What An Ideal Start to the 2023 Season for the Packers
Even without Aaron Rodgers, the Packers still own the Bears.
By rex.sheild
You couldn’t have scripted a better start to the 2023 NFL season for the Green Bay Packers, a team with a quarterback in his first full season as a starter that was pegged by many as rebuilding. In the last two season openers, head coach Matt LaFleur’s squad failed to show up starting from the opening whistle. This year? They stuffed the Chicago Bears on fourth down on the first drive of the season and followed that up with an 11-play touchdown drive that ended with a dart from Jordan Love to Romeo Doubs. The offense cooled off for the rest of the half but turned up the intensity to start the second half, scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions to take a 24-6 lead. They never looked back en route to a dominating 38-20 victory, LaFleur’s ninth win in as many games over the Bears. The Packers didn’t score over 30 points last season until Week 10.
Yes pic.twitter.com/wnTWMTQiin
— Eli Berkovits (@BookOfEli_NFL) September 11, 2023
Get the Ball to Aaron Jones
While Love finished with three touchdown passes and a stellar passer rating of 123.2, his deep field accuracy must improve as the season progresses. One thing that worked well for Love and the offense as a whole, though, was getting the ball in Aaron Jones’ hands. That needs to continue to be a point of emphasis. Get as many touches as possible for your best offensive player. The UTEP product only had 11 touches (nine carries and two receptions) in essentially two-and-a-half quarters of action after not returning to the game due to a hamstring injury suffered with ~6:30 left in the third quarter. Nevertheless, he made the most of those opportunities. He finished with 127 yards from scrimmage, an average of over 11.5 yards per touch, and two touchdowns.
Makin’ Money on the Money Down
One offensive area that Green Bay struggled in last year was on third down. The offense finished with a third-down conversion percentage of 39.50%, 17th in the NFL. Their Week 1 performance was lightyears better. They finished 9-of-16 on third down (56.3%) for 131 yards and two touchdowns and converted all three third downs on the first offensive drive. They gained at least one yard on 14-of-16 third downs and had five third-down plays of at least 10 yards, all of which moved the chains. Mind you, the Packers were without WR1 Christian Watson.
Packers QB Jordan Love in Week 1 on 3rd & 4th down:
- 8-for-10
- 141 passing yards
- 2 TD, 0 INTAt his best in gotta have it situations on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/o89BOeT4cC
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 11, 2023
Enough About The Offense, What About The Defense?
One of the problems on the defensive side of the ball in 2022 was the lack of consistent pass rush, especially once Rashan Gary went down in Week 9. There was not a lack of pass rush on Sunday. The Packers finished with 35 pressures, the second most in Week 1 through the Sunday games according to Pro Football Focus' Brad Spielberger, and Gary was responsible for five pressures in 10 passing snaps, according to Daire Carragher. All told, the defense converted those pressures into four sacks, led by Devonte Wyatt’s 1.5 sacks. The Georgia product looked like a completely different player out there compared to his rookie season. Rookies Lukas Van Ness and Karl Books also registered their first career sacks. That is a promising sign for the depth of the defense’s pass rush.
HERCULES WITH HIS FIRST SACK!
💪 @lukas_vanness 💪#GBvsCHI | #GoPackGo
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/08jNgFznSA
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) September 10, 2023
I would not be surprised to see the defense get after the quarterback again next week against the Atlanta Falcons. Their offensive line surrendered four sacks and six quarterback hits against the Carolina Panthers, the exact same figures that the Bears’ offensive line allowed.
The Packers’ rush defense surprisingly held their ground on Sunday, holding Chicago’s trio of running backs to 63 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries (3.3 yards per carry). The unit will face a much stronger test in Week 2. Atlanta’s dynamic duo of Tyler Allegier and Bijan Robinson combined for 131 rush yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries (5.2 yards per carry) in the team’s Week 1 victory.
Let’s Not Overreact, But …
Week 1 can be likened to the preseason in that it may not be prudent to make sweeping predictions about teams' season-long performance based solely on their season-opening performance. Thus, I’m not ready to declare the quest for the division crown as a two-team race between the Packers and Detroit Lions, but it should feel damn good for Green Bay to start 1-0 as it ushers in a new era, especially when that new era starts with a familiar result: a victory over the Bears.
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Rex is a lifelong Packers fan but was sick of the cold, so he moved to the heart of Cowboys country. Follow him on Twitter (@Sheild92) and Instagram (@rex.sheild).
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Comments (43)
dobber
September 11, 2023 at 12:07 pm
I wouldn't say ideal, but good enough. Ideally we'd like to have seen a more effective run game, and not so many wide open WRs for Chicago in the first half...but it was a good start.
Coldworld
September 11, 2023 at 12:15 pm
It’s one game, but beyond the beat down of the Bears we need to temper our euphoria. That was one of the most toothless healthy teams in both O and D simultaneously that we will encounter (other than perhaps when they visit us in December). If they play like that over the season then they will be fighting the Giants and Cardinals for pick one deservedly.
coolhand
September 11, 2023 at 12:25 pm
A good game overall. This is a young team, but loved the energy and playing together. Many mistakes that I hope they can learn from.
I didn't see, but did Fields ever meet up with Love after the game? Love was looking for him for what seemed like forever but tv never did show them meeting after the game.
mnbadger
September 11, 2023 at 12:34 pm
If they did meet, I'm guessing the conversation went like this -
- Fields " good game, do you think Brian Gutenkunst would give me a shot as GBPkrs" qb3 next offseason?"
- Love - "thanks, you too.
I doubt it for two reasons. You'll be too injured and you aren't very good"
GPG!
HawkPacker
September 11, 2023 at 01:19 pm
He could maybe be a good gadget player as a running back that is fast and can pass to a lesser degree.
T7Steve
September 11, 2023 at 12:33 pm
I think the only thing we can take out of that game for sure is that we don't have to worry about the kicking. We stressed that to death here all summer. What a relief.
The long snapper is one place we could still worry about. Seemed like all his snaps had to be reached for and one was WAY to the right.
mnbadger
September 11, 2023 at 12:37 pm
Anders hit the center stripe of the net on every kick that didn't go OVER the net. That was beautiful.
Whelan did an O'donnellesque job of holding yesterday. I'm sure Gutey took a deep sigh of relief.
T7, as meatloaf said, two out of three aint bad. Let's find a new snapper and get him on the PS asap!
GPG!
LambeauPlain
September 11, 2023 at 12:52 pm
His 52 yarder splitting the uprights would have been good from 65. What a weapon.
Whelan is a field flipper and an adept holder. (Better clean up the LS!). The Irishman blasted a 68 yard punt. Field flipping fantastic. Another weapon.
STs solid and contributing again? Pinch me!
dblbogey
September 11, 2023 at 01:01 pm
I still worry about Myers, definitely our only weak link in the OL. He does ok pass blocking, but is just bad at run blocking. I hope Gute is looking around the league for a possible upgrade. Also, Ford is a weak spot, hopefully one of the young guys steps up at safety. Enough whining, it was a great game, I thought Love looked confident and in control, and this should be a fun season. Then again, two weeks ago I was begging them to bring Crosby back and cutting our new kicker, so what do I know?
SicSemperTyrannis
September 12, 2023 at 11:06 am
Dbl, I don't think Gutey needs to bring in a fresh C, except for depth. Zach Tom's best position is C, I'm appalled they didn't work him in there during TC. I'm not sure but it's possible they've allowed Nijman to focus on one side or the other instead of being a swing tackle. If they're keeping him at LT and Walker at RT, that's all feasible with Tom at C.
We gotta get some run blocking up the middle. That failure hasn't cost us a game yet, but it will if it isn't corrected. It also prevents appropriate evaluation of AJ Dillon.
SicSemperTyrannis
September 11, 2023 at 10:44 pm
I'm not convinced Carlson will be consistent, but he got every possible point last night :)
mnbadger
September 11, 2023 at 12:39 pm
Some very poor tackling was covered up as were too many open receivers and too few connections on deep passes.
Man I'm glad that's all I've really got to complain about today!
coaching scheme and adjustments were very good and that was my biggest fear.
Question - does JLove have to pay inheritance tax on the bears?
GPG!
murf7777
September 11, 2023 at 01:10 pm
Why would you say too many open receivers? Keep in mind, 7 of the completions were garbage time in the 4th quarter drive. Also, without all22 it’s hard to see the receivers routes. do you have any stats on missed tackles? Sure they will be some missed tackles, especially when you’re trying to tackle Fields. I thought the tackling and defensive pressure was at a high level. I guess that depends on expectations. Mine isn’t perfection, but more so the big picture of how the team did as a whole. Seemed to me the defense did very good when taking into considerations around 100 of their 311 yards the 9 of their 24 completions were in garbage time of mid to late 4th when Packer was up by 24 points the D played stellar.
EDIT: After watching again, I think both the backfield play and tackling were very good. They played physical, which is a nice change for the Packers. The few missed tackles I saw were during garbage time and against fields, with high stepping or spin move against our tackler.
SicSemperTyrannis
September 11, 2023 at 10:49 pm
Watch it again Murf. Our D was much improved and that includes DBs, but there were plenty of missed tackles. They played aggressively and rallied to the ball, with lots of meeting at the QB or at least where you'd expect the QB to be..Fields is fast, slippery, and hard to bring down. That was at least one of the harder tests, if not THE hardest test of that game. Our pass rush did very well!
Maybe the gold zone will re-emerge this season?
LambeauPlain
September 11, 2023 at 01:01 pm
The team has embraced Love as leader. They are going to grow up together. Jordan is playing with his peers and that is beneficial, I believe.
Not that much in common with Rodgers, who was nearly as old as their their dad.
T7Steve
September 11, 2023 at 01:21 pm
Which still seems young to this guy who's old enough to be his grandpa.
Packerpasty
September 11, 2023 at 01:20 pm
Very nice win...a couple things I didnt like was MLF forgetting about Jones in the second quarter...he's done that before in previous seasons too...Jones has to be on the field...and Dillon..he just isn't as powerful as he looks and still seems to not hit the hole with force...
T7Steve
September 11, 2023 at 01:23 pm
What hole? He was being met in the backfield most of the time.
WestCoastPackerBacker
September 11, 2023 at 04:06 pm
Yes, it is like the o-line disappeared on several of Dillon's runs.
SicSemperTyrannis
September 11, 2023 at 10:54 pm
Gotta fix that. I don't know what coaches need to do but they gotta fix that. I'd love to see an article here that breaks this down. I suck at watching the trenches, I don't know if #33 got his nice 8 yard gains mostly without run blocking or what happened, but film analysis of this would be very interesting to me.
jannesbjornson
September 11, 2023 at 11:06 pm
They know he won't take them around the corner. They cover the box, waiting for him. Getting him out in space in the screen game worked much better for him. William Henderson style. Let Dillon beat on the safeties, not Reed , or Aaron Jones.
SicSemperTyrannis
September 12, 2023 at 11:11 am
#28 "beating on the safeties" is key! He shouldn't have to break open his own path through the defensive linemen. Better yet if he doesn't have to punish LBs for being foolish enough to try to bring him down. Run blocking him straight through to the DBs is the recipe for using him effectively.
Not adjusting our O line to personnel who can do that is simply wasting #28.
LGDaub
September 11, 2023 at 01:34 pm
Nice start to a year of doubts from the fans and CTV bloggers. Thank you Gutey for all the nice draft picks. Maybe the doubters can see enough this year to be more hopeful across the next post-season, especially the bloggers. As for AJones, mayhaps the bloggers will lay off the play him more shtick and think about how he gets more hurt the more he plays. If they could get the coaches and trainers to talk, I bet the blog could reveal that.
robin_hood
September 11, 2023 at 01:47 pm
A little off-topic, but when you watch a replay game on NFL+, do you still get the commercials?
On the European alternative we have them and I'm wondering about taking out an NFL+ subscription with a VPN to avoid them...
bobped
September 11, 2023 at 04:57 pm
I am in US and see no commercial breaks when viewing any NFL+ premium replays, condensed, normal or all-22.
Leatherhead
September 11, 2023 at 02:01 pm
Nitpicking a 40-10 win on the road, because that's essentially what this was.
Handsback
September 11, 2023 at 02:54 pm
Game two for Love, saw a composed, strong arm, and accurate passer. Let's take away the fact it was the Bears. Love isn't a HOF QB...but he might develop into one. His first throw TD to Doubs was a sidearm throw. He did it because it gave him the best chance for a TD, not for a clip in ESPN.
Packer fans are excited and don't expect every game to be like yesterday's pounding on the Bears. They are a young team with talent in their playmakers group. Personally if the go 9-8 or 10-7 I will be happy. Anything over that and I'm ecstatic. They will need to grow and learn from their mistakes and before too long I can see Love leading them into the SB. But not this year, let them learn to play as a team. Then step back and admire their play.
Just MHO
bobped
September 11, 2023 at 05:01 pm
I agree except for the accuracy part. He did miss some open receivers, particularly those going long, and made a few catches harder than they should have been. We know he can be accurate, but I think the jury is still out on him with respect to the long ball and I think defenses will challenge him to go long until he proves he can burn them that way. Which could be fun for Watson when he returns!
SicSemperTyrannis
September 11, 2023 at 11:03 pm
Bobped, those deep balls it's hard to say how much of the miss was on QB vs how much of that is WR, or defense. Sometimes they slowed down the target which will mess a route up.
Tonight's game, Josh Allen was an interesting comparison. He threw some balls away after running for his life just to not take a 20 yard loss. There were also times when he took the sack because it was his best option. JL10 hasn't learned to do either of those yet. He also tries for deep balls that aren't really there, Josh Allen threw 3 interceptions tonight. These are all things JL10 can actually improve on, whereas he can hit long throws absolutely perfectly. So it's hard to tell how much is accuracy vs something else going wrong that they don't connect. I've seen him miss some easy layups, short or mid-range throws; those are the bigger concern to me.
jont
September 11, 2023 at 03:53 pm
Jordan Love's performance on 3rd down is my #1 take away from this game. We rarely see better 3rd down stats.
Granted, it's the Bears, but even bad Ds can get off the field most of the time. Love got the guys into the right play and executed it well over and over on the most important down.
SicSemperTyrannis
September 11, 2023 at 11:05 pm
Yup! Very impressive in that regard. In practice you could literally feel it in the air, the command he has over this offense and his poise in the pocket, the other QBs were worlds apart in this respect.
ReaganRulz
September 11, 2023 at 04:03 pm
It’s only been one game, but I do find it interesting how a couple of our 1/2 empty thinking Regulars are MIA since the Bear game!! Just spouting sour grapes throughout the whole off-season. I’m thinking of one in particular. As fans, we should all be happy of the outcome yesterday and celebrate our first post-Rodgers win. Starting on Tuesday, let’s get back to business and take down the surprising Falcon’s next week.
WestCoastPackerBacker
September 11, 2023 at 04:08 pm
Yes, a couple of folks seem to be silenced, for this week anyway.
canadapacker
September 11, 2023 at 04:12 pm
Any other updates on injuries ??? Other than Quay in concussion P - wide receive Wicks - Knee or was it Reed? What about Jones the day after? Any other dings - never saw anything - maybe later arrival to GB meant that they didnt report in for treatment until late this aft?
dobber
September 11, 2023 at 07:23 pm
I know Reed returned to the game later. Apparently Jones said he could've returned if he was needed.
Probably will need to wait until Wednesday's practice report before we hear much else.
SicSemperTyrannis
September 12, 2023 at 11:16 am
We get a second round pick from Aaron Rogers. It's confirmed by MRI that it's a torn achilles and he'll be out for the season. Sucks for everybody. I guess we can speculate if that ends his career. I'd think that'd be a very painful injury which means he's tougher than I gave him credit for, I didn't see any signs of it being very painful so I thought it was minor.
beerandbrats
September 11, 2023 at 04:59 pm
I agree Rex! Good article. Great way to start the year for such a young and promising team!
SicSemperTyrannis
September 11, 2023 at 11:08 pm
The beer and brats just taste better, too!
I think this is going to be a fun season.
ImaPayne
September 11, 2023 at 08:40 pm
Told my wife I hope Roders gets hit on the first play and goes down. What a phony. Oh he is so loving NY as in the dam packers had to deflate my ego by drafting my replacement. He hated that. Hated it.
What a pussy he hurt his ankle, ya right. He learned after play three he wasnt getting the protection he had in GB and life aint so rosy as he thought it would be. I want to see him comeback and get his ass flatened again. Hey injured or not he gets paid more money then any of us ever will see and he has a mansion to recoup in.
barutanseijin
September 11, 2023 at 09:32 pm
It’s being reported as an “achilles injury.”
He may not know it yet, but he is done. Time to head back to Malibu. Good thing the Packers unloaded him. They’ll be getting a second round pick.
SicSemperTyrannis
September 11, 2023 at 11:10 pm
That's a piss poor attitude. Even if only because it gives us a second round pick instead of a first.
You could try being a better human being though.
ReaganRulz
September 12, 2023 at 06:38 am
Fubar’d, you just proved why our world is so out of wack!! Totally uncool to not only wish injury but future injuries? Your jealousy of successful people is oozing out!! Keep your asinine comments to yourself!!
Hoping for the best news possible for Rodgers today no matter what that is.
Leatherhead
September 12, 2023 at 10:00 am
Our ideal start continued into the Monday Night game, where Aaron Rodgers might have sustained a season-ending Achilles injury. High second round pick coming, probably around #43 or so.
Also, you know you I talk frequently about what it's stupid to let a guy return punts on you, and how it's so much easier to punt it out of bounds and avoid a penalty, or an injury, or a long, game-changiing return. Did the Buffalo Bills listen to me? No, of course not. And they're 0-1 now because of it.
Reed had a nice return for that. Enjoy. There's a price that you pay to return punts.