The 2022 season got off to a horrible start for the Green Bay Packers. This was the second straight year where the Packers were blown out in week one after most of the starters did not play in the preseason. There is not much time to dwell on the defeat as Green Bay welcomes the Chicago Bears to town on Sunday night. A primetime matchup with your oldest rival screams ‘must-win’. The Packers cannot afford to start the season at 0-2. Let’s take a look at three things we could see on Sunday night:
Christian Watson Surpasses 100 Yards Receiving
Nobody needs a redemption game more than Christian Watson. His career got off to a terrible start with a easy dropped touchdown pass. After that, he was a nonfactor for the rest of the game. However, I do think that he is going to bounce back and get things fixed. The drops were a concern of his coming out of college, but, Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling had drop issues and both figured it out. Because of this, I am not that concerned with Watson. The Chicago Bears do have a lackluster secondary, so Aaron Rodgers will need to exploit it early and often. I would not be surprised to see Rodgers take a shot at Watson early on, similar to what happened yesterday.
Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon Combine For Less Than 75 Rushing Yards
The injuries keep piling up on Green Bay’s offensive line. Elgton Jenkins and David Bakhtiari were both inactive yesterday. Truthfully, at this point, I am not sure when they will be active. To make matters worse, the Packers lost Jon Runyan Jr. during yesterday’s game as well. It is essentially a backup offensive line being thrown together. This group had it rough yesterday with Za’Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter making their presence felt often. Until Green Bay can get their regular rotation back, it is going to hard for Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon to get the ball moving. With the struggles that the offensive line had, I would expect the Chicago Bears to throw different stunts and blitz packages to make things difficult to read.
Green Bay Wins by At Least Two Touchdowns
There is something about playing the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field that makes me feel a little more confident. The crowd is going to be electric. Chicago will be entering this game on a high note thanks to their opening week win. But, Aaron Rodgers has had the Bears’ number for years. I do not anticipate that to change on Sunday. Christian Watson, as mentioned above, will have a huge impact on this game. This week will be great time for the Packers to get back on track before heading down to Tampa Bay. I anticipate a ton of improvements on the defensive end to make Justin Fields uncomfortable and miserable in the pocket. The packers are far from where they want to be, but this Sunday will get him going in the right direction.
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