The NFL’s 100th season opened on Thursday Night Football with one of the oldest rivalries. Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers came to Soldier Field against the Chicago Bears with a new head coach to reveal their new offensive scheme. The first few series were difficult to watch for Packers fans. Matt LaFleur‘s offense struggled to put together any sort of drive in the entire first quarter. The team one thanks in part to the Green Bay Packers defense.
Green Bay Packers Defense Spearheads Win Over Chicago Bears
The offense got off to quite an ugly start from the quarterback play and the offensive line to the running game. Rodgers didn’t look sharp, and Green Bay struggled against the Bears top-tier defense. Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams were huge for the Pack’s run game last year, yet couldn’t produce in Week One. As a team, they rushed for 22 carries and 47 yards with an average of 2.1 yards-per-carry.
Until the touchdown drive at the beginning of the second quarter, the Packers had -12 yards of offense. This drive began with a magical 47-yard pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling and ended with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham.
Finally, it looked like the Pack was back. Vintage Rodgers made his first appearance of the 2019 season. Rodgers completed 18 of 30 pass attempts for 203 yards with one touchdown. He was sacked five times for a loss of 37 yards. Even though the offense had a shaky start, the defense kept them in the game. In fact, the defense showed up like they haven’t in recent memory.
Green Bay Has a Defense
In his post-game interview, Rodgers repeatedly exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear, “We’ve got a defense!” Finally having a dependable defense will take a lot of pressure off Rodgers and the offense. The media pointed out that even after the first practice of camp, Rodgers noticed the incredible strides the defense was making. He stated, “That’s going to be important for us, especially early as we’re finding our rhythm on offense in a new system.” How right he was. Because of the new-look defense, even when the offense and Rodgers were sluggish, Green Bay was still in the game.
Green Bay pulled off a 10-3 win over the Bears, but they have their new-look defense to thank. Za’Darius Smith sacked Mitchell Trubisky once for a loss and racked up six quarterback pressures. Preston Smith had three pressures and 1.5 sacks, “including the game-clincher with 1:02 left,” reports Rob Demovsky. Former Bears safety, Adrian Amos, intercepted the ball in the end zone. It’s safe to say that the Packers defensive free agency haul was well worth it.
After the game, veteran Tramon Williams said, “We knew they had a lot of weapons. We knew they were dangerous. We knew all of those things, but we knew if we could make Mitch play quarterback, that we’d have a chance.” Since then, he has explained he wasn’t taking a shot at the Bears quarterback. He says he meant that their game plan was to force Trubisky to remain in the pocket and complete throws.
The new-look defensive gave the Pack their first road and divisional win of the 2019 season. Over their next six games, they will host five at Lambeau Field. Beginning the year with a win over one of the league’s toughest defenses helps Green Bay start off on a high note.
