5 things to watch as the Chicago Bears host the Green Bay Packers — plus our Week 1 predictions
The Chicago Bears open their second season under coach Matt Eberflus with a chance to change the recent landscape of their biggest rivalry. The Green Bay Packers have won eight straight in the series, but they come to Chicago entering a new era without quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
As kickoff approaches at Soldier Field (3:25 p.m., Fox-32), here’s our snapshot look at the game.
Player in the spotlight
Packers quarterback Jordan Love
After three seasons of development behind Rodgers, Love, the No. 26 draft pick in 2020, finally gets his shot.
He enters the game with very limited NFL game experience. In one start and 10 appearances, he completed 50 of 83 passes for 606 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions for a 79.7 passer rating.
But Bears cornerbacks coach Jon Hoke cautioned that Love is not entering this game like a rookie quarterback.
“He’s only young just because he hasn’t had a lot of starts,” Hoke said. “He’s been around a really good quarterback, and they have a really good offensive system and he’s been around that. He’s young in terms of number of starts and games under his belt. But he’s been around, and he’s been taking real football reps in pro football.
“He’s played with poise in the games I’ve seen, especially in the preseason. He’s had a positive impact on their offense. They’ve been productive. He’s going to make some plays that are offschedule because he is an athlete. We’ll have our hands full.”
Bears defensive line coach Travis Smith said the Bears watched some of Love’s Utah State film to study him as an athlete, though he often was playing against lesser caliber athletes. Smith called Love a “phenomenal athlete” but said the Bears defense has something going for it.
“We face a phenomenal athlete every day (in Justin Fields),” Smith said. “No matter who we’re preparing for, when we go ones versus ones, versus Justin, the most dangerous athlete on the field is him. It’s been from Day 1. It’s not like all of a sudden we play Green Bay and we’ve got to worry about how we’ll rush this quarterback. We’ve done it since OTA 1 with Justin.”
Pressing question
Will the Bears show progress in the passing game?
It has been the biggest Bears question of the last eight months as quarterback Justin Fields looks to take the next step in his second season with offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.
General manager Ryan Poles added several key offensive players, most notably wide receiver DJ Moore and offensive linemen Nate Davis and Darnell Wright, to help boost a Bears offense that ranked last with 130.5 passing yards per game.
The Bears still should look to establish a powerful run game again behind Khalil Herbert and D’Onta Foreman.
But there’s a big curiosity in how Moore can help Fields establish the passing game after a 2022 season in which Fields threw for 2,242 yards and ran for 1,143.
“The biggest thing with DJ is, one, there’s a comfort level with the quarterback,” Getsy said. “When you have that, it gives you a little bit of freedom for creativity/comfort plays that you can lean on whenever you need to. It just gives confidence to the group. Whether you’re in the huddle or in the receiver room, he has helped boost that room and that entire group.”
The Bears also get Darnell Mooney back from his season-ending injury last year and hope to see better production from Chase Claypool with a full offseason in the offense.
Mooney said Claypool looked “really good” in practice this week after coming back from injury and the Bears hope the trio can threaten with “explosive plays at all times.”
“You take away one guy and the other guy makes a big play,” Mooney said. “We actually have guys that have done that multiple times and have proven that they’ve done it in this league. So it’s exciting to go back out there and actually do it.”
Keep an eye on …
The Bears run defense
After the Bears allowed 157.3 rushing yards per game in 2022, Poles retooled the front seven, signing defensive linemen Andrew Billings, DeMarcus Walker, Yannick Ngakoue and Rasheem Green and linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards and drafting defensive tackles Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens.
Along with the additions, line coach Travis Smith thinks that a year in the defense should help defensive tackle Justin Jones and defensive end Dominique Robinson.
“The guys feel comfortable within the system with what we are doing,” Smith said. “You bring in some guys who are not only good physical players, but they’ve got the right mentality too, right? The right mentality and disposition to play the run but also from a physicality standpoint and from a size and technique standpoint.”
With Love getting his feet wet Sunday, the Bears likely will need to buckle down against the run against the Packers.
Behind running backs Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon, the Packers rushed for 203 yards in the first meeting with the Bears last year and 175 yards in the second game.
“You have a guy in 33 (Jones) who can get on the edge,” defensive coordinator Alan Williams said. “He can get outside of you. He can run between the tackles. Then they have a big back (Dillon) that’s good at downhill and pounding between the tackles. We just have to do what we do a bit better, set the edge better.
“We’re a little bit bigger, stronger, faster upfront and in the middle. We have more experience and guys that have one year under their belt, so they are setting the edge better. They are getting off the ball better. We need to control the line of scrimmage better. We need to play on their side of the line of scrimmage. And it’s not just our front four, our backers need to play a little bit more downhill, read our keys. If you add all those things up to, I think that means stopping the run better.”
Davis returns
Bears right guard Nate Davis practiced in full Friday and is listed as ready to play after sitting out Thursday for personal reasons.
One missed practice isn’t a big deal, but when coupled with Davis’ lengthy absence during training camp, it raised questions about whether he would be ready to go.
“He’s back to full, looks great today,” Eberflus said. “And we’ll move forward from there.”
The offensive line will be another unit under scrutiny after Poles’ investments in Davis and No. 10 draft pick Darnell Wright. The line has dealt with more than just Davis’ absence. Left guard Teven Jenkins went on injured reserve, causing the Bears to move Cody Whitehair to left guard and Lucas Patrick to center.
Patrick went on injured reserve after seven games last season, and he said he’s eager to show his gratitude to an organization that gave him a two-year, $8 million contract in 2022 and stood by him while he was injured.
“(I want to) showcase this organization, like, ‘Hey, I can do what you brought me in to do,’ ” Patrick said. “(I have) gratitude. They changed my family’s life. I just had a daughter recently, and her experience in this world will be significantly better because of the Chicago Bears. It’s beyond playing football for me. I feel like I owe them something greater than just play.”
Injury report
The biggest injury news comes from the Packers, who will be without top receiver Christian Watson, who is battling a hamstring injury. They also listed wide receiver Romeo Doubs as questionable with a hamstring injury.
After a training camp filled with injuries to key players, the Bears enter Sunday remarkably healthy. Only linebacker Dylan Cole was listed as questionable with a hamstring injury.
Safeties Jaquan Brisker (groin) and Eddie Jackson (ankle) and defensive end DeMarcus Walker (calf) are listed as good to go for the game.
Eberflus said Brisker and Jackson looked great the last couple of days and doesn’t have an issue with them playing the full game.
He said Brisker’s main challenge after missing much of training camp will be “just really staying locked in. He’ll do a great job with that. He’s got the year under his belt, which is great, and him and Eddie have a great relationship in terms of their communication and how they operate. And those guys have been in all the walkthroughs, which is awesome.”
Predictions
Brad Biggs
The availability of Packers wide receivers Christian Watson (out) and Romeo Doubs (questionable), both on the injury report with hamstring issues, flipped my original pick. Expect the Bears to attempt to set a physical tone running the ball and generate defined reads for Justin Fields off play-action. On the flip side, the Packers ran for 378 yards in the two meetings last season, and I wound anticipate a big dose of Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon. Can the league’s 31st-ranked run defense from 2022 respond?
Bears 20, Packers 17
Colleen Kane
After more than four years, it’s finally time for the Bears to pull off a victory against the Packers again. The Bears have plenty of questions as they enter the opener with a reconstructed roster, most notably about how Justin Fields will progress in a crucial season. But behind new quarterback Jordan Love, the Packers have more questions. I’m not sure it will be easy for the Bears, especially against two good Packers running backs. But especially with Packers wide receiver Christian Watson out, I think the Bears could make life difficult for Love and perhaps come up with a takeaway or two. The Bears run game should pick up where it left off last season. And the Fields-DJ Moore connection could come up with some exciting plays, propelling much of the Bears roster and staff to their first win in the rivalry.
Bears 24, Packers 17
Dan Wiederer
In a game in which uncertainty abounds for both teams, this much I know. The Bears are playing at home. The Bears are storming into the season with undeniable belief. The Bears have added enough playmakers on both sides of the ball to come out on the right end of “Take care of business” games just like this all season. Yes, they will have to be forceful in stopping the run. Yes, they will have to force Packers quarterback Jordan Love into multiple game-changing mistakes. Yes, Justin Fields will have to make a handful of big plays to fuel the offense. And yes, the Bears will get all that done in what has the potential to be a “Ding-dong, the witch is dead” rivalry victory.
Bears 24, Packers 20
