It’s alright, Bears fans. You can uncover your eyes. The Packers aren’t here to hurt you anymore. Chicago suffered a horrific, demoralizing loss to Green Bay to kick off the new season, getting trampled and beat up all game. The offense played scared and only pushed the ball downfield when it was too late, and the defense got torn apart by a Packers’ offensive gameplan that could have easily been adjusted too.
It all resulted in a Packers win, the NFL signing their praises about Green Bay QB Jordan Love who didn’t even do too much to beat Chicago, and both the Bears’ fanbase and the team searching for answers. With that being said, let’s access the repressed parts of our memories and talk about the Good, Bad, and Ugly of Week 1 against the Packers.
The Good: Individual performances
In spite of the Bears’ failure to play football at a professional level in Week 1, some players actually had strong performances.
Rookie running back Roschon Johnson was definitely one of the team’s bright spots as he did the most with his limited snaps, accumulating 55 total yards and scoring a touchdown. He did even more than what the box score shows too, as he gave a deflated Soldier Field crowd a jolt when he flattened Packers’ safety Rudy Ford on a run play.
Roschon Johnson RB1.pic.twitter.com/hFEfi8Jbqu
— Dave (@dave_bfr) September 11, 2023
Newly acquired Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds also had a solid game, racking up eight tackles with two tackles-for-loss. Though a whipping like Green Bay gave Chicago is difficult to ignore, there is solace in knowing the talented players the team brought in are making themselves known early.
Other navy-and-blue players that put their best foot forward was receiver Darnell Mooney (four catches, 53 yards, touchdown) and defensive end Yannick Ngakoue (four tackles, two tackles for loss, sack).
The Bad: Justin Fields' up-and-down play
In several Bears Wire articles in the past, I warned that Fields has notoriously gotten off to slow start to begin the new NFL season and fans should keep their expectations in check. Well, it turned out I was right — kind of.
Fields actually came out the gate looking polished and in control. He understood offensive coordinator Luke Getsy’s game plan (something we’ll get to very soon) and executed it to perfection. QB1 was maintaining a superb level of efficiency through the first half. His play wasn’t translating into points on the scoreboard, however, and Green Bay took advantage.
The Packers ripped a close game away from the Bears to begin the second half, scoring two touchdowns in the third quarter to dig Chicago a deeper hole that they fell into. Fields essentially tossed out the game plan and began to improvise, leading to some positive developments, but also some critical failures. Fields did lead a scoring drive in the waning minute of third quarter, lofting a ball to Mooney in the corner of the endzone, but the Packers continued to slice through Chicago’s defense. Fields began to get reckless in an effort to score, and that’s when his errors came about.
Fields fumbled after scrambling on one drive and stared down a receiver over the middle and promptly threw an interception to Packers linebacker Quay Walker on another, who returned it for a touchdown.
When it rains, it pours.
Overall, it was a tale of two halves. Great execution in the first, hero ball in the second that led to turnovers. I will go on record saying that the loss was not on Fields. He followed the game plan in the first half and then, when the plan wasn’t working and the Bears were down big, he tried to play the hero but was made to be the villain.
The Ugly: The coaching
The Bears’ coaching staff are largely responsible for the massacre that occurred last night. Head coach Matt Eberflus’ inability to prepare the team, as well offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and defensive coordinator Alan Williams’ horrible game plans cultivated into a rotten product on the field.
To start with Getsy: What was he thinking? He has arguably one of the best running quarterbacks in NFL history in Fields, brought in a playmaking receiver in DJ Moore and has several impact players in the passing game, and what does he show for it? To start, take a look at this passing chart for Fields in Week 1.
Justin Fields pass chart from Week 1. Just 4 attempts of 37 past 10 yards. 2/4 on those throws with a TD and an INT. #Bears pic.twitter.com/25viHb65jc
— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) September 11, 2023
Do you see what’s wrong with this graphic? Fields wasn’t allowed to throw downfield at all. Almost every throw he made was within 20 yards of the line of scrimmage and, to make it worse, the two throws he did throw 20-plus yards were caught, with one being a touchdown.
Fields was one of the best deep passers in the NFL last year; this chart does not reflect his willingness to throw down the field. This graph reflects Getsy’s failure to understand his player’s strengths and his incompetence as a play caller. I could belabor the point and call out his inability to get Moore or Chase Claypool involved, or his horrible play he called on third and fourth down in the Bears’ first drive, but they are all microcosms of the larger point. Getsy needs to seriously reevaluate his offensive philosophy, or he needs to relinquish playcalling duties to someone else.
Williams made many of the same mistakes Getsy did, but his main issue was refusing to adjust to the Packers’ offense. To exemplify this point, Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love found success in the intermediate passing game early, finding his man over the middle multiple times. What does Williams do? Commit coaching malpractice and call the same outdated, archaic Cover 2 coverage that ultimately results in the Packers’ first touchdown.
Much later in the game, the Bears’ defense is faced with a fourth-and-short as they attempt to clot the bleeding on the scoreboard. Green Bay elects to go with an empty backfield, with star running back Aaron Jones matched up with linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. Does Williams call a timeout to rethink his defensive play, or make a signal from the sideline to get Edmunds some help? Nope, he just watches the trainwreck happen as Jones — predictably — dusts Edmunds on an inside slant, outrunning everyone else on route to another Packers touchdown.
I hope someone sits down the coaching staff and make them see the error in their ways, otherwise it won’t be too long before Getsy and Williams are on the hot seat.
