As much as the Green Bay Packers needed Sunday’s victory in Chicago, Brett Hundley needed it more.

Pedestrian would be a generous description for Hundley the past couple weeks. Against the Bears, however, Hundley finally put some film out there that justifies Mike McCarthy’s press conference conviction.

There were still rough patches: Hundley called a timeout instead of letting the game clock expire to end the first quarter, and he also opted to throw the ball out of bounds with nothing but grass in front of him on an extended play. Yet, there were throws and sustained drives that suggest the Packers are down but not out.

Hundley played better, but he can still improve

While the Packers came away with a victory, and Hundley was a reason for that, he certainly has valuable film from which to study. In the clip below, Hundley takes a sack on a blitz that took a millennium to arrive, and Hundley neither saw nor felt the pressure.

Especially early on, Hundley’s eyes locked into the right side of the field. As a result, the defense could dedicate resources accordingly without fear of retribution.

The Packers also missed some opportunities that existed but were not seen.

On the above third-and-1, Hundley locks eyes to the right half of the field. There’s nothing wrong, per se, with shortening Hundley’s reads from a coaching perspective, yet he bypasses an easy completion to Cobb in the flat on the far side.

To take the next step and to keep defenses honest, it would benefit Hundley to move his eyes across the field so teams don’t shade to the right. The Packers struggled to find much of anything in the prior couple games on play-action rollouts to the right because receivers were covered up.

Hundley just needs to spread the ball around a little better. It’s OK that he likes to throw right; he’s a right-handed quarterback starting his third game, but if the Packers want to keep defenses on their heels, McCarthy should push Hundley to spread the ball.

To grow, Hundley must trust his eyes

Oftentimes Sunday Hundley did see the field well, and he made the right reads. He just didn’t uncork the ball – he didn’t trust his read.

Below, Hundley has Nelson on the out – and he’s looking at him, too – but he hesitates long enough to allow Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller the time to close on the ball. If Hundley releases the ball at Nelson’s break, the end result is a catch.

Another example where something like this happened was on an early throw to Davante Adams on an out route. Hundley threw it behind the receiver and the ball was nearly intercepted, the end result likely a touchdown, too.

Had the ball come out on time – and Hundley’s eyes and shoulders were pointing in the right direction – Adams catches the ball and gains positive yards.

It’s a net-positive that Hundley is seeing these receivers. Some quarterbacks, Brock Osweiler, for example, struggle to see much of anything.

No. 7 made some big-time throws

Packers nation let out a collective sigh when Hundley threw a dime to Adams for a touchdown, for it wasn’t just a score, it was a respite from offensive ineptitude, a ray of light shining on what Hundley can do, not what he can’t.

Here it is:

And from the end-zone view:

There’s a lot going on here, all of it good.

First, Hundley has excellent protection. Jahri Evans watches Akiem Hicks pirouette into the turf, Justin McCray – an unsung warrior of this game – establishes great depth and washes Leonard Floyd, a first-round pick, into traffic. David Bakhtiari stones Pernell McPhee, and the combination of LaneTaylor and Corey Linsley properly handled the inside.

To his credit, Hundley starts his read left. He had been going to the right all game long, and regardless of what the pre-snap read was, the fact that he stood tall in the pocket and locked onto the left side holds the safety in his spot.

Once forced to scramble, Hundley moves right and waits for Adams to move up the field, manipulating the defender’s coverage, before delivering a dime over the top of the CB. No. 7 did his best No. 12 impression here – beautiful.

A little later, Hundley must have been imbibed with chutzpah as he floated one to Adams in stride down the right sideline.

This is confidence in the form of a throw. Hundey drops back, sets his feet and fires one to Adams as he coasts by his man for a game-sealing catch.

Both examples are a culmination of slowly-but-surely gained confidence.

The aforementioned confidence may have reared its head earlier when the Packers needed to convert a third-and-short.

Needing to move the chains, the Packers went empty and Hundley found Lance Kendricks in the flat to create a new set of downs.

While it wasn’t a flash play by any means, it certainly encapsulated why the Packers won on Sunday: they executed when it mattered – on third down.

And McCarthy deserves credit: He put together – and stuck to – a gameplan that emphasized the run. The Packers saw plenty of third downs with five yards or less to convert.

For a young, inexperienced quarterback, needing only three or four yards in the middle of the field allows the offense to use its full playbook, which makes it hard for defenses to tee-up as it would against a one-dimensional offense.

Like all growth spurts, there will be some awkward periods, but, for Hundley, it’s looking less like awkwardness and more like maturity.

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