After last week’s loss to the Vikings, the Packers were looking to get the season back on the right track against the Bears as they did after last season’s opening blowout loss, when they beat the Lions 35-17 in Week 2. After falling behind 7-3 in the first quarter, Aaron Rodgers was able to spread the ball around, throwing for 164 yards and two touchdowns as the Packers blew out to a 24-7 lead at halftime. Look, we are talking about Justin Fields, who only passes when he absolutely has to; in order to justify his existence, he runs with the ball, and while he did run for a touchdown, his other runs didn’t help the Bears as much as David Montgomery pounding the ball for an average of eight yards a pop.
The Packers running game dominated the second half, as the team finished with 203 yards on the ground. Unfortunately, almost half those yards were wasted, with Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon running for 94 yards combined on the Packers first two drives in the third quarter, but all for naught after a fumbled handoff to Dillon which looked more like Rodgers’ mistake, and then rookie Christian Watson screwing up a motion play running into a snap on the next drive, thus aborting two promising drives.
The Bears, however, didn’t capitalize, managing just a field goal after the fumble, and the Packers stopped the Bears on a goal line stand after the next misplay. The Packers then marched from the Bears’ one-yard-line 89 yards to a field goal in the fourth quarter, aided by Sammy Watkins’ 55-yard catch—30-yards longer than the Packers next longest pass play after two games—to complete a 27-10 victory.
Allen Lazard came in briefly and caught a five-yard touchdown toss, but no Packer caught more than three passes, so it is a question if spreading out the ball is better than having that one “go-to” guy, regardless if he is open or not—especially if this week is any indication. Davante Adams and the Chiefs might be having second thoughts about their off-season decisions, as Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling combined for just 4 catches on 14 targets for a scant 25 yards, which is closer to pretty bad than just ordinary bad.
In this game, after the Bears scored a touchdown on their first drive, they only managed a field goal following the fumbled snap. Yes, the Packers’ defense allowed 180 yards rushing on 27 attempts, but the Bears gained 116 of those yards on just 7 plays, and they managed only 11 first downs and 1 of 7 third down conversions. Allowing big plays could still be a problem for the Packers, and the defense only forced their first turnover of the season on Fields’ desperation heave at the end of the game. For a team that gives-up big plays, forcing turnovers is a must.
Next week the Packers play at Tom Brady and company. Although Brady and the Buccaneers’ offense is having a pedestrian start (Mike Evans looks like he might be another head-case receiver), their defense controlled a Cowboys team with Dak Prescott looking lost with his safety-nets gone. But with Cooper Rush leading the Cowboys to a win over the defending AFC champion Bengals, the Cowboys actually just may be a team with a quarterback controversy. This week the Saints lost a winnable game against the Buccaneers, because of Jameis Winston back to his error-prone ways, throwing three interceptions among five forced turnovers. The Packers are underdogs on the road against the Buccaneers, but that doesn’t meant this game isn’t winnable.
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