Packers vs. Bears: Jordan Love and Christian Watson Torch Chicago in 31-7 Week 5 Revenge Rout

Nine months after Caleb Williams celebrated a playoff comeback over Green Bay by grating cheese on the field, the Cheeseheads finally got to exhale. With Williams sidelined for a third straight game, Jordan Love threw for 367 yards, Christian Watson caught two long touchdowns, the defense forced five turnovers, and the Green Bay Packers flattened the Chicago Bears 31-7 at Lambeau Field on Sunday.

Both teams are now 3-2, but only one of them looked like it belonged in a rivalry. The Packers had blown double-digit fourth-quarter leads in each of their last two meetings with Chicago, including a 31-27 wild-card loss in which they coughed up a 21-3 halftime lead. This time they never let off the gas, and Green Bay climbed above .500 for the first time this season.

From the Shadow of the Goalpost to a Blowout

Green Bay's first possession started at its own 9, which is usually where drives go to die. Instead, Matt LaFleur opened with a flea-flicker that ended in a shovel pass to Tucker Kraft for 13 yards, used Kraft on a direct snap to convert a third-and-1, and then Love dropped a play-action bomb to a wide-open Watson for a 42-yard touchdown. Ninety-one yards, 10 plays, statement made.

Two snaps later, Tyson Bagent's deep throw for Luther Burden was tipped by Javon Bullard and landed with Xavier McKinney at the Chicago 45. MarShawn Lloyd finished the short field by running straight through cornerback Jaylon Johnson on a 7-yard touchdown, the first rushing score of his career, on the opening play of the second quarter. By the end of the first quarter, Green Bay had outgained Chicago 130 yards to 9 and held the ball for 11:45 against a team that came in leading the league in time of possession.

Chicago did respond. The Bears put together a 16-play, 78-yard grinder that took 9:10 off the clock, and D'Andre Swift punched it in from the 1 on fourth-and-goal to make it 14-7. Austin Booker then sacked Love twice in the final minute of the half, and for a moment the Bears had a pulse.

The third quarter took it away. After a 31-yard grab by Watson, J. Michael Sturdivant had a 43-yard touchdown wiped out by offensive pass interference, leaving Green Bay in a third-and-22. Love simply went back to the well, and Watson reached over the helmet of safety Dillon Thieneman for a 53-yard touchdown. Cairo Santos then missed a 43-yard field goal, Trey Smack hit from 35 after a 46-yard catch-and-run by Kraft, and McKinney's second interception set up Lloyd's 4-yard score and a Love-to-Matthew Golden two-point conversion for a 31-7 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Love, Watson and a Secondary in Takeaway Mode

Love completed 25 of 31 passes for 367 yards, two touchdowns and a 137.5 rating, which the Packers called his regular-season career high. The AP noted the yardage was the most by a Packers quarterback against the Bears at Lambeau Field.

"I love it," Love said. "We kept our foot on the gas. (Coach) Matt (LaFleur) was dialing it up. That's what it needs to look like, right there."

Watson finished with six catches for 143 yards, and Golden added a career-high 123 yards on six grabs. Per the team, they were the first Green Bay pair with at least six catches and 120 yards apiece since Davante Adams and Jordy Nelson did it against Tennessee on Nov. 13, 2016. Watson admitted some people called him crazy this week for believing Green Bay could pick on Chicago's secondary.

"We watched the film," Watson said. "We saw the opportunities there, regardless of how good they were in other games against certain teams."

On defense, McKinney was everywhere with two picks, and his teammates noticed.

"Man, X everywhere," Bullard said, per the team's website.

Ball Don't Lie

The third-and-22 sequence is where Chicago's day officially ended. Getting a long touchdown erased by a flag usually rattles an offense. Green Bay treated it like a minor inconvenience and dialed up another deep shot.

"I said, 'Ball don't lie,'" Love said, per the team's website.

Basketball's oldest law of karma, enforced on a football field. Chicago went on to cough it up on four straight second-half possessions, starting with McKinney's second pick. After Bagent was benched for Case Keenum, Zavion Thomas ripped off a 61-yard kickoff return to give Keenum a short field, but Ty'Ron Hopper intercepted him in the end zone on fourth-and-goal. Zaire Franklin then forced a Rome Odunze fumble that Evan Williams recovered, and Devonte Wyatt strip-sacked Keenum for another one that Dani Dennis-Sutton scooped up.

Five Takeaways and Other Numbers

• 5: Takeaways, Green Bay's most in a game since a six-takeaway day against Seattle on Dec. 11, 2016, per the team.
• 130 to 9: Green Bay's first-quarter edge in total yards.
• 81: Chicago's rushing yards on 24 carries, without leading rusher Kyle Monangai.
• 87: Bagent's passing yards on 12-of-21 passing before the hook.
• 1 of 3: Smack's field goals, with misses from 43 and 47 plus a missed extra point, after he went 6 of 7 through four games.

Green Bay Exhales, Chicago Waits on Williams

This was the win the Packers needed, especially with unbeaten Minnesota already at 5-0 in the NFC North. The offense finally produced the explosive plays its weapons promised, and the defense showed it can swing a game on its own. The lone gut punch came late, when defensive tackle Javon Hargrave was hurt in the fourth quarter. LaFleur said Hargrave is believed to have an Achilles tendon injury, according to the AP.

Next up, Green Bay hosts Dallas on Sunday night, a chance to show this offense can do it two weeks in a row.

Chicago had won three of the previous four meetings after Green Bay's 11-game win streak in the series from 2019-24, so Sunday felt like the rivalry snapping back to its old shape. Ben Johnson knew exactly why it happened.

"The things that we had done well in the three victories that we had this year, they didn't show up today," Johnson said.

His best news was about Williams. "He's on track," Johnson said, adding that it could be close for next week's trip to Atlanta.

Big Bro Energy

Bullard, apparently the locker room's designated trash-talk spokesman, handled the closing statement.

"They're still little bro, man," Bullard said. "They're still little bro. Sometimes big bro got to show up, and that's what we did."

Somewhere in Chicago, a block of cheese is lying low.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by the Associated Press, with additional quotes and notes from Packers.com.