Packer Central

Tom Brady on Packers Beating Bears

Legendary quarterback Tom Brady was the analyst for Fox’s coverage of Packers-Bears. Here’s what he had to say after Green Bay’s victory.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson (9) runs off the field after the victory over the Chicago Bears.
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson (9) runs off the field after the victory over the Chicago Bears. / Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears for the 11th consecutive time on Sunday. This game was much more challenging than most of the first 10.

Fox analyst Tom Brady saw some beauty in an “ugly” win, though.

“I’ll tell you, it’s tough to do against a division opponent to have that type of success, but they just found a way to win,” Brady said after the game. 

“It looked so ugly in so many ways for the Packers. There were so many things struggling there with the interception on the goal line and then not getting it on the fourth down, and then finding a way in the fourth quarter to kind of churn out a win.”

The Packers trailed 19-14 entering the fourth quarter. The offense failed to score on first-and-goal at the 8 early in the quarter and the defense couldn’t slam the door to clinch the win.

But the Packers found a way. 

“And, ultimately, as we know, that’s what the good teams do. You find a way when you need it most. It comes down to the fourth quarter. You need your playmakers to step up. Jordan Love stepped up, threw that ball to Christian Watson. Goes down, they punch it in, and then they leave it to the defense.”

The average margin of victory in the first 10 wins of the streak was 12.7 points. The first game of the streak, a 10-3 win at Chicago to kick off the 2019 season, was the only game decided by seven points or less.

This was just the second time the Packers trailed entering the fourth quarter during the streak; they were down by nine at Chicago in 2022 before winning 28-19.

A hero of that game was Christian Watson, who had a 14-yard touchdown catch just before halftime and a 46-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to clinch the win.

Watson was a hero on Sunday, too, with four receptions for 150 yards, with his big-time catch-and-run gain of 60 yards setting up Green Bay for the winning touchdown.

“Honestly, I didn't really like it at first,” Watson told Brady after being named Brady’s LFG Player of the Game. “It's supposed to be a simple runaway play. I kind of got hemmed up at the line. I was anticipating the quick jam, but he still got his hands in my chest.

“So, honestly, in my mind, I was just thinking, got to get over there as quick as possible. And 10 put it in a perfect spot for me to get it. Honestly, I didn't know where he was. So, he just gave me a chance, and that's all I needed. And at that point, I'm just thinking, ‘I got to go.’ So, just get up and go, try to get as many yards as I can.”

The big gain set up quarterback Jordan Love’s quarterback sneak for the go-ahead points. The special teams sealed the deal with Karl Brooks’ block.

Back at the Fox studio, Rob Gronkowski likes the potential dividends a win like this can provide to a young team.

“I love how well balanced they are,” he said. “There’s no pressure on the offensive side of the ball where none of these players can handle it. It’s not like it’s all on Jordan Love, it’s not like it’s all on Josh Jacobs. They’re spreading the ball around.

“And on top of it, too, they’re so young. And to win a game like that and keep them in the division run of winning it, or possibly going to the playoffs and having a good run, it gives them that boost of confidence that they are now experiencing. They’re not, ‘Oh, we’re young, we can’t win the game.’ It’s, ‘Hey, we’re young (but) we’re beating the teams. We can get into the playoffs and we can do some damage.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.