Green Bay Packers 10 – Chicago Bears 3
In what was far from a showpiece opener, Green Bay just got the better of the Bears in a game which will not live long in the memory. It was a tale of sloppy offensive play with neither Aaron Rodgers or Mitchel Tibusky looking game ready and of a litany of penalties (20 for 178 yards), which at one stage had Chicago facing a 3rd & 40 on their own 27-yard line, having been at the GB 43 before a string of 10 yarders.
The first half had 10 punts from 12 drives but at least mustered a couple of scores with the Bears taking the lead with an Eddie Pineiro field goal which was countered by an 8yard TD pass from Rodgers to Jimmy Graham. The second half was even less of a spectacle with most of the drama coming from Chicago going for it on fourth down a couple of times.
On a night when defenses dominated it was fitting that ex-Bear Adrian Amos came up with the game-ending play intercepting Tribuski’s pass in the end zone inside the two-minute warning. Even then though the Packers offense couldn’t close things out and Chicago still got one final drive which ended on downs.
So what do we make of this? Well on the positive side we are 1-0 on our game predictions and as we though it came down to which QB made the fewest mistakes! Otherwise, it’s hard to gauge much from this game – neither offense can play that badly again this year (can it?) and although both defenses looked capable, are they really good or just benefitting from a poor showing by both QB’s. It would be unfair to lay the blame fully on them though as between they couldn’t break 100 yards on the ground, and although Green Bays running back group were never expected to be great an average of 2.1 yards per carry should have alarm bells ringing, and he much-touted and Matt LaFleur offense was more of a damp squib than the expected fireworks.
Even die-hard Packers fans will not be overwhelmed by the first showing of the much-vaunted LaFleur Offense.
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The Bears still have kicking problems with Pineiro putting kickoffs out of bounds and their running game which was supposed to be a strength going into the new season looked anaemic without Jordan Howard. There is still plenty of time for both offenses to improve, however, if they continue in this vein then it could be a long hard season for them.
