The Bad: Defense and Justin Fields
Incredibly, despite scoring 45 points, the Packers didn’t score any points in the first quarter. One of the keys to victory for the Chicago Bears to pull off an upset was for them to keep Rodgers on the bench.
That’s what happened in that first quarter. In the first 10:39 of the game, the Packers ran just four plays for just one yard. Of course, everyone knew that it wouldn’t last all game. Rodgers and this Packers offense are too good to completely shut down.
Rodgers found a groove in the second quarter and the Packers started to fly. They scored touchdowns in two of their three drives in the second quarter. They added a pick-six as well. The Bears’ offense scored 24 points in the second quarter, but getting into a shootout was not something good for Chicago.
The defense again got scorched in the third quarter. The Packers just started getting big chunks of yards and moved the ball at will. At one point, it seemed like the Packers were just bullying the Bears.
Between the second and third quarters, the Packers scored on five of their six drives. Of those, four of them were touchdowns.
Justin Fields returned to action after missing two games with cracked ribs. He looked out of sync at times. He finished 18/33 for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns. However, he also had two interceptions and lost a fumble. After having a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which he was responsible for five turnovers, he had another three against the Packers.
It’s normal to expect a rookie to make rookie mistakes. In his pick-six, he stared down Darnell Mooney and Rasul Douglas jumped the pass and took it to the end zone.
One of the biggest concerns for Fields is ball security. He needs to protect the ball better. Perhaps that will improve as the season progresses. Perhaps, also, he’ll get better with better coaching.