Green Bay Packers take early command in NFC North again
When he celebrated a touchdown run at Chicago on Sunday by shouting to the crowd, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers may have been selling his team short.
Rodgers yelled, “I still own you!” to the Bears fans at Solder Field. In fact, Rodgers and the Packers have owned the entire NFC North ever since Matt LaFleur arrived as coach.
That doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon.
Green Bay (5-1) has a two-game lead over the Bears and Minnesota Vikings in the division standings after winning 24-14 at Chicago. The Packers are seeking their third straight division title and own a 13-1 record against NFC North opponents in LaFleur’s three-year tenure.
“I’m just really proud of the guys,” Rodgers said after the game. “These are character wins. These are wins that are really, really important. We’ve got to get healthy. We’ve got a lot of guys banged up, a lot of guys we could use moving forward. But I really like where we’re at, two up in the division after six and playing winning football.”
Since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, LaFleur is the only coach to win his first seven divisional road games.
The Packers have built this division lead while dealing multiple injuries.
Starters who missed Sunday’s game included 2020 All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari, 2020 Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander, 2020 Pro Bowl outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith,
LaFleur said he couldn’t completely rule out the possibility of surgery for Alexander but added that team officials feel he’s “progressing nicely” in his recovery from a shoulder injury.