After months of a long and story-filled off-season, we are approximately one day away from the Bears first game of the season against the Packers at Soldier Field. These two teams have a historical rivalry as well as an eventful off-season, so this first game of the season sets the tone for the identities of these teams for the upcoming season. Without further ado, let’s get into my prediction:
Story-filled Off-seasons
Both of these teams have gone through major changes in the off-season that have already changed the identity of these teams. On the Bears end, off-season additions like D.J. Moore, Tremaine Edmunds, Nate Davis, just to name a few, were eye opening moves that showed that Ryan Poles wants to build this team the right way. When looking at the Packers side, the inevitable departure of Aaron Rodgers officially happened as Rodgers went to the New York Jets. Aaron Rodgers has been the staple of the Packers franchise for the last 15 years, with one Super Bowl appearance, and eight NFC North championships. With no realistic future improvement with Rodgers on the team, the departure has been speculated over the past couple years. Rodgers’ departure became even more likely when the Packers decided to draft Jordan Love in 2020. It will be the start of a new era of the historic rivalry between the Bears and Packers.
Who Wins the QB Battle?
The biggest story of this game is going to be the battle between Justin Fields and Jordan Love. Over this off-season there have been plenty of reports of how Justin Fields has evolved and how the coaches are amazed by his progress. Justin Fields is entering his third year as QB1 for the Bears with a much improved team, thanks to Ryan Poles’ commitment to building his team appropriately. As far as Jordan Love is concerned, this was his first official off-season as QB1 for the Packers ever since Aaron Rodgers went to the Jets. Jordan Love was drafted in the 2020 draft, and since then he has not had a real chance at playing in the NFL. Love has played in a total of 10 regular season games in which he was subbed in for Aaron Rodgers in blowout games. For reference, Jordan Love has a 3-7 record in his 10 NFL games, but they do not mean much. From my perspective, Justin Fields is a third-year QB with a lot of development, who also just got D.J. Moore and an improved O-line, while Jordan Love is an unknown variable, whose team did not make any impactful moves to get Jordan Love valuable weapons on offense. If I am looking at this comparison from just based off pure development and training camp, I am absolutely taking Justin Fields to win this QB battle.
How this Game Impacts the Bears and Packers
I was able to discuss this on the NFC North Report podcast earlier this week, but I believe that this game will be impacting how the Bears and Packers will perform this season. Of course, you can’t assume how a team is going to perform off Week 1, but this goes deeper than that. These two teams are starting a new era of their historic rivalry, and the biggest factor is the QB position of both teams. Throughout this entire off-season, we kept getting updates on Justin Fields that have led some to believe that he is a legitimate MVP candidate (I am one of those). For the Packers, Jordan Love is still an unknown variable in this matchup and even with the off-season updates, there still hasn’t been enough information to give a proper analysis of Love. From my view, if the Bears win this game, this could bring an immense amount of momentum for the Bears as this would also snap an 8-game losing streak that the Bears have against the Packers. If the Packers win, could this mean that the Packers have successfully completed the passing of the torch from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love? There is a lot of storylines surrounding this game and the storylines will only increase for the rest of the season based on who wins this game.
My Final Pick for Week 1
After going through an entire analysis of this game, I have made the conclusion that the Bears will start off this new chapter of the rivalry against the Packers with a Week 1 win. My final score prediction is 31-17 Bears. I believe that Justin Fields is going to flourish with the revamped offense and the defense is going to compliment Justin Fields by making it a rough start for Jordan Love. As I was writing this article, it was reported that Christian Watson is OUT for week 1 against the Bears. With that being said, this is going to be Jordan Love’s first real start in the NFL and I believe that he is going to struggle against the Bears defense even more than I expected. The Packers are going to rely heavily on short passes as well as the run game, which I believe is going to lead to a couple of hiccups on the offensive side for the Packers. Bears football is finally back tomorrow and I cannot wait to see if my prediction comes to fruition.
