Love’s deep strikes for the Packers sink the Bears’ defense

GREEN BAY — The Green Bay Packers had just dialed up two straight deep shots. The first one was out of reach for receiver Christian Watson, who had already scored a touchdown in the game.

The Packers led the Bears by seven points at halftime Sunday and Green Bay’s offense had the ball to start the third quarter. It was still a tight game, even if the Bears offense had struggled in the first half behind backup quarterback Tyson Bagent.

After the miss to Watson and then an offensive pass interference penalty against Green Bay’s J. Michael Sturdivant that wiped away a touchdown, the Packers faced a third-and-22 from their own 47-yard line. Field-goal range was theoretically about 15 yards downfield.

Packers quarterback Jordan Love had other ideas.

He launched another heave toward the end zone for Watson, who went up and over Bears rookie safety Dillon Thieneman to catch it for a 53-yard touchdown.

The deep shots kept coming all afternoon and nearly every one of them landed in the hands of a Packer. Per NFL Next Gen Stats, Love completed 5-of-6 pass attempts that traveled 30 or more yards down the field, including a pair of touchdowns to Watson.

The Bears secondary had no answers in a 31-7 blowout at Lambeau Field. After holding three consecutive opponents to 12 points or fewer, the wheels fell off for the Bears defense.

“There’s a lot of lessons to be learned today and I’m excited to get back to work,” veteran defensive tackle and team captain Grady Jarrett said. “That’s all we can do. Be positive and go forward and learn from these early scars, because it’s going to push us deeper into the season.”

The wounds were plenty and they cut deep — as in deep down the field.

To recap some of the big plays: Love completed touchdown passes of 42 and 53 yards to Watson, also another 31-yard completion to Watson, a 46-yard pass to tight end Tucker Kraft, and completions of 36 and 50 yards for second-year receiver Matthew Golden.

“We definitely knew they could be good deep threats downfield with Golden and Watson,” Thieneman said. “At the end of the day, me, myself and us as a defense, we just got to execute better.”

On the 53-yard score after halftime, Thieneman was in position with a chance to break it up, but Watson went up and over him to make a play.

“That’s one of those things where that’s their M.O., they do a nice job being aggressive there on third-and-long,” coach Ben Johnson said. “And Love, when he’s got a little bit of time, he’s got a lot of trust in those pass catchers. (He) had some space out there. We must’ve taken a bad angle.”

Thieneman’s angle on the play may have been impeded, ever so briefly, as he evaded one of the referees. Still, Thieneman took the blame, saying it was “on me.”

“Even though I was using bad technique, I feel like I ended up in good position, but definitely didn’t play through the hands, didn’t finish on that play,” Thieneman said.

Cornerback Jaylon Johnson was also in the area. The two-time All-Pro got beat a couple of times on Sunday, notably when Golden blew by him for one of his big gains. Earlier in the game, Packers running back MarShawn Lloyd barreled through Johnson for the Packers’ first rushing touchdown of the season.

“I saw him a little too late, tried to get my feet into position,” Johnson said of Lloyd’s 7-yard touchdown run. “But I mean, it just happens.”

Love finished the game 25-for-31 passing for 367 yards and two touchdowns. On balls that went 20 or more yards, Love was 6-for-8 for 258 yards with two touchdowns. The Packers still largely struggled to run the ball, finishing with 70 rushing yards, but Lloyd scored twice on opportunities near the goal line.

It didn’t help that the Bears defense lost three key players due to injury: linebacker T.J. Edwards (hamstring), cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (hamstring) and defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo (quad). None of them returned.

As the player with the green dot on his helmet, Edwards relays the calls from defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to the defense. He exited in the first half. Once Edwards left, linebacker D’Marco Jackson filled in as the lead communicator.

“It’s always tough losing a starter,” Jackson said. “Just got to have a better next-man-up, got to execute better. I feel comfortable in that role. I prepare for it.”

Stevenson and Odeyingbo exited in the third quarter. Without Stevenson, who plays outside cornerback, the Bears shifted rookie Malik Muhammad to the outside from the nickel. Versatile defensive back Cam Lewis played the nickel and veteran Xavier Woods spent much of the game at safety.

“There were times when we weren’t communicating and weren’t always on the same page,” Thieneman said. “Really it came down to just finishing at the end of the play.”

The Packers certainly had plenty to prove Sunday. The Bears were road favorites at Lambeau for the first time in 20 years, and with a backup quarterback. The Bears ended last season with a pair of dramatic comeback games against Green Bay, including in the wild-card round of the playoffs.

It’s no surprise that Packers coach Matt LaFleur came out firing on Sunday.

“I love it,” Love said. “We kept our foot on the gas. Matt was dialing it up. That’s what it needs to look like right there.”

After drawing plenty of attention last year, the postgame handshake between LaFleur and Ben Johnson was unremarkable Sunday. The Packers did go for two late in the game to make it a 24-point difference, as opposed to a 23-point difference with an extra point.

“We knew we were going to get their best shot and we sure did,” Ben Johnson said.