Chicago Bears: 3 Standouts vs. Packers in Week 1

In primetime in the Windy City, the Chicago Bears were stifled by the Green Bay Packers. Who stood out for Matt Nagy’s club in a loss?

On Thursday night at Soldier Field, the NFL’s 100th season kicked off with a clash between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears. Including a pair of postseason meetings, it was the 199th overall meeting between the two franchises that have combined for 22 of the league’s 99 championships.

A year ago, the Bears won twice as many games (12) as the Packers (6), the former winning its first NFC North title since 2010.

Recent history has favored Green Bay in this series. Dating back to the teams’ second meeting in 2010 and including a win at Chicago in the NFC Championship Game, the Packers had won 15 of the previous 18 meetings between the clubs. And in primetime on Thursday, under first-time NFL head coach, the Pack continued its dominance in this setting courtesy of a hard-earned 10-3 victory.

Chicago’s defense looked dominant early on. After one quarter, the Bears owned a 3-0 lead. They had already sacked Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers twice and limited the Green Bay offense to a pathetic -12 total yards on nine plays. Under new coordinator Chuck Pagano, Khalil Mack and company looked like it had picked up where it had left off a season ago.

Of course, it wasn’t meant to be as the reigning division champions took it on the chinstraps in front of the home folks, who let out a few scattered boos late in the game. But there were some positives when it came to Nagy’s club.