9 take-aways from the Bears' loss to the Packers
Nine take-aways from the Bears' season-opening loss to the Green Bay Packers, 10-3:
Three moments that mattered
1. After producing negative yardage on its first three possessions, the Green Bay offense woke up when Aaron Rodgers found Marquez Valdes-Scantling deep down the middle for a 47-yard completion. It was the first play of a four-play, 74-yard Packers touchdown drive that ended with Rodgers finding tight end Jimmy Graham for a touchdown. The Packers took the lead, 7-3, and never gave it up.
2. Three straight penalties quickly ended what had been the Bears' most promising second-half drive early in the fourth quarter. Holding, an illegal hands to the face and offensive pass interference forced the Bears into a 1st and 40 situation from which the drive couldn't recover. Prior to the penalties, the Bears had gone 44 yards in three plays.
3. Seeking late life in the final minutes, the Bears drove down to the Green Bay 16-yard line before former Bears safety Adrian Amos intercepted Trubisky in the end zone, sending some of the home fans to the exits.
Three things that worked
1. After all that talk about kickers, Eddy Pineiro came out and nailed his first field goal attempt, a 38-yard kick in the first quarter. It garnered one of the loudest cheers of the night from the home crowd. It was a small consolation after the way last season ended with Cody Parkey's missed field goal. The Bears briefly led, 3-0.
2. The Bears produced all kinds of pressure on Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers. Linebacker Leonard Floyd recorded 2 sacks after having 4 all of last season. Roy Robertson-Harris, Akiem Hicks and Aaron Lynch all recorded 1 sack each.
3. Allen Robinson caught 7 passes for 102 yards in one of the few bright spots for Chicago's offense. His longest was a 27-yard catch in the second quarter.
Three things that didn't
1. After converting their first third-down attempt of the game on a Mitchell Trubisky scramble, the Bears went 0-for-10 on third-down conversions. Rarely did the Bears have a favorable third-down situation. Not until late in the fourth quarter did they end that string with a conversion on third down.
2. Trubisky and the offense never found a rhythm. The offense totaled 254 yards for the game but did not find the end zone. The quarterback and his receivers were rarely — if ever — in sync. The running game wasn't much of a threat, either. Running backs Tarik Cohen, Mike Davis and David Montgomery were quiet.
3. Penalties. The Bears were plagued by flags, especially in the second half. The Bears committed 10 total penalties for 107 yards. Three straight penalties on a drive midway through the fourth quarter killed what had been a promising drive and forced the Bears into a 1st and 40 situation from which they couldn't recover.
What's next?
The Bears head to Denver next week to face a familiar foe: former Bears defensive coordinator and now Broncos head coach Vic Fangio. The Bears and Broncos last played in 2015, with the Broncos picking up a win, 17-15, at Soldier Field.