A disastrous season-opening loss against the Packers raises serious questions for Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears fans had long waited for the start of the 2023 season against the Green Bay Packers. No more Aaron Rodgers to deal with. His replacement, Jordon Love, has not played much in his first three years in the league. The Bears finally had a chance to change the narrative about the rivalry, which has been one-sided in recent years and has not won since 2018.

A disastrous season-opening loss against the Packers raises serious questions for Chicago Bears

General Manager Ryan Poles committed to quarterback Justin Fields and gave him all the help he needed. They acquired DJ Moore from Carolina in a trade that sent them the first overall selection, giving him the legit No.1 receiver. Poles signed free agent guard Nate Davis and drafted right tackle Darnell Wright tenth overall in the 2023 draft to shore up the pass protection, which gave up almost 60 sacks last season. They also added tight end Robert Tonyan and running back D'Onta Foreman and drafted Roschon Johnson in the fourth round to give him more weapons.

Oh, and the Bears have a new team president in Kevin Warren. Getting Warren, a man with tremendous experience and background was a coup for the Bears. He replaces the much-maligned Ted Phillips, who finally retired under his leadership after more than two decades of mediocrity.
After tanking the entire 2022 season, they were ready to make a leap this season. And we all expected Justin Fields will do the same. As Fields goes, so will the entire team.

Instead, the Bears were completely embarrassed at home by Love and the Packers 38-20.

Any hope and sense of excitement the fans had for the 2023 season were completely dissipated after one game.

New season, same results. Again. This was not any other game. It's the Green Bay Packers. This loss simply cannot be dismissed as one loss out of the 17 games, and the Bears have plenty of time to turn it around.

What the Bears could not accomplish both offensively and defensively, the Packers were able to do so easily. The Packers were without their starting wide receiver Christian Watson and Rome Doubs were on a pitch count as he was dealing with a hamstring injury. Yet he was still healthy enough to score a touchdown. And despite an average number (15/27, 245 yards), he threw three touchdowns and had plenty of time to dissect the Bears' defense.

Today's loss raises serious questions about what exactly Matt Eberflus and his entire coaching staff did this off-season to prepare for the 2023 season. This team still looks more like the 2022 Bears. The fan confidence in Eberflus is starting to waver now. The performance we witnessed on national television was simply alarming. The Bears looked discombobulated from start to finish. They were completely dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage, committed multiple penalties that stopped their momentum, and the offensive game plan was poorly executed the entire game.

Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy drew significant ire from the fans with his play calling. During the opening drive. Facing third-and-one, tight end Cole Kmet went in motion to line up behind center, bobbled the snap from center Lucas Patrick and got stuffed for no gain. They went for it on fourth down, but the Packers stopped Fields on a fourth-down sneak at the Bears’ 40. Getsy was channeling his inner Matt Nagy and put the Bears in a difficult spot. And the Bears never recovered.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Getsy continued to throw screen passes despite the offensive line being unable to set the edge and never adjusted his game plan at all. And he better have a good explanation as to why DJ Moore, the prized acquisition this off-season, had only two catches, both in the second quarter, that netted them a field goal.

Perhaps the Bears have no confidence in keeping Fields upright or him being able to stay upright despite the investment made on the offensive line this off-season. Fields were pressured throughout the game, and the interior line was pushed around badly as guard Teven Jenkins is currently on IR, and Nate Davis showed a lack of practice as he continues to deal with personal matters. It did not help that this unit committed multiple penalties that stalled their drives, putting themselves in multiple third and long situations.

And defense coordinator Alan Williams is not off the hook either. Poles upgraded the linebackers with the signing of Tremaine Edmunds and TJ Edwards, drafted defensive tackles Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, and added prized free agent edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue. Only Ngakoue made a notable impact, while Jordan Love carved up his passive zone coverage with four down basic rushes on 3rd & long situations. Yet, they did not blitz Love until three minutes left in the third quarter. This defense is unbelievably soft.

As for Matt Eberflus, the team looked just as bad as they finished during the historically bad 2022 season. And while there are still issues remaining with the roster, such as an interior offensive line and only one reliable edge rusher in Yannick Ngakoue, this is his team now. Perhaps the lack of preseason games by the first-teamers caught up, and Eberflus might be regretting that decision. The HITS principles that he continues to preach were nowhere to be seen as a lack of turnovers, and dumb penalties were on full display Sunday.

Today's game exposed the ugly reality of just how far his team is from being competitive and that they are closer to picking first pick overall again.