Unable to generate a pass rush, the Bears did little to prevent longtime nemesis Aaron Rodgers from continuing his mastery over them Sunday at Soldier Field.
The star quarterback led the Packers to five touchdowns and one field goal on their first six possessions in a 38-17 victory. The Bears were credited with one sack—when rookie tackle Ego Ferguson chased Rodgers out of bounds for no gain—and no quarterback pressures in the game.
"We didn't get the kind of pass rush we needed today when Aaron was in the pocket," said coach Marc Trestman. "He was able to really have the time to get done what he needed to get done.
"And then we lost contain at times and he was able to extend plays. When he does that with that kind of athleticism and accuracy, he's a very, very difficult guy to contend with. It was very obvious that they came out and were going to throw the ball and get their passing game going today, and they certainly did that."
Rodgers completed 22 of 28 passes for 302 yards with four touchdowns, no interceptions and a 151.2 passer rating that was the second best in his career, topped only by a 155.4 in a 2009 win over the Browns. He has now won the last seven games he's started and finished against the Bears.
"He's an elite quarterback," said rookie cornerback Kyle Fuller. "We knew that come in. He kept some plays alive. He made some plays. That just shows how good he is."
No excuses: Defensive end Jared Allen missed Sunday's game with an illness, but Trestman wasn't blaming the Bears' lack of pressure on the veteran's absence.
"We're not going to make excuses for that," Trestman said. "Jared wanted to be here and couldn't because he wasn't healthy enough to be here."
Trestman declined to confirm a report by Fox Sports' Jay Glazer that Allen is suffering from pneumonia.
"Jared has been sick this week and I want to leave it at that," Trestman said. "I don't think it goes any farther than that. I think I'll just leave it as where we've had it. He was not well this week. He is getting better. But the doctors and trainers determined that he was unable to play."
Surprise party: After taking a 17-14 lead with 3:50 left in the first half, the Bears attempted a surprise onside kick. But Green Bay's Sean Richardson recovered at the Green Bay 39.
The Packers proceeded to march 61 yards on seven plays to score their third touchdown on as many possessions, taking a 21-17 lead they never relinquished.
"We talked about that we were trying to find at some point of time in the game a possession," Trestman said. "We thought we had a really good play. We knew when we were going to do it, and why we were going to do it, and we didn't get it done.
"It cost us about 18-19 yards of field position. Certainly, they came back and got seven points on it. We know that. You're playing a guy like [Rodgers], a tough guy to stop and a tough offense to stop when they're rolling the way we saw them going and started. You have to make those kind of decisions. I felt it was a good one. As I said, we gave up 18 yards and we couldn't stop them."
Rare occurrence: Neither the Bears or Packers punted in Sunday's game, marking only the second time that's happened in an NFL regular-season contest. The only other time that has occurred was on Sept. 13, 1992 in a game between the Bills and 49ers.
"Punters should be fresh for next week," said quarterback Jay Cutler. "There wasn't one punt? That doesn't happen often. It's a good and bad thing, I guess. Depends on which side you're on. The turnovers on the offensive side, we've got to clean that stuff up."
