Stock up, stock down: Another Packers heartbreaker

The Bears lost another game to the Packers and Aaron Rodgers.

The result shouldn’t have been surprising but it did have an air of hurt as the Packers star quarterback ran into the endzone for the winning score for what fans can only hope is the final time at Soldier Field and proclaimed that he owns the team.

It was a familiar loss, one that has happened all too frequently and followed an excruciatingly similar formula: Bears score first, keep the game close with good defense, offense sputters but somehow finds late traction, Green Bay goes down the field and through the Bears defense for the winning score.

But all was not lost on Sunday. There were flashes, moments, players that played well and showed that there will still be some good moments in the season to come, even with an absolutely brutal stretch that includes Tampa Bay, Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

Stock up

Khalil Herbert, RB - The rookie from Virginia Tech nearly had a 100 yards in his first career start. He looked good running the ball and really, expect for a bad dropped pass on a screen, really looked like a good depth piece filling in for Damian Williams and David Montgomery. If not for a brutally horrific holding call, he would’ve had 100 yards and two touchdowns.

Cole Kmet, TE - The much-maligned second year tight end had his best game of the season with four catches for 49 yards. He got open, he made a couple key third down catches when he needed to. Kmet might have been overdrafted (not his fault) and might never be a top five flashy, 1,000 yard season TE, but he can be a nice piece that can play two or three downs.

Jaylon Johnson, CB - Johnson is so, so good. I think he might really be underrated. Fans might look at Johnson’s game on Sunday and look at Davante Adams’ game and say “well Adams had four for 89 yards on five targets that isn’t a great game for Johnson.” But I say, look again at Adams’ numbers coming in to this game. Adams leads the league in receiving yards and catches, he is averaging 7.7 receptions per game and 111.3 yards per game. Coming in to Sunday Adams was averaging 115.8 yards per game and 8.4 catches. For Johnson to hold him to his third-lowest output of the season is fantastic.

Stock down

Kindle Vildor, CB - Vildor was out there getting roasted again and again. Allen Lazard burned him on the first Packers drive for a first down on a slant and it never got any better.

Allen Robinson, WR - I am just left wanting more. I predict that this will be my most controversial selection this week, but Robinson has just disappeared where he used to shine. Justin Fields has been touted as the best QB Robinson has ever played with and we’re now four games in to this era and AR12 and Fields seem no closer to getting on the same page. Robinson made some very nice plays, but I have come to expect so much more from him. For him to stop or slow down on routes when Fields was taking deep shots on (what should have been) free or broken plays. He’s not playing like a WR that deserves top 5 WR money.

Sam Mustipher, C - Mustipher had a bad snap that he was lucky the Bears fell back on and he didn’t have a great day in the blocking department either. Center is going to be another position of need this offseason.