Love Rains Down Fire at Lambeau Field

By Eric Goska

(photos by Eric Goska)

Who says nothing new can come to pass in a rivalry more than 100 years old?

Certainly not the Packers who came away with a unique development in downing the Bears 31-7 at Lambeau Field.

Green Bay relied on its aerial game in sinking Chicago for the 109th time in 211 regular-season meetings. Offensively, the Packers went as far as the arm of quarterback Jordan Love would take them.

And that distance was considerable. As if channeling Zeus of ancient mythology, No. 10 unleashed five thunderbolts that struck deep into the heart of the Bears No.1 ranked defense.

Those haymakers are worthy of a recap.

• 1st quarter—Christian Watson for 42 yards and a TD. Green Bay leads 7-0.
• 3rd quarter—Watson for 53 and a TD. Green Bay up 20-7.
• 3rd quarter—Tucker Kraft for 46 to set up Trey Smack’s 35-yard field goal. Packers in front 23-7.
• 3rd quarter—Matthew Golden races 36 to set the stage for MarShawn Lloyd’s 4-yard TD run. Packers on top 31-7.
• 4th quarter—Golden gobbles up 50 more on a drive marred by Smack’s miss from 43 yards out.

That’s five completions of more than 35 yards in a single game. How many Packers passers have uncorked that many against the mighty Monsters of the Midway?

Scour the archives. You will come up empty.

Until Sunday, no Packer had hit on five against the Bears. No player to wear the Green and Gold even got to four.

Three is the most you will find, engineered by three different quarterbacks.

• Bart Starr connected with Paul Hornung (61), Bob Long (48) and Jim Taylor (41) in a 23-14 win in 1965.
• Lynn Dickey found James Lofton (67), Phillip Epps (45) and Gerry Ellis (40) in a 31-28 squeaker in 1983.
• Aaron Rodgers got there twice: Jordy Nelson (73, 40) and Eddie Lacy (56) in a 55-14 rout in 2014, and Randall Cobb (75), Davante Adams (51) and Geronimo Allison (39) in a stirring 24-23 comeback in 2018.

That’s it. A short list that underscores how rarely lightning strikes for Green Bay in a series that dates to 1921.

Early in the game, an impending explosion appeared unlikely. Love stayed short for most of Green Bay’s opening drive, hitting Kraft for 13, Golden for 3, Watson for 5, Pierre Strong Jr. for 4 and Kraft again for 2 as the Packers reached the Bears’ 42-yard line.

There, Love fired deep to a wide-open Watson and the rout was on. Green Bay remained ahead on the scoreboard for the remaining 50 minutes, 51 seconds.

Like any quarterback, Love looks to make splash plays. He has completed 45 passes of more than 35 yards since becoming a starter in 2023, the second most in the NFL behind Lamar Jackson’s 46 over that span according to a search at Stathead.

As with any passer, Love needs accomplices. Watson, more than any other, has filled that role.

In five seasons together, the duo has clicked 16 times for more than 35 yards. Those long-distance connections have yielded 843 yards and seven touchdowns.

That output is better than what Love has generated with his second and third favorite 36-plus targets combined: Jayden Reed (8-392-1) and Tucker Kraft (7-374-1).

Clearly, this Love-Watson combo bears watching—from fans and defenses alike.

Love’s final numbers on Sunday were impressive: 25 completions in 31 attempts for 367 yards, two touchdowns and a passer rating of 137.5. But missing from that deep-dive accounting was the fact that the 27-year-old became just the second Packers passer to complete five passes of more than 35 yards in a single regular-season game regardless of opponent.

Cecil Isbell is the only other player to have been so prolific. On Nov. 1, 1942, Isbell completed 10 of 21 passes for 333 yards and five touchdowns in a 55-24 blowout of another team from Chicago. Five times did Isbell connect for more than 35 yards against the Cardinals—Don Hutson (38, 73, 65) and Andy Uram (64, 36)—and five times did the recipient of those throws reach the end zone.

Deep Dive

Packers passers who threw four or more passes of more than 35 yards in a single regular-season game.
 

No.   Date                      Passer                   Opponent             Result
 5        Nov. 1, 1942           Cecil Isbell              Cardinals                 GB won, 55-24
 5        Oct. 11, 2026         Jordan Love            Bears                        GB won, 31-7
 4        Oct. 21, 1956         Tobin Rote               Rams                        GB won, 42-17
 4        Oct. 19, 1958         Babe Parilli             Redskins                  GB lost, 21-37
 4        Dec. 22, 2003       Brett Favre              Raiders                     GB won, 41-7
 4        Dec. 5, 2010          Aaron Rodgers       49ers                         GB won, 34-16
 4        Jan. 1, 2012           Matt Flynn               Lions                        GB won, 45-41
 4        Sept. 13, 2020      Aaron Rodgers        Vikings                     GB won, 43-34