Bombs Away: Packers’ Christian Watson, Matthew Golden Explode vs. Bears

GREEN BAY, Wis. – All of the machinations at receiver for the Green Bay Packers this year, from the trade of Dontayvion Wicks and the departure of Romeo Doubs to the contract extension for Christian Watson, led to this moment in a big game.

In a rivalry showdown against the Chicago Bears with so much at stake, Watson caught six passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns and Matthew Golden caught six passes for 123 yards. With those two and Tucker Kraft combining for 330 receiving yards, the Packers rolled to a 31-7 victory.

It marked only the 10th time in Packers history in which two players had at least 120 receiving yards and the first time since Davante Adams and Jordy Nelson against the Titans in 2016.

The barrage of bombs started on the opening drive when Jordan Love threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Watson. It was a busted coverage, with the corner turning Watson loose and Watson blowing past the safety for an easy pitch-and-catch score.

“Just saw that no one ran with me right away and then I saw the safety playing over the top, so I said I’m going to get as much width as I can from the safety and just hope he puts it out there and, obviously, he did,” Watson said.

The Packers led 14-7 at halftime but the Bears had the momentum.

Not for long.

On the first play of the second half, which oddly was delayed because the balls had to be run back onto the field, Love faked a pitch to MarShawn Lloyd and fired a bullet over the middle to Watson for 31.

Then came the biggest sequence of the game. On third-and-12, J. Michael Sturdivant got one step on Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson and made a tumbling 43-yard touchdown catch. The play was nullified, though, by a dubious interference penalty on Sturdivant. So, on third-and-22, Love found some open space to launch one deep to Watson, who made a leaping catch against rookie safety Dillon Thieneman for a 53-yard touchdown.

“I saw the safety was running back to it, so I knew someone’s got to get there first,” Watson said.

He did, making a spectacular catch just behind Thieneman’s helmet.

“I was joking around with some of the guys after, that’s just one of those ones that you watch it back on tape, and you’re like, ah the DB should’ve broken it up or it should’ve been incomplete,” Watson said. “Sometimes, you just find a way. I was just tracking the ball. I wasn’t thinking too much. Just go get it and came down with it.”

Love chalked it up to a great player making a great play, and it put the Packers in front 20-7.

“That’s what it’s all about right there,” Love said. “I said, ‘Ball don’t lie.’”

Next, it was Kraft’s turn. Love booted left and threw the ball deep to the right to Kraft, who was open instantly when he made his cut toward the pylon. That 46-yard play set up a field goal to make it 23-7.

“We let the ball over our head too many times – four passes over 40 yards or more,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said. “Credit to Green Bay, they came out, we knew we were going to get their best shot and we sure did.”

On the second-to-last play of the third quarter, it was Love to Golden up the right sideline for 36. That set up what essentially was the clinching touchdown run by MarShawn Lloyd to start the fourth quarter.

Finally, on the first play of the ensuing possession, Love went deep to Golden for 50 more.

“I think it’s something that we saw throughout the game that was working and we kept doing it,” Love said. “We kept our foot on the gas right there. I think really just guys were making plays. It was going to make some contested plays and nobody was just wide open, but I think guys were making some great catches out there, great plays.

“But I love it. We kept our foot on the gas, Matt was dialing it up and that’s what it needs to look like.”

It was all gas – and all bombs – and no brake.

“I would say we probably should've went and scored again. Honestly,” Golden said. “It's a statement game. But I feel like we played really good and it was an important game for us. It was a division game and we know we needed to come out with the win.”

With the Sunday night and Monday night games to be played, Watson is fourth in the NFL with 472 receiving yards and Golden is sixth with 397 yards. Watson is fifth with 18.2 yards per catch and Golden is 10th with a 16.5-yard average. Only Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba has more receiving touchdowns than Watson, who has six.

Watson is on pace for a preposterous 1,605 yards and 20 touchdowns. Golden is on pace for 1,350 yards, giving them a combined total approaching 3,000 yards.

The Packers had finished the day with six completions of 30-plus yards – as many big plays as Love had incompletions. They had five such plays against the Vikings in Week 1 but a total of three the past three games.

The Packers have a two-man receiver corps. Jayden Reed is on injured reserve and his replacement, Skyy Moore, dropped out early against Chicago. Watson and Golden carried the load, combining for 266 yards – or 72.5 percent of the team total.

For the season, they have 871 yards. That’s 61.9 percent of Love’s total.

“I think the day they had today kind of just speaks,” Love said. “I think we talked about it a little bit last week, how good the offense can be. It just shows right there. Those are two guys that are dominant factors.

“We get flowing like this and they’re making plays and we’re able to take advantage of what the defense is doing, both those guys, they’re capable of doing great things. I think that’s just a little bit of show what’s possible. It just comes down to executing. We talk about it every week. You got to go out there and make plays, and they made those plays for us today. We’ve just got to keep on building on it.”

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