What you need to know from Bears-Packers: Mike Glennon can't get out of his own way, again

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GREEN BAY, Wisc. — For the second time this year, Mike Glennon committed three turnovers in a half. And for the second time this year, the Bears were blown out on the road.

Glennon lost two fumbles and was picked off by Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix in the first half, setting the tone for a 35-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in front of a national Thursday night audience. Clay Matthews’ sack-strip of Glennon on the Bears’ first offensive play of the game — Glennon held on to the ball far too long — quickly handed the Packers a 14-0 lead, and miscommunication between Glennon and center Cody Whitehair caused a comical botched snap that Green Bay easily recovered. And on the interception, Glennon seemed to have Markus Wheaton open, but overthrew the speedy wideout.

Yes, Glennon successfully led a scoring drive inside the two-minute warning, finding Kendall Wright for a pretty five-yard touchdown in the back corner of the end zone.

But Glennon is supposed to excel in operating the Bears offense. He didn’t do that well beyond the botched snap — the Bears had to burn a timeout late in the first quarter when the offense couldn’t get lined up correctly. Those are the kind of errors that may be expected if Mitch Trubisky were in the game, not Glennon.

The Bears now have 10 days to evaluate if Glennon should still be their quarterback before welcoming the Minnesota Vikings to Soldier Field for Monday Night Football Oct. 9. The tape isn’t pretty for Glennon. But has Trubisky done enough behind the scenes to warrant supplanting Glennon as the starting quarterback? Or, even if he hasn’t, does the coaching staff pull the rip cord and play him anyway because they can’t trust Glennon anymore and need to win games to keep their jobs?

The Bears are 1-3 and, outside of a fourth quarter spurt in Week 1, haven’t had good quarterback play this year. Will that change when the calendar flips to October, and will it be because Trubisky is the starter?

Stay tuned.

A mixed bag on defense

Green Bay scythed through the Bears’ defense on its first possession, making its 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive look easy. After Glennon’s fumble, the Packers needed two plays to get the three yards necessary to make the score 14-0. But on their next 13 plays, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers offense only gained 18 yards.

That, seemingly, gave the Bears’ offense an opportunity to get back into the game. It didn’t happen, and then after Glennon and Whitehair botched that snap, Rodgers escaped pressure and fired one of his signature heaves to Jordy Nelson, a 58-yard gain that set up Aaron Jones’ two-yard touchdown.

But facing a Packers offense missing its two starting tackles and, as the game went on, running backs Ty Montgomery and Jamaal Williams, the Bears defense didn’t do enough. As the game went on, Rodgers was easily able to pick this group apart, leading to such a lopsided scoreline.

And Danny Trevathan’s brutal, unnecessary hit on Davante Adams — leading straight into Adams’ helmet with his helmet — in the third quarter put a stain on the rest of the game. It was surprising Trevathan wasn’t ejected for that hit, and he’ll likely receive a fine (if not more) for it from the league.

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