Green Bay Packers @ Bears: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Green Bay Packers have wrapped up their week one matchup with the Chicago Bears and here is the good, the bad, and the ugly from their performance.

What an opening game this was for the Green Bay Packers and their new head coach, Matt LaFleur. It was a defensive battle as both teams struggled to move the ball on offense but it was a scoring drive in the second quarter that was the difference-maker for the Packers as they leave Chicago with the 10-3 victory.

We were able to get our first peek at the LaFleur offense with Aaron Rodgers at the helm and a revamped Packers’ defense that acquired a number of new faces via free agency and the NFL draft this offseason.

As always, there were positives and negatives from this Green Bay Packers victory, so let’s dive into the good, the bad, and the ugly from their performance in Chicago.

The Good

The defense and special teams

We can honestly attribute this victory to the defensive side of the ball and the special teams unit. How weird is it to say that? It sure is a far cry from what we have seen in recent seasons.

As Aaron Rodgers said after the game, “we got a defense.” The defensive unit was able to hold the Bears to just 254 total yards, including only 46 on the ground, and Chicago was just 3-15 on third-down conversions. They also came away with an interception, five sacks, and 11 quarterback hits.

Even early on when their backs were against the wall and Chicago was near mid-field on a few possessions, the defense stayed strong. Given that the offense may take some time to jell under the new system, the Green Bay Packers will need the defense to keep them in games and after this game, we know that they are very capable of doing so.

As far as the special teams unit goes, J.K. Scott’s performance clearly stood out. On nine punts he would average 47.6 yards per punt, including a 63 yarder to pin the Bears deep on what would end up being their final drive.

Scott’s ability to pin Chicago in their own territory as well as flip the field was crucial to Green Bay’s victory. But we also have to recognize the coverage unit that got into position, made tackles, and prevented the dynamic Tarik Cohen from making any big plays.

Green Bay’s free agents

To put it simply, Za’darius Smith, Preston Smith, and Adrian Amos were phenomenal and everything that they were advertised to be.

Both Za’Darius and Preston were constantly in the backfield and between the two of them, they totaled 2.5 sacks, eight tackles, two of which were for a loss, and four quarterback hits. What a difference they made in the pass rush, which is something Green Bay didn’t consistently have a season ago.

Meanwhile, Amos put together a classic Adrian Amos game. He wasn’t caught out of position, he was disciplined and didn’t give up the big play. What a welcomed sight that is, am I right? As a result, he came away with an interception at the end of the game which had to feel fantastic for him against his old team that slandered him a bit on his way out of town during the offseason.

The Bad

Green Bay’s offense

This is a pretty obvious one for the “bad” category. Outside of touchdown drive in the second quarter, this Green Bay Packers’ offense really struggled to move the ball with any regularity.

Not everyone will want to admit it but Aaron Rodgers was a bit rusty and may have even looked nervous early on. He missed some throws that he should have made, including a few in the dirt just like we saw last year, and he also didn’t get the ball out of his hands on time in a few situations.

Although it is to be expected a bit against this brutal Chicago Bears’ front seven, all around the offensive line did struggle quite a bit. Rodgers would end up sacked five times, and there were a number of holding penalties as well.

In addition, the running game couldn’t get anything going as Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams finished with only 47 yards on the ground and only 2.1 yards per carry.

We need to keep in mind that this was the first week for a new offense against an incredibly stout defense, so this should have been expected to some degree. With that said, there’s work to do moving forward.

The Ugly

The Packers’ third-down offense

The lack of efficiency on third-down was a huge issue for this offense in 2018 and against the Bears, it reared its ugly head once again.

First off, the Packers would go just 2-12 on third-down conversions and that included giving up four of their five sacks on third downs, which is something else that we saw quite a bit of last seasons as well.

Second, there was the incredibly frustrating aspect of the play clock practically being at zero every time they snapped the ball on third-down. Not only does this bring a potential delay of game into play, but it allows the defenders to get a head start as they know when the ball is going to be snapped and it puts the offense at a disadvantage.

Obviously, from year to year you want to see improvements, especially when you’ve missed the playoffs two consecutive seasons as the Packers have. But what was so maddening about their third-down performances against Chicago was that it was like rewatching last year’s tape.

With that said, as I mentioned above, some of this was to be expected and there will be improvements. However, in this game, it was particularly ugly.