Offense
- The Bears started the game nicely with some easy throws from Fields and some decent runs. They gradually worked Fields up to longer passes from there.
- The Bears had two shots to make 3rd and 4th and short on the first set of downs. They ran two sneaks from under center and failed. That told me everything I needed to know about the sate of the interior of the offensive line despite efforts to improve it.
- I thought Fields looked good today throwing the ball. He’s got a strong arm and his accuracy is under-rated. It was harder for me to judge his ability to play from the pocket on TV but from my point of view, he ran the ball too much again. What replays we got that showed anything seemed to indicate that he was still missing open receivers. He certainly didn’t appear to be throwing with any anticipation that I could detect.
- Some will claim that Fields spent too much time under pressure and they’d have a point. The blocking up front wasn’t always up to snuff. But Fields still drops back and holds the ball instead of hitting his back foot and throwing it. He could make things a lot easier on that offensive line.
- Fields made a lot of yards on the naked boot last year. The Packers were well coached and looked ready for it.
- It was nice to see Fields take a check down pass early in the game. Fields needs to get comfortable working his way down the field gradually rather than going for a home run every play. Of course, that means that you have to trust the players round you to make plays.
- I like the way that D’Onta Foreman runs. Straight ahead slasher with vision. He’s good. Roschon Johnson took advantage of his chances.
- The Bears were 1 of 11 on third down. I don’t think I need comment further.
Defense
- Green Bay came out and did what you might expect. They decided to run over the Bears defense. From there it transitioned to play action passes. And they did it all pretty well.
- Jordan Love certainly looks to me like he belongs. His passer rating was virtually perfect. There were some throws that weren’t where they needed to be but he could hardly have been better under the circumstances.
- As Greg Olson said during the broadcast, quarterbacks make their money on third down. The Packers had a number of plays where they converted third and long against the Bears defense. The Bears were a very good 9 of 14 on third down.
- Nice job by the Bears defense in the first half when Love tried to draw them off-sides on fourth and three inside the Bears half of the field. The temptation to jump off-sides in those situations must be overwhelming. They held their discipline and didn’t do it.
- Most fans know that the Bears pass rush was poor last year. It appeared to me that they picked up where they left off. The four man rush struggled to make it to Love and he frequently had too much time to throw.
- I thought that it was curious that the Packers passing game was largely designed to put Eddie Jackson in a bind. He was evidently Love’s primary read a great deal of the time and his throws were determined by the direction that Jackson took. That obviously made it easier on him in his first season as a starter.
- Tyreek Stevenson looked like he belonged today.
- There were too many broken coverages today. The defensive backfield was supposed to be the strength of the team. Those things can’t happen.
Miscellaneous
- Greg Olson did a good job today. He brought an extra level of insight that most color men don’t.
- The Bears had too many penalties in the first half but to their credit they cleaned it up after that. They need to sustain that.
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The Bears lost to a team today with a quarterback who was starting his first full season and without their best wide receiver. And it was the same old story.
I laugh when I think of all of those Bears fans and media pundits who thought that that this was going to be a different era because Aaron Rogers left. You know what has been happening for the last 30 years? The Packers have consistently risen to the occasion year after year. And the Bears haven’t.