Unpacking the Game: Bears vs Packers

A week after they dropped their week one game to the Minnesota Vikings, the Green Bay Packers hosted the Chicago Bears for their season home opener and bested them 27-10. After many fans were disappointed (rightfully so) in the way that the Packers came out flat against the Vikings, this game likely inspired more confidence in the team for the week-one doubters. There were instances of sheer dominance in all three phases of the game, the offense began to discover their identity, but there was also a long scoring drought in the second half. Jump right in as I unpack the win with you!

Offense

If one thing was clear from the Packers first offensive snap, it was that Matt LaFleur was committed to involving the running backs more heavily in the offense. The first indication of this was evident on Saturday when the Packers activated RB Patrick Taylor to the active roster for gameday. This is in contrast to week one when only two running backs were active — Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. From the post-game interviews and game analysis after week one, it sounds like the lack of depth at the RB position was why the run game was so underused against the Vikings. The running backs were relied upon much more heavily against the Bears and with great results.

Jones seemed virtually unstoppable. In 18 total touches, he carried the ball 15 times for 132 yards and 1 TD, while also contributing 3 catches for 38 yards and 1 TD. He appeared incredibly elusive and was able to make many defenders miss. Early on, it appears that the offense will run through him. Meanwhile, Dillon totaled 18 carries for a hard-earned 61 yards and 1 catch for 6 yards. LaFleur continues to refer to Jones and Dillon as "running backs 1A and 1A", but it is clear that Jones is the lightning to Dillon's thunder. They each contribute to the offense but play different roles. Dillon is used in short yardage plays as a bruising back running right up the middle, whereas Jones can use his speed and athleticism to bounce to the outside and make defenders miss tackles. Dillon was even used as a lead back for one of Jones' touchdowns.

📷 Evan Siegle | Packers.com

Aaron Rodgers was able to rely heavily on the run game, and because it was working with great success, the passing game was rather limited. However, Rodgers was excellent finishing with 19 completions on 25 attempts for 234 yards, two passing touchdowns, and a passer rating of 131. He had completions to eight different receivers. Sammy Watkins led all Packers receivers with 3 catches for 93 yards. His night's highlight was a crossing route where he secured a catch and run for 55 yards. His two touchdowns were to Aaron Jones and Allen Lazard.

Other things to note, it was OL Elgton Jenkins' first game back since tearing his ACL last season. Although he was rusty — which is to be expected after returning from injury — he really shored up the offensive line. This was in part because it slid Royce Newman from RT to RG, which is a much better fit for him. As a result, the offense prospered against the Bears defense.

The offense was much more dynamic in the first half when they scored 24 points before offensive miscues stymied the scoring potential in the second half. One such miscue was when Rodgers handed the ball off to Dillon, but it was clear that the exchange was not smooth. As a result, Dillon never secured the ball and he coughed it up. Former Packers nose tackle Mike Pennel recovered the ball at Chi 31 yard line. A promising drive ended rather abruptly. On the second miscue, center Josh Myers snapped the ball when WR Christian Watson was motioning across the formation. This meant that Rodgers never secured the snap and had to jump on the ball to maintain possession. Rodgers went on to say that Myers was supposed to have snapped the ball on "two", and he snapped it on "one". This led to a rather long scoring drought in the second half and the only points scored were a 28-yard Mason Crosby field goal with 2:28 remaining in the game. It is clear that the offenses' new identity — at least two weeks into the season — is run first, pass second.

📷 Evan Siegle | Packers.com

Defense

A week after playing exclusive zone looks and getting absolutely embarrassed by Justin Jefferson and the Minnesota Vikings, defensive coordinator Joe Barry committed to playing man coverage and the results paid off. Chicago's offense was relegated to running the ball, as the Packers defense had essentially shut down the passing game. The Bears offense was able to have some moments of success with running the ball, finishing the night with 180 rushing yards. Unfortunately this was due in part to the Packers inability to make disciplined tackles. There were countless missed tackles that could have ended drives and forced the Bears to punt. Most notably, there was a drive in the fourth quarter where the Bears were able to march all the way down to the one yard line where Justin Fields scampered with the ball and dove for the pylon — this was initially called a touchdown. The call was later reversed and Fields tried a QB sneak from within the one yard line. The defense was able to make a tackle near the goal line and the refs made the controversial call that Fields was tackled inches from the goal line. This resulted in a turnover on downs and was essentially the "dagger" that helped the Pack put the game away. If this was not enough, Jaire Alexander had a nice diving sideline interception with under two minutes left in the game. He exhibited exceptional closing speed on the throw and essentially baited Fields into throwing the ball.

📷 Evan Siegle | Packers.com

The defensive line and bookend OLBs Preston Smith and Rashan Gary were able to consistently pressure Fields and give him little time to find his reads. Gary had one sack and Preston Smith — who potentially played the best game of his career as a Packer — finished with two sacks.

📷 Evan Siegle | Packers.com

Meanwhile, Kenny Clark was able to generate pressure on nearly 25% of his snaps. He continues to quietly have a strong start to his seventh season.

📷 Evan Siegle | Packers.com

This strong pressure resulted in Fields having no option but to scramble out of the pocket with regularity. For the most part, the Packers were able to contain him and prevent him from ripping off long runs. However, he did rush 8 times for 20 yards and 1 TD. Chicago QB Justin Fields finished the night completing 7 of 11 passes for 70 yards, 0 TD, and 1 INT.

Special Teams

This unit could finally be living up to its name — special. The new mentality of the special teams unit is to "meet at the ball." It sounds silly to call this a "new" mentality because of the purpose of special teams, but given the Packers recent mishaps with this phase of the game, this is an exciting development.

📷 Evan Siegle | Packers.com

Players were consistently successful at getting downfield and making sure tackles. Often times, there were even two players ready to make the tackle. When it came to punting, Pat O'Donnell punted twice and there were no punt returns — one was fair caught and the other was a touchback. There were still moments when punt/kick blocking almost resulted in a block. This was true of a much more aggressive Packers blocking unit, but unfortunately also true of the protection unit. This is an area of ST that needs to be cleaned up promptly, especially if fans of the team are really going to believe that the unit has made improvements.

📷 Evan Siegle | Packers.com

Players of the Game

QB Aaron Rodgers

RB Aaron Jones

OLBs

Special Teams Unit 🔥