After 102 years, the Green Bay Packers finally stand alone at the top of the heap.
For each of the previous 101 years, the NFL’s all-time winningest team was the Chicago Bears. Sunday at Soldier Field, with both teams tied atop the league’s all-time slate with 786 regular season victories, Green Bay rallied for a 28-19 win to put their record at 5-8 heading into the bye week.
Trailing 16-3 in the second quarter following a David Montgomery 7-yard touchdown run, Green Bay began chipping away at the deficit. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers engineered a long, 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, capped off by Aaron Rodgers’ lone touchdown pass of the season, a 14-yard strike to emerging star Christian Watson with just 17 seconds remaining before halftime.
At halftime, Green Bay trailed 19-16, but made some halftime adjustments that nearly shut out Chicago the rest of the game, while their running game picked up for Rodgers’ sore ribs and thumb.
Watson, who has now had seven touchdown receptions in the Packers last four games, added another jet-sweep score, this one from 46 yards out for a touchdown to help seal the deal for Green Bay.
“It’s been a rapid, wild development,” Rodgers said after the game of Watson. “It’s hard to think about someone who goes from being kind of here-or-there, minimal-production to a home-run player.”
Cornerback Jaire Alexander had an up-and-down day, giving up a pair of long passes from Chicago’s Justin Fields to former Packers wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, but also wrestled a key interception away from him with 2:52 left in the game and Chicago driving after Green Bay took their first lead of the game at 20-19.
Alexander was less than complimentary of his former teammate after the game when about the long receptions he gave up.
"Man, he a scrub. I can’t believe I let him catch that on me,” Alexander said. “But hat’s off to him because he did make a good catch."
The Packers are next in action December 19, a Monday night game against the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, who have struggled to a 3-8 record in their title defense season.