Packer say standard higher regardless of rivalry

GREEN BAY — The Green Bay Packers secured a 31-7 victory over longtime rival, Chicago Bears, at Lambeau Field on Sunday, Oct. 11. 

Though the long awaited rivalry matchup games are anticipated by the fans all season, the Packers seemed to come to the conclusion that their expectation is to earn a decisive victory, regardless of who their opponent is that week. 

“It’s just one game and it doesn’t matter if you don’t do it again. We’ve got to have unlimited consistency for us to be respected like we want to,” said Packers Safety Evan Williams. 

“It feels gratifying to understand what we went through last year and all the hoopla about what this game is going to be and what it means, but as a whole I feel like our culture is really just tuning that out and having one play mentality. It definitely does feel gratifying to make them eat their words and come out and ball, but we understand that should be the standard every time.” 

Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur holds a 12-3 overall record against the Bears, but the result on Sunday was a good sign for Packers fans after seeing two losses to them last season — one in the regular season and one in the NFC Wild Card Game. 

“It definitely felt a little extra, but I tried not to think about last year. They’ve got new pieces and they are a new team, we’re a new team,” said Watson about the win. “We all knew what we were capable of, we just have to find a way to consistently be that and consistently be even better than that.”

The Packers focus on complimentary football was on full display against the Bears.

Quarterback Jordan Love threw for 367 yards and 2 touchdowns, wide receiver Matthew Golden secured 6/7 receptions for 123 yards, wide receiver Christian Watson recorded 6/8 receptions for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns while MarShawn Lloyd rushed 10 times for 31 yards and 2 touchdowns to help the Packers to 31 points. 

Defensively, the Packers forced 5 turnovers — a Devonte Wyatt strip sack, fumbles recovered by Evan Williams and Dani Dennis-Sutton, 2 interceptions by Xavier McKinney and 1 by Ty’Ron Hopper. 

The Packers will look to keep up this momentum against the Dallas Cowboys at home again on Sunday, Oct. 19.