CHICAGO, IL, (WTAQ) – The 207th meeting between the grand old rivals, the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears launched the 2023 season at sun splashed Soldier Field Sunday afternoon and everything new was old again as Jordan Love, making his debut as the Pack’s new starting quarterback, delivered three touchdown passes in a 38-20 romp, making it nine straight wins in the series and 25 out of the last 30 in the Windy City. From Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers and now with Love, the Packers have enjoyed disappointing the Chicago faithful, which included nearly 100 Bears alumni in attendance.
This year was supposed to be different. Rodgers wasn’t around to continue his personal, “ownership” dominance. Chicago felt certain their young quarterback, Justin Fields, with an overhauled roster built around the face of their franchise, would turn the tables once and for all. The Monsters of the Midway talked plenty in the days and weeks leading up to the lid lifter but it was Fields who made the key mistakes and the Bears who turned chippie once Green Bay took an early lead, succumbing to the pressure of not letting the Packers embarrass them again. Throw in the fact the Packer offensive and defensive lines controlled the trenches and Head Coach Matt LaFleur remains perfect against Chicago, winning all 9 games he’s been a part of. Considering the circumstances of this one, it was extra special.
The locker room celebration was particularly boisterous with a team that dressed 20 players that were either rookies or in the first game of their second season. Love was given the game ball for his performance as LaFleur said the entire team believes in him. Given the keys to the franchise after the remarkable 18 year run of Rodgers, 15 as the starter, Love stepped to the press conference podium and was asked what it all meant to him.
By the numbers, Love went 15 of 27 for 245 yards with three touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 123.2, scrambling three times for 12 more yards. By comparison, Fields was 24of 37 for 216 yards, a touchdown and an interception. His rating was a mere 78.2. After rushing for over a thousand yards last year, Fields led the team again with 59 yards on 9 carries but he was also sacked four times (Love only once) and lost a fumble.
Fields first carry came on an aggressive 4th and 1 sneak at their own 40 yard line but Preston Smith straightened up the lunging quarterback for no gain and Love promptly went to work. He converted a third and 13 by hitting Romeo Doubs for 13 yards. Already without Christian Watson, inactive with a hamstring, Doubs was questionable with the same injury and played only sparingly. The opening drive was capped with another third down connection between the two. From the 8, Doubs was split right and headed to the corner and with excellent protection, Love waited until he moved back across the end line and delivered the first touchdown pass as the first string quarterback for a 7 to nothing lead.
The next time Fields used his legs, he veered toward the Chicago sideline where Jaire Alexander gave him a shoulder nudge while still in bounds. The Bear bench took exception, former Packer and Chicago center Lucas Patrick most notably and a scrum ensued. T.J. Slaton and Chase Claypool were both given off-setting personal foul penalties in the melee. The Packer defense held and Cairo Santos connected on a 47 yard field goal to make it 7-3. After a three and out, the Bears moved again, reaching the Packer 4 yard line where top draft pick Lukas Van Ness picked up his first career sack. A third and goal pass for the end zone was broken up by Rasul Douglass and Santos brought the Bears within a point on a 29 yard field goal.
Green Bay stalled twice more but Rashan Gary, playing in his first game since tearing his ACL last November, got a piece of Fields’ arm on a third down incompletion and after a backed up punt, the Packers got the ball at their 44 with 1:12 left in the half. Love hit rookie Jayden Reed on a 30 yard completion to convert a third and 10 but he took his only sack with time running out. The Packers used a time out with :04 remaining in the half and sent out rookie Anders Carlson for a 52 yard field goal and the 5th round pick drove it through for a 10-6 lead at the half.
Aaron Jones took over in the third quarter. A beautifully executed screen pass covered 51 yards and Jones walked in the end zone from a yard out for a 17-6 advantage. After Devonte Wyatt sacked Fields on the next series which led to a punt, it was Reed who brought it back 35 yards to the Chicago 42. Facing 4th and 3 at the 35, LaFleur said it was safety Darnell Savage on the sideline who urged him to go for it, saying “we’ve got you coach”, and the offense stayed on the field. The play call had Jones matched up against T.J. Edwards and it was a mismatch. The short curl route was delivered in stride and Jones raced in untouched from 35 yards out to make it 24-6.
Kenny Clark forced a Fields fumble on the next series with Rasul Douglas recovering at the Chicago 28 but De’Vondre Campbell was flagged for pulling a player off the pile and the offense couldnt’ convert the takeaway into points.
Two defensive penalties helped Chicago find the end zone for the first time as Darnell Mooney beat Keisean Nixon on the 20 yard scoring catch. Kahlil Herbert cashed in the two point conversion with :59 left in the third quarter and the Bears had some life trailing by 10.
Reed moved the chains again on third and 7 with an 18 yard grab and then Love came up with a huge ad lib. He dropped the snap but quickly scooped it up and threw a heave downfield to a wide open Luke Musgrave who made the grab with no one around him but he lost his footing and stumbled down after a 37 yard gain. On the next snap, Doubs came through again, high pointing a 4 yard catch over the top of Chicago rookie corner Tyrique Stevenson to put the Packers up 31-14.
Next came the back breaking turnover. Fields took a shot over the middle for Mooney but Quay Walker dropped deep in coverage to intercept at the 37. The linebacker turned running back broke a couple of tackles and weaved his way all the way into the end zone that turned the game into a route. Walker suffered a concussion on the play and wouldn’t return.
The Bears got a consolation touchdown with under four minutes to play from Roschon Johnson against defensive backups. Sean Clifford finished the game out at quarterback before a nearly empty stadium.
The Packers put up 329 yards of offense but rushing yards were hard to come by. They gained 92 but on 32 carries (2.9 average), the longest run was a 10 yarder by reserve Patrick Taylor late. Where the offense excelled however, was on third down, converting 9 of 16 (56.3 %) and in the red zone going 3 for 3. The Bears finished with 311 yards but 96 came in the 4th quarter when the game was out of hand and they finished just 3 of 13 on third down (23.1%) after starting 1 for 11.
Jones led the team with 41 rushing yards and had another 86 on two receptions, scoring twice, giving him 7 touchdowns in his last six games against the Bears. Doubs led with 4 receptions for 26 yards and two scores in limited duty.
Defensively, Darnell Savage led with 10 tackles, Wyatt had one and a half sacks. He didn’t pick up his first career sack as a rookie until December of last season. Karl Brooks also picked up a sack in his rookie debut.
The inactive players were Watson, Emmanuel Wilson, Anthony Johnson Jr., Zayne Anderson, Brenton Cox Jr., Caleb Jones and Sean Rhyan.
The Packers have extended their regular season series lead to 105-94-6 (1-1 in the post-season) and they now have an NFL leading 791 wins as franchise, five more than second place Chicago.
The first win with a new first string quarterback was even more significant as the Jordan Love era got off to a lovely start. The Packers next head to Atlanta for a 12:00 PM CDT kickoff against the Falcons this Sunday.
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