Live Updates: Packers at Bears in Week 1 Showdown

It’s here. Packers. Bears. Jordan Love’s starting debut. Week 1 at Soldier Field. Follow along all day for updates as the 2023 NFL season kicks off with a rivalry showdown.

CHICAGO – Finally, it’s showtime. After months of talk and speculation, the Jordan Love era is here with the Green Bay Packers visiting the Chicago Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field. Follow along all day for updates.

Fourth Quarter

Packers 38, Bears 20 (2:53 remaining)

Jordan Love’s day is over. Sean Clifford will finish the game.

Packers 38, Bears 14 (12:36 remaining)

The game is over. Well, not officially but close enough. On third-and-11 from the 24, Bears quarterback Justin Fields fired a pass over the middle that was intercepted by Quay Walker at the 42. Walker bounced off Bears running back Roschon Johnson at the 23, then won the race for the pylon for the touchdown. Kenny Clark applied the pressure on Fields.

Packers 31, Bears 14 (13:30 remaining)

Oh, how this game turned. Facing a third-and-8 following a false start by receiver Dontayvion Wicks and with the crowd roaring, Jordan Love hit Jayden Reed on a crossing route for 18, the rookie receiver doing exactly what he did throughout training camp. Then came the biggest play of the game. Love dropped the snap, scooped it up and found tight end Luke Musgrave completely uncovered downfield. Musgrave made a stumbling catch and rolled to the Bears’ 4. On the next play, Love hit Romeo Doubs on a fade against rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson for what might be the clinching score.

Third Quarter

Packers 24, Bears 14 (59 seconds remaining)

Well, the Bears aren’t dead yet. Justin Fields hit Darnell Mooney for a 20-yard touchdown against Keisean Nixon, and Khalil Herbert waltzed into the end zone on the 2-point play. With Packers running back questionable with a hamstring injury, it’s going to be up to Love and AJ Dillon to close out the final 16 minutes.

Packers 24, Bears 6 (4:58 remaining)

Kenny Clark and Devonte Wyatt combined to bring down Justin Fields, with Wyatt forcing the fumble and Rasul Douglas recovering. Unsportsmanlike conduct by De’Vondre Campbell pushed the Packers back 15 yards, but they’ll start at Chicago’s 43.

Packers 24, Bears 6 (6:26 remaining)

On fourth-and-3 from the Bears’ 35, coach Matt LaFleur kept the offense on the field. His gamble was rewarded. Aaron Jones ran a Texas route – diagonally outside, then diagonally inside – and got wide open. He caught the ball at the 30 and went untouched into the end zone.

Jones has two catches for 86 yards and nine rushes for 41 yards.

Packers 17, Bears 6 (8:05 remaining)

Devonte Wyatt’s first-down sack set up a three-and-out. Jayden Reed returned the ensuing punt 35 yards by breaking two tackles to get around the corner. The Packers will set up shop at Chicago’s 42 with a chance to take a comfortable lead.

Packers 17, Bears 6 (10:19 remaining)

Jordan Love’s 51-yard completion to running back Aaron Jones on a screen set up Jones’ 1-yard touchdown run. The screen was a work of art, with Love booting to his left and throwing the ball across the field to Jones. Jones had a convoy of Elgton Jenkins, Jon Runyan and Josh Myers at the start, and receivers Romeo Doubs and Samori Toure double-teamed safety Eddie Jackson downfield. Jones gained 57 yards after the catch. On the touchdown, right tackle Zach Tom had the key block.

Second Quarter

Packers 10, Bears 6 (0:00 remaining)

Anders Carlson drilled a 52-yard field goal on the final play of the half, capping a 2-minute drill that was all kinds of ugly. After throwing short of Aaron Jones on first down, Jordan Love overthrew tight end Luke Musgrave for what might have been a 56-yard touchdown had they been on the same page. Musgrave was 5 yards behind safety Jaquan Brisker. On third-and-10, though, Jayden Reed got open on a crossing route. The ball seemed to surprise Reed, who had to double-catch it. Tacking on 15 yards after the catch, the 30-yard gain set up Carlson’s field goal. Yannick Ngakoue looped around the interior of Green Bay’s line to sack Love on second down to limit the damage.

The Packers will get the ball to start the second half.

Love finished the half 7-of-16 for 81 yards with one touchdown and an 80.6 rating

Packers 7, Bears 6 (1:12 remaining)

Rashan Gary made his presence felt at a key moment. Playing mostly on third-and-long, Gary roared around rookie right tackle and hit Justin Fields’ arm to force an incompletion. The third-and-9 was set up by Keisean Nixon blowing up a receiver screen to Darnell Mooney.

The Packers will have 1:12 and one timeout to get into scoring range following Jayden Reed's 14-yard punt return to the 44.

Packers 7, Bears 6 (2:12 remaining)

At least the Packers got a first down, with Jordan Love finding Samori Toure wide open over the middle of the field for a gain of 16 on third-and-6. But the drive stalled, with Love evading two tacklers but not getting close to converting on another third-and-6.

Packers 7, Bears 6 (5:28 remaining)

Holding on left tackle Braxton Jones vs. Justin Hollins led to a key three-and-out. The Packers will start at their 31; who knows what would have happened had Devonte Wyatt (near the goal line) and De’Vondre Campbell (at the 5) not missed sacks.

Packers 7, Bears 6 (7:16 remaining)

In what could be a trend worth monitoring, the Packers’ offense has gone three-and-out on back-to-back possessions. On third-and-2, Love’s pass to Jayden Reed was thrown too far inside and broken up by Kyler Gordon. Time of possessions is 14:05 to 8:39.

Packers 7, Bears 6 (9:00 remaining)

Cairo Santos’ 29-yard field goal made it a one-point game, but this was a big win for the Packers to limit the damage to a field goal. On second-and-goal from the 4, Justin Fields sprinted out to the left, where he was one-on-one against Lukas Van Ness. Van Ness won the battle, sacking Fields for a loss of 7. Rasul Douglas broke up the third-down pass.

The Bears got into scoring position because of four plays of 11-plus yards. The Packers missed four tackles on the drive, including two by safety Rudy Ford on completions to D.J. Moore.

Jordan Love (Photo by Jamie Sabau/USA Today Sports Images)

First Quarter

Packers 7, Bears 3 (32 seconds remaining)

The drive was doomed when Yannick Ngakoue demolished a toss to running back AJ Dillon for a loss of 5.

Packers 7, Bears 3 (2:04 remaining)

Cairo Santos booted a 47-yard field goal. A 23-yard completion to Darnell Mooney got the Bears past midfield, and a 14-yard completion to running back Khalil Herbert put Chicago in scoring position. But back-to-back false starts put the Bears in a hole, and Chase Claypool dropped a screen on third-and-7.

Jaire Alexander is shadowing the Bears’ new star receiver, D.J. Moore.

Alexander was in the middle of a brief fracas after shoving Bears quarterback Justin Fields out of bounds. Former Packers center Lucas Patrick was the first player on the scene.

Packers 7, Bears 0 (6:08 remaining)

Jordan Love’s first touchdown as the team’s starting quarterback went to Romeo Doubs, an 8-yarder on third-and-goal. Doubs froze Chicago’s secondary with a stutter-step at the stop of the route and was wide open against safety Eddie Jackson. Superb pass protection made it all work.

One of the fun plays of training camp was an old-school quarterback option. That was the play on the initial second down. Love pitched the ball to Aaron Jones, who got his clock cleaned by rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson for a loss of 2. That set up a third-and-13, with Love’s first pass as Green Bay’s starter going to Doubs for a gain of 13.

Jones got it in four of the next five plays for a total gain of 25 yards. Among them, a third-and-2 in which he gained 7 to the 5-yard line behind blocks by right tackle Zach Tom and tight end Luke Musgrave.

Packers 0, Bears 0 (11:31 remaining)

What a start for Green Bay’s defense. The Bears had a third-and-1 from the 40. A direct snap to tight end Cole Kmet, who was stuffed by, among the others, linebacker De’Vondre Campbell. On fourth-and-1, quarterback Justin Fields tried to get to the marker with a sneak but linebacker Quay Walker grabbed Fields from the side and thwarted his second effort. So, Jordan Love will start at the Bears’ 40.

Rashan Gary’s Debut

Rashan Gary’s comeback from his torn ACL is complete. Exactly 308 days since his season-ending injury at Detroit, Green Bay’s star outside linebacker will be in the lineup against the Bears. Gary, who had a sack against Chicago at Lambeau Last year, will play limited snaps.

“From where I started, being able to even be put in a situation like that, I’m nothing but thankful and blessed,” Gary said this week. “I’m absolutely excited for a pitch count. I don’t care for how many plays they want me on the field, they’re going to get five-two, 110 percent, for as many snaps as I can get.”

Rashan Gary with the pregame speech. pic.twitter.com/gVcj4L8d2g

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 10, 2023

Inactives: Will Romeo Doubs Play Against Bears?

Receiver Romeo Doubs, as expected, is active for Sunday’s game against the Bears. Coming back from a hamstring injury, he practiced on Thursday and Friday this week and was listed as questionable. The big giveaway that Doubs would play came during Saturday’s roster elevations.

Love to Doubs pregame. pic.twitter.com/Ji4PUMDWI1

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 10, 2023

Who is out? Receiver Christian Watson (hamstring), running back Emanuel Wilson, safety Anthony Johnson, safety Zayne Anderson, outside linebacker Brenton Cox, offensive tackle Caleb Jones and guard Sean Rhyan.

Patrick Taylor, who was elevated from the practice squad on Saturday, will get the call ahead of Wilson as the third back.

Jaire Alexander vs. D.J. Moore?

Changes are coming on the Packers’ defense under third-year coordinator Joe Barry.

“Football is always evolving,” Barry said. “I don’t know if you go as extreme of saying that you change your philosophy. I think most people have a philosophy and they’re pretty strict to that, but I will say you definitely have to evolve. Maybe a better word than change is tweak what you’re doing. I think you have to do that every single year or offenses are just too good now, and they change and they evolve and they sign players and they do different schemes.”

So, does that mean he will put his top cornerback, Jaire Alexander, on the Bears’ new offensive weapon, D.J. Moore? Those type of best-vs.-best matchups were hinted at by Alexander during training camp as part of a more aggressive defensive approach.

For now, it’s all talk. How the Packers handle Moore will be telling.

The Bears acquired Moore in a blockbuster predraft trade with the Carolina Panthers. Moore topped 1,100 receiving yards in 2019, 2020 and 2021. He will give quarterback Justin Fields what he lacked the last two years as a legitimate go-to receiver.

“We were at Maryland together, roommates, that kind of thing,” safety Darnell Savage said. “He’s a great locker room guy. He plays really hard. Obviously, he’s got a lot of production just with his years in Carolina. He’s one of those guys where I don’t really think there’s necessarily a system for him – just give him the ball and let him work. We’ve got to be ready to tackle. He definitely brings a big-play threat.”

A sunny Sunday at Soldier Field. (Photo by Bill Huber/Packer Central)

Rivalry? What Rivalry?

The Cambridge Dictionary defines “rivalry” as a “situation in which people, businesses, etc. compete with each other for the same thing.”

Generally, the Packers and Bears haven’t been competing for the same thing.

In 2010, the Packers beat the Bears at Soldier Field in the NFC Championship Game. Two weeks later, Green Bay won the Super Bowl.

Since then, the teams have reached the playoffs just once in the same season – 2020, when Green Bay was the No. 1 seed and Chicago went 8-8 but eked into the postseason.

So, is it really a rivalry when one team is usually really good and the other is usually fighting for mediocrity?

“I know all the rival stuff, everyone gets excited, people want to talk about the hatred, blah, blah, blah,” left tackle David Bakhtiari said. “I’m like, look it’s football. We’re going to go play. To me, the biggest difference is playoffs. It could be a rival or not, they immediately become a rival because it’s win or go home. The regular season, you’re trying to win every game. It is what it is.”

Historically speaking, Packers-Bears is a huge rivalry. George Halas, Curly Lambeau and Vince Lombardi are among the pillars of NFL history. The reality is something different, though, given Green Bay’s Globetrotters-Generals domination. Aaron Rodgers went 24-5 against the Bears, with one of those losses coming when he suffered a broken collarbone. How is that a rivalry?

“It’s just kind of learned when you get here. That’s every team in the league,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “You got guys you know that you might know from things in the past but, yeah, it’s definitely a rivalry. You hear about it all week.”

From reporters and friends, sure. But is that really a topic of conversation in the locker room?

“Yeah, everybody’s trying to beat the Bears,” Love said. “That’s the topic.”

How to Watch Packers at Bears

Kickoff: 3:25 p.m.

Location: Soldier Field.

TV: Fox (Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen on the call, with Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi on the sidelines.)

Stream: fuboTV offers more than 100 channels and a free trial.

Radio: Packers Radio Network (Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren), Sports USA Radio (Larry Kahn and James White) and SiriusXM channels 133 or 383.

More Green Bay Packers News

It's #Packers at Bears this afternoon. Green Bay has won seven straight at Soldier Field.

Here's why the outcome will be different this time.https://t.co/5dYJSfUsFQ

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 10, 2023

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