The Green Bay Packers kicked off the 2023 season with a thrashing of the Chicago Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field. Five touchdowns, including four in the second half, allowed Matt LaFleur’s team to cruise to a 38-20 win over their rivals in Chicago.
Re-watching the condensed version of the contest helped reveal more of what went right and what went wrong for the Packers.
Buy Packers TicketsHere are six more takeaways from a re-watch of Sunday’s win at Soldier Field:
Packers dominated line of scrimmage
The re-watch made clear what was fairly obvious watching live: the Packers dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football, and the dominance up front was far and away the biggest reason why the Packers blew out the Bears. The game can be so complicated at times, but it can also be boiled down in most cases to who better protects and pressures the quarterback. The Packers checked both boxes emphatically. Jordan Love played from clean pockets; Justin Fields was consistently disrupted. The Packers entered 2023 with a veteran offensive line specializing in protecting the passer and a deep, talented defensive front with huge disruptive potential. Both were unleashed in a big way on Sunday.
Darnell Savage looked revitalized
Savage played fast, aggressive and physical but also under control. While the Bears didn’t threaten downfield in the passing game, Savage was excellent supporting against the run and attacking downfield on short passes. In the first half, he beat Robert Tonyan’s attempt blocked and dumped D’Onta Foreman for a 7-yard loss. Savage was also in on three other tackles within three yards of the line of scrimmage, including one knifing tackle on Khalil Herbert in the open field. He finished with 10 total tackles without a miss. Fellow starter Rudy Ford had issues making tackles, but Savage’s season debut was a highly encouraging one from both a play-speed and play-style standpoint.
Athleticism of the defensive line
The Packers are going to have a lot of options in terms of attacking passers along the defensive front. There are elite athletes everywhere. Rashan Gary, Devonte Wyatt and Lukas Van Ness were especially impressive against Justin Fields and the Bears on Sunday. Gary was on a pitch count but consistently beat rookie Darnell Wright, while Wyatt and Van Ness both had impressive sacks and pressures using their elite athleticism to close the space and get to Fields, one of the league’s most elusive quarterbacks. The Bears wanted to get Fields on the edges, but the Packers were too athletic at edge rusher. On one bootleg, Van Ness hunted Fields down. Later, Wyatt didn’t bite on the run fake and buried Fields before he could escape. Stunts were especially effective in obvious passing situations. Throw in veterans Kenny Clark and Preston Smith (and even rookies Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks) and the Packers have a potentially special group of athletic rushers to throw at quarterbacks.
Zach Tom might be special
The play of the offensive tackles was a big reason why Jordan Love was so well protected on Sunday. All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari was excellent again, proving he’s still one of the NFL’s elite players when available. But right tackle Zach Tom was also unbeatable in the passing game. Overall, Bakhtiari and Tom were on the field for 30 pass-blocking snaps and neither gave up a pressure. Tom is such a calm, patient pass-blocker, and his athleticism and mirroring are elite traits/abilities. The Bears lack difference-making pass-rushers, and more difficult tests are ahead. But the Packers passing game will be just fine if Bakhtiari and Tom are consistently erasing edge rushers and giving Love comfortable pockets.
Mixed bag for Jayden Reed
There was a lot to like from rookie receiver Jayden Reed, who caught two passes for 48 yards (both converting on third down) and created a 35-yard punt return. He had a 30-yard catch on 3rd-and-10 setting up Anders Carlson’s field goal before the half, an 18-yard catch on 3rd-and-10 setting up Green Bay’s final offensive touchdown (a huge play for swining momentum back to the Packers) and the punt return set up another score. But it wasn’t all good for Reed. His three other targets were all contested, and he failed to make any of the three catches. Jordan Love could have thrown a better placed ball on each of the three, but Reed probably needs to do a better job attacking the ball in the air and playing through contact. He’s a smaller receiver, but the Packers liked him coming out of Michigan State because he played big and made plays in traffic.
Attacking the middle of the field
Jordan Love wasn’t at all hesitant about attacking the middle of the field in the passing game. In fact, it’s an area of the field where he thrived on Sunday. Love hit Romeo Doubs on an in-breaker for an 8-yard touchdown and Aaron Jones on an angle route for a 35-yard touchdown. By my own charting, Love attempted 11 passes thrown past the line of scrimmage to the middle of the field. He completed seven for 115 yards and two scores.
