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Rob Demovsky
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ESPN Staff Writer
- Covered Packers for Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1997-2013
- Two-time Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year as selected by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association
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Courtney Cronin
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ESPN Staff Writer
- Covered the 49ers, Raiders and Warriors for the San Jose Mercury News. She joined ESPN in 2017.
Green Bay, Wis. — Jakeem Grant loves the left sideline at Lambeau Field.
About eight minutes after the Chicago Bears receiver scored Chicago’s first touchdown off a jet sweep he took 46 yards down the Green Bay Packers‘ sideline into the end zone, Grant returned a punt 97 yards for a touchdown after the two minute warning in the first half, the longest punt return touchdown in Bears’ history.
It took 14 weeks into the season for the NFL to see its first punt returned for a touchdown. Grant caught the ball inside the 5-yard line, started to his right, felt the Packers closing in on him and cut back to his left to race down the sideline into the end zone.
Grant now has now returned four punts for touchdowns throughout his career. The play gave Chicago a 24-14 lead.
HE GONE!!! 💨
97 yards to the house!@_TheDreamIsHere | #ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/wO9dwp6Ibh
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) December 13, 2021
Two games, two pick-sixes.
For the second straight game at Lambeau Field, Green Bay Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas returned an interception for a touchdown. He beat Darnell Mooney to the ball on the left sideline, picked off Justin Fields‘ pass that was thrown slightly too far inside and returned it 55-yards for a touchdown to give the Packers a 14-10 second-quarter lead.
In the Packers last game before the bye, Douglas picked off Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown.
This is the first time the Packers have multiple pick-sixes in a season since 2015, and Douglas has them both.
Douglas is the same player who basically won the Oct. 28 game at the Arizona Cardinals with a walk-off interception in the end zone just weeks after the Packers plucked him off the Cardinals practice squad.
.@rd32_era WITH THE 55-YARD PICK-SIX!#ProBowlVote | #CHIvsGB | #GoPackGo
📺 NBC pic.twitter.com/IzdL8Feo5J
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 13, 2021
Chicago Bears running back Jakeem Grant cranked up his afterburners to give the Bears their first touchdown of the night against the Green Bay Packers.
The play will go down as a 46-yard passing touchdown by Justin Fields, but it was actually a well-executed jet sweep Grant pulled off on second-and-4 from near midfield on Chicago’s third offensive drive.
The Bears sent five lead blockers to the left of the line of scrimmage to create openings for Grant to run through, in which he reached a maximum speed of 20.86 miles per hour, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
Grant tip-toed down the sideline once he reached the end zone and was narrowly able to stay in bounds to score. The touchdown gave Chicago a 10-0 lead over the Packers with 11:17 to play in the second quarter.
The play is the longest reception of Grant’s career. He gained 50 yards after the catch on the play, tied for his most yards after the catch in a game in his career, according to ESPN Stats and Information.
JAKEEM THE DREAM. #DaBears
📺: #CHIvsGB on NBC
📱: https://t.co/ptqAMuLpIh pic.twitter.com/sM6mRd6oTD— NFL (@NFL) December 13, 2021