GREEN BAY – It wasn't a fun Monday for the Packers watching the defensive film from Chicago.
The numbers read 391 total yards for the Bears, 12-of-19 combined on third and fourth downs, no possessions fewer than seven plays with five drives of 10-plus snaps, and nearly 36½ minutes of possession time.
"We've got to be better, and just after watching the tape with the guys, I would say we're all in agreement with that," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said Monday.
"There were opportunities to get off the grass, and for one reason or another, we didn't make the plays."
LaFleur credited the game plan new Bears offensive coordinator Thomas Brown came up with for rookie QB Caleb Williams, and he noted how effective Williams was at making plays with his legs. The Bears also had several short-yardage third downs, which boosted their conversion rate.
But four of their third downs required 4, 5, 8 and 9 yards, and on two others, a third-and-9 was turned into fourth-and-2 and a third-and-19 became fourth-and-3, both of which were eventually converted.
LaFleur's comments Monday suggested in some of those instances the players were trying to do too much and that only made it more difficult to get stops.
"We've got to do our job and you've got to rely on the guy next to you to do their job," he said. "We had multiple missed opps and there was a missed opp at the end of the game."
That was the third-and-19, after back-to-back sacks, and a stop there ends the game and cures a lot of ills on the day. But Williams ducked under what could've been a third straight sack and fired a 16-yard completion to make for a manageable fourth down.
The Bears then got into field-goal range before the Packers blocked the game-deciding kick. Allowing Chicago to get into position to win at crunch time after getting two sacks certainly won't sit well, particularly with a much more polished offensive unit in San Francisco visiting Lambeau Field this week.
Ultimately, the Packers' offense suffered from the defensive shortcomings. All the conversions, long drives and time of possession by the Bears limited the Packers to just six possessions (not including a kneel-down on the last snap of the first half).
Green Bay moved the ball consistently and reached the red zone on five of those six drives, but having chances so limited prevented a bigger offensive day. The game flow also prompted LaFleur to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the Chicago 6-yard line in the fourth quarter, and the failure to score there nearly cost the Packers the game.
"I don't think anybody was just filled with a bunch of joy," LaFleur said of the win, despite its dramatic finish. "We knew that was going to be a grinder of a game.
"But that is this league. You've just got to find a way to get it done."
