Behind the Numbers: Packers dominate Bears in Week 1 victory
The Jordan Love era for the Packers began similarly to the way many previous matchups with the Chicago Bears have gone over the last 30 years with a dominant victory for Green Bay. The Packers were able to control the game in all three phases and dominated the trenches–a recipe for a big win.
Now it’s time to go Behind the Numbers with a closer look at all of the key stats and figures that played key roles in determining the outcome of this game.
Jordan Love on third and fourth down
Jordan Love’s efficiency on third and fourth downs was a major reason that the outcome of this game ended up the way it did. As a team, the Packers went 9-for-16 on third downs for a conversation rate of 56.2 percent. For some context, Buffalo led the NFL in third down success rate in 2022, moving the chains 50.2 percent of the time. When passing on those two downs, Love was 8-for-10 for 141 yards with two touchdowns. Just an incredible performance in key situations.
“I couldn’t be more proud of just his performance, his poise,” Matt LaFleur said after the game. “There’s a big-time belief in that locker room for Jordan Love. I think the guys, they’re going to rally around him. They’re excited for him. They love him. They respect him. He comes to work every day, great attitude, great energy. I think you saw that today.”
The offense creates big passing plays without Christian Watson
Even without Christian Watson and his vertical presence on the field, the Packers were able to generate several explosive pass plays. At the end of the first half, Love found Jayden Reed for 30 yards, eventually leading to a field goal. At the start of the third quarter, on a beautifully designed screenplay that included some misdirection, Aaron Jones went for 51 yards. On the following series, Jones was matched up with a linebacker over the middle of the field on a choice route that went for 35 yards, and then later on, an initial botched snap ended with Love finding Luke Musgrave down the left sideline for 37 yards.
In 2022, before Watson’s breakout game against Dallas, the Packers offense struggled to generate big plays in the passing game. This resulted in defenses shrinking the field by playing close to the line of scrimmage, which made moving the ball through the quick game and on the ground more difficult. This year’s Packers team, however, has a lot more speed overall on offense and is better equipped to handle Watson’s absence.
The Packers control the trenches on both sides of the ball
As the old saying goes, if you control the trenches, you control the game–and the Packers very much did that.
“I think that was probably the difference in the game,” said Matt LaFleur. “Our ability to protect Jordan and then get after Justin on the other side was probably the difference.”
On offense, Love had 28 dropbacks was sacked only once, and hit just three total times, according to ESPN. He had the time he needed in the pocket to go through his progressions, he wasn’t hurried, which helped Love protect the ball, and he was able to wait for the right pass catcher to become open. On many of those third-down pass attempts referenced above, if you go back and watch, you will see Love with what feels like all the time in the world.
“The O-line as a whole,” said Love after the game, “the protection was great. There was a couple times I was able to go through my whole read and there was no one around, and I was able to kind of look around.”
Defensively, the Packers’ pass rush set up shop in the Chicago backfield. In total, Green Bay had four sacks and six quarterback hits, although both of those numbers would have been far greater had they not been going up against such a dynamic player in Justin Fields. The Packers also held up quite well against the run. Fields was able to get loose on a few plays, but that’s going to happen; however, running backs Khalil Herbert and D’Onta Foreman averaged less than 3.5 yards per rush, and Roschon Johnson just 4.0.
The Packers win the turnover battle 2-0
Winning the turnover battle is always important – we know that – but it feels particularly crucial this season with such a young offense that, at times, is likely going to battle inexperience. Turnovers provide extra possessions and oftentimes good starting field position. Very importantly, Love was able to take care of the football, and the Green Bay defense was able to come away with a pair of takeaways.
“I think that’s big time,” said LaFleur after the game. “That’s the quarterback’s number one responsibility. We talk about it all the time: you have to take care of the football, and I thought he did that. Any time you got a quarterback that takes care of the football, you got a chance to win games.”
Anders Carlson has a perfect day
Throughout training camp and the preseason, you never quite knew what you were going to see from Anders Carlson. One day he would go 1-for-6, and the next day, 6-for-6. But in his regular-season debut, he was perfect, making all five extra points and a 52-yard field goal before half. Obviously, it’s very early in his career, but based on what we’ve seen from him, Carlson very much seems to be a gamer, meaning he performs best when it matters. Some of his best performances over the summer came during games. After the draft, Rich Bisaccia mentioned that Carlson’s big game experience and mental makeup were two qualities that the Packers really liked about him.
The offense is different when Aaron Jones is involved
The Green Bay offense looking completely different with Aaron Jones in the game isn’t a Jordan Love thing; this was the case when Aaron Rodgers was at quarterback as well. Although running the ball wasn’t easy, Jones still recorded 41 rush yards on nine carries. In the passing game, he had two explosive plays, totaling 86 yards with a touchdown. As David Bakhtiari said after the game, Jones has the ability to make a house call every time he touches the ball.
In the second quarter, which has often been when AJ Dillon handles the bulk of the workload, we didn’t see Jones get any carries, and likely not coincidentally, the offense sputtered. In part, LaFleur said that the offense was struggling to find a rhythm. We also know that it’s a long season, and the Packers are very mindful of Jones’ touches, wanting him available for the long haul.
Chase Claypool and DJ Moore combine for 25 yards
Bears receivers Chase Claypool and DJ Moore combined for two receptions for just 25 yards, and all of it came from Moore. Similarly to the end of last season, when the defense was playing its best, we saw Jaire Alexander traveling with the opponent’s top receiver – in this case, Moore – right out of the huddle.
In addition to limiting Chicago’s top pass catchers, this Green Bay defense as a whole looked very fast on the football field. They did an excellent job of swarming the ball carrier and making tackles. While the Packers’ offense dominated third downs, the Bears were just 3-for-13. They also had only one completion of 20 or more yards and only three others that went for more than 10.
“We’ve talked about it all offseason,” said LaFleur after the game, “our style of play, and you look around the league, teams that are playing winning football, are flying around to the football, and I thought our guys were playing physical, and they were flying all over the place.”
