Glennon for this fumble:

FUMBLE! #TNF #CHIvsGB pic.twitter.com/UDHW5PtFUH

— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2017

And he’s not fully to blame for the fumble he committed on the Bears’ first offensive play of the game, either; Clay Matthews came ripping around the edge and was able to get a hand on the ball as Glennon was preparing to release it. But the two interceptions he threw were inaccurate throws.

Taking out the final two minutes of the first half, he was 15/26 for 146 yards and two INTs. Trubisky time is drawing nearer by the minute.

Bears offensive line: B+

Just looking at the box score would indicate that the Bears’ offensive line paved the way for an uninspiring 3.4 YPC last night. But if you watched the game, you saw Chicago’s offensive line winning the majority of the battles in the trenches. Josh Sitton was great in his return, while Charles Leno and Bobby Massie were arguably the Bears’ two best players. Without a single dominant above-average mediocre receiver to hold the attention of opposing secondaries, the offense is going to have a difficult time running the ball all year, unless Mike Glennon starts making defenses pay for not respecting their aerial attack. The Bears offensive line certainly gave him the necessary time to do so last night, keeping the QB upright and comfortable in the pocket on all but one snap.

Danny Trevathan: C-

If not for this vicious, inappropriate hit on Davante Adams, which will likely result in a suspension, Trevathan would have been in for a pretty decent grade.

Don’t let Danny Trevathan play the rest of the season for this garbage pic.twitter.com/Vf820PRPTP

— Barstool Sports (@barstooltweetss) September 29, 2017

Trevathan recorded six solo tackles and was in on another seven stops for the Bears defense. It’s too bad he had to spoil the evening with one really dumb play.

Bears’ Betting Outlook

Over the next month, the Bears host the Vikings and Panthers while travelling to Baltimore and New Orleans. After those four games, they’ll head into their Week 9 bye, which will serve as a great time to prep a certain rookie QB to take over. Expect the Bears to let Glennon loose a little before he hands the job over, resulting in more short fields for the defense.

Keep your eye on the lines in their two home games over the next month, though. Chicago should have beaten Atlanta at home in Week 1, and handed Pittsburgh a loss in OT at Soldier Field in Week 3. They’re tough at home and shouldn’t be two-score underdogs in the Windy City.