The Green Bay Packers are set to kickoff their season against no other than their longtime rivals, the Chicago Bears. It’ll be a very interesting matchup this season as the Bears do not have the task of facing Aaron Rodgers. The Jordan Love era will begin in Chicago in what feels like a renewed rivalry considering the Bears’ revamped roster. Justin Fields has also garnered lots of hype entering this season so it should be a fun week one matchup between two teams that don’t share any love.
Key Things to Lookout For
The big thing everyone will be looking out for this week is Jordan Love’s first start as being the full time starter. Love who had a good preseason, looks to take control of a young Packers offense that flashed their potential in the preseason. Love gets a Bears defense who will definitely be testing him as a new era in Green Bay begins Sunday.
It’ll be interesting to see who Love looks to this Sunday as top receiver Christian Watson has already been ruled out and behind him is Romeo Doubs who was ruled questionable. Those are the top two receivers which means rookie Jayden Reed will look to have a bigger role along with Luke Musgrave and Samori Toure. It isn’t ideal but Love will have to make it work as well as get help from the backfield duo of Jones and Dillon.
The Green Bay Packers defense looks to be coming with a new energy this season. Joe Barry talked about how the 2023 defense will be coming different compared to the 2022 defense. That hopefully means more aggression and playmaking for this years defense.
Containing Justin Fields on the Ground
Justin Fields hasn’t had the sharpest start to his career against the Green Bay Packers. He’s currently 0-4 against them with a 70.7 passer rating to his name. Despite his struggles, Fields enters a season where he potentially has the best offense he’s had around him boasting new star receiver, DJ Moore.
Although Fields hasn’t been the greatest passer to start his career, it’s widely regarded that he’s one of the best rushing quarterbacks in the league. He can hurt you with his legs at any time and uses that as a threat.
With new receiver DJ Moore and a good backfield group, it’ll be interesting to see how often Fields uses his legs. Green Bay’s defense should be ready for the Bears offense to try and take advantage of Fields’ speed to hurt them in the run game. He ran for over 1,000 yards last season and it should be accounted for coming into this matchup.
Setting the Tone
With the NFC North up for grabs this year, a division game this early in the season can prove to be important. Division rival Detroit Lions have set the tone already by defeating the defending champs in the Chiefs. The winner of this game not only sets the tone for the season, but also to the division.
This is also one of the most fierce rivalries in the NFL so both teams will be looking to make big statements by coming away with a victory.
It’ll be a very fun matchup this Sunday as both teams are considered almost even in the sports betting world. The Love vs. Fields matchup begins this year and it should be really interesting to see how this game unfolds.
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Javier Delgado is a lifelong Packers fan who is currently majoring in sports journalism at Arizona State University. He writes for PackersTalk.com and you can follow him on twitter at @javierrdelgadoo.
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