Love Throws Three Touchdowns as Packers Rout Bears in Opener

The Green Bay Packers opened the season by blasting the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Here’s the story from Chicago, complete with the Play of the Game, Player of the Game and more.

CHICAGO – Soldier Field was rocking, the ancient stadium overflowing with hope that their beloved Chicago Bears could finally beat the Green Bay Packers in the wake of the offseason trade of quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

By the middle of the third quarter, many of the 62,456 fans were booing.

Jordan Love wasn’t Rodgers in his debut as the Packers’ starting quarterback, but he didn’t have to be. Love threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs on the opening drive, Green Bay’s defense made mincemeat of Chicago’s new-but-unimproved offense and Aaron Jones made two game-changing catches against Chicago’s new-but-unimproved defense to propel the Packers to a 38-20 victory to kick off the 2023 NFL season on Sunday.

It was Green Bay’s eighth consecutive win at Soldier Field – Rodgers authored seven of those – and coach Matt LaFleur improved to 9-0 vs. the Bears.

“Nothing’s changed. We’re still the Packers,” Jones said.

Love was 15-of-27 passing for 245 yards. He threw three touchdowns – two to Romeo Doubs and one to Jones – before getting to relax for the final 3 minutes.

“I definitely yesterday was visualizing just having a win, coming off the field after a win,” Love said. “I kept telling myself, ‘I’m going to play great, we’re all going to play great.’”

Love wasn’t great but he was infinitely better than his counterpart, Justin Fields, and more than good enough to beat the Bears, who looked a lot like last year’s three-win team despite a huge free-agent spending spree.

Green Bay led 10-6 at halftime but pulled away thanks to Jones. On the opening series of the third quarter, Love booted to his left, then fired across the field to Jones. Jones had three offensive linemen ahead of him and receivers Doubs and Samori Toure blocked safety Eddie Jackson well downfield. Jones gained 51 on the play to the 7. A couple plays later, Jones followed a block by Zach Tom for one of the easiest touchdowns of his career.

After the defense forced a three-and-out, the Packers – and Jones – went back to work. On fourth-and-3 from Chicago’s 35, LaFleur turned down a long field goal and kept the offense on the field. It turned into a game-clinching gamble. Jones won his one-on-one matchup, caught the ball at the 30 and turned on the jets. No defender laid a finger on him. Just like that, it was 24-6.

The Bears pulled within 24-14 but Green Bay answered definitively to earn a Week 1 win after losing back-to-back openers.

A fumble turned into a busted coverage for a 37-yard completion to Luke Musgrave, which set up a pretty touchdown pass to Doubs, and Quay Walker delivered the finishing blow with a 42-yard pick-six in which he bounced off 222-pound rookie running back Roschon Johnson as if he were a mosquito against a semi.

“Obviously, really happy for our team,” LaFleur said. “I thought we played a complete game, four quarters. It was far from perfect and there’s a lot of cleaning up, but anytime you’re plus-2 winning the ball, you’ve got a great chance to win.

“I thought our guys played hard. They played physical. That’s exactly what we’ve been talking about all offseason is our style of play. Certainly, again, a lot to clean up. We’ve got to be a little bit more disciplined. But it’s a good start. Again, it’s only one game, and we’ll enjoy it for 24 hours, and then we’ll be on to Atlanta.”

The Packers celebrate a touchdown by Romeo Doubs (87). (Photo by Dan Powers/USA Today Sports Images)

Game Ball

Aaron Jones is a remarkable player. He led the Packers in receiving yards and rushing yards. His 51-yard catch set up an easy touchdown run, and Jones had the payoff on a 35-yard catch on the next possession. He needed 11 touches to gain 127 yards.

Play of the Game

The Bears had pulled within 24-14 and had the Packers facing a third-and-8 on the first play of the fourth quarter. Jordan Love delivered a strike to Jayden Reed for 18 and a huge first down. On the next play, Love turned disaster into triumph. He fumbled the snap, calmly retreated to pick up the loose ball and found tight end Luke Musgrave completely uncovered downfield. Love lobbed one up to the rookie, who made a stumbling catch at the 12 and rolled ahead to the 4. That set up Love’s picture-perfect touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs.

Worth Noting

Receiver Christian Watson missed the game with a hamstring injury and Aaron Jones left the game with a hamstring injury sustained on his touchdown catch.

Noteworthy Number

The Packers triumphed in two key segments. On third down, they were 9-of-16 compared to 2-of-12 for Chicago. Plus, the Packers won the turnover battle 2-0. Quay Walker’s pick-six helped put the game on ice.

Next Week

The Packers will visit the Atlanta Falcons at noon Sunday. Playing at home, the Falcons romped past the Carolina Panthers 24-10 on Sunday. Desmond Ridder was 15-of-18 passing for 115 yards with a 4-yard touchdown to tight end Hayden Hurst. The Falcons limited rookie quarterback Bryce Young to 20-of-38 passing for 146 yards with one touchdown, two interceptions (both by safety Jessie Bates) and a rating of 48.8.

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