The Jordan Love era for the Green Bay Packers started off the same way that it often went throughout the Aaron Rodgers era, with a dominant win over the Chicago Bears.
As always, here are my instant takeaways from the Packers’ 38-20 win over the Bears at Soldier Field:
Buy Packers Tickets— In all three phases, offense, defense, and special teams, the Packers were dominant.
— While I know it’s Week 1, there were way too many penalties by Green Bay. That has to improve—and I’m sure it will.
— Overall, I thought Jordan Love’s performance was a lot of what we saw during training camp. He was poised in the pocket. He went through his progressions and took care of the ball, and bought time with his legs. He had some big time throws in key situations, but there were some that were slightly inaccurate as well. A very solid debut as the starting quarterback.
— Love and the Packers offense as a whole were very good on third downs. That is one of the key reasons why this game wasn’t all that close. Green Bay was also 3-for-3 in the red zone. Even without Christian Watson, the Packers were able to generate explosive plays in the passing game, a few of which came over the middle with YAC—a key element of the LaFleur offense.
— I wrote over the summer about how it feels like Matt LaFleur has endless personnel combinations he can use with all the versatility at reciever, tight end, and running back, and we saw that on display right away. By halftime, we had seen Aaron Jones, AJ Dillon, Ben Sims, Luke Musgrave, Josiah Deguara, Samori Toure, Romeo Doubs, Malik Heath, and Dontayvion Wicks. This ability gives the offense the potential to really stress defenses and create mismatches by running a variety of plays from just a few personnel groupings.
— A new quarterback for the Packers but we still saw Aaron Jones not getting many touches in the first half. On the opening drive – that went for a touchdown – he had five rushes for 24 yards. The rest of the first half, Jones had no carries. Then on the opening drive of the third quarter, Jones had three touches right away, including a 51-yard reception that led to a touchdown. I know the Packers are mindful of his touches to make sure he is healthy for the long haul, but you have a first time starting quarterback with an inexperienced group of pass catchers, give your playmaker more regular touches. Not only with Jordan Love, but also with Aaron Rodgers, this offense is just different when Jones is involved.
— The Packers pass rush is so fast and athletic. They did a great job getting into the backfield regularly against the Bears—controlling the line of scrimmage from start to finish. However, Justin Fields is really tough to bring down, although they were able to eventually get a few sacks. A number of Packers were able to make their ways into the backfield, but Devonte Wyatt was really able to standout.
— Green Bay’s offensive line did really well in pass protection as they had all summer, but the Bears defensive front was able to get some push against the Packers run game. AJ Dillon, in particular, struggled to find daylight for most of the game.
— We saw a much more aggressive version of Darnell Savge, who made at least three tackles near or behind the line of scrimmage. Safeties coach Ryan Downard said earlier this offseason that Savage is at his best when “he pulls the trigger and let’s it all hang out,” which we saw him doing.
— Outside of Fields extending plays, the Packers did very well against the run. In addition to the push that the defensive front was able to generate, the entire defense did a great job swarming to the football and tackling. The same could be said for the defense’s play in the passing game—Fields was efficient, often taking the short completions but the defense was able to limit the yards after the catch.
— From Joe Barry, we saw a few different blitzes, and at least early on, Jaire Alexander was traveling with DJ Moore out of the huddle. However, I don’t believe that if Moore was in motion Alexander would have followed him. This is similar to what we saw at the end of last season when the defense was playing its best football. The defense also forced two turnovers. With a young offense, winning the turnover battle and providing extra possessions, along with good field position, will be key all season.
— Matt LaFleur said Rashan Gary was going to be on a pitch count and he was used on third and long situations when he could go get after the quarterback. JJ Enagbare got the start opposite of Preston Smith with Lukas Van Ness and Justin Hollins rotating in.
— Since the first practice, Jayden Reed has looked so comfortable as a return man. He came to the NFL with nearly 40 career punt return attempts in college. I was curious is with Keisean Nixon taking on a larger role on defense if he would be used less and special teams, and we saw that with Reed on punt return duties.
— Ben Sims is ahead of Tucker Kraft right now. Sims had some nice reps as a blocker. He had a lot of in-line blocking experience from his time at Baylor, which this Packers offense needed. As we saw over the summer, there were a lot of two tight end – and even three tight end – sets used by the Packers.
— Of note, offensive tackle Rasheed Walker was on the field as a sixth offensive lineman on one play. A few weeks back, LaFleur said the team would be open to this, given the inexperience at tight end and the steep learning curve that comes with blocking at that position. Offensive tackle is also a very deep position group for the Packers.
— As we all know, Anders Carlson was very up and down this summer, but he often did best during games, and we saw that today. Carlson went 5-for-5 on extra points and made his lone field goal attempt.
