Jordan Love Era Will Begin With 2023 Season Opener vs. Bears
News 5/11/23
Aaron Rodgers owned the Chicago Bears and reminded them and their fans every chance he got.
Now it’s Jordan Love’s chance to blow through the Windy City, beginning with the season opener at Soldier Field on Sept. 10. It will be the first time in decades the Bears have the more experienced quarterback in this rivalry. However, Justin Fields hasn’t established himself as an NFL force quite yet.
Still, Fields has 25 starts, and Love has one. Fields has gone a mere 5-20 in his starts, making progress in spots and regressing in others. So, if Love comes close to emulating Rodgers’ 23-5 mark against the Packers’ biggest rival, he will be just as despised in Chicago as Rodgers is.
If Love leads Green Bay to victory in the opener, the hate quotient will rise exponentially in Chitown.
Greg Jennings, a former Green Bay Packers receiver and The 33rd Team analyst, thinks Love should be happy about starting off the season against the Bears.
"There could not be a better start for Jordan Love," Jennings said. "To not have to have to play against his home crowd. To have to play against a Bears team that will be feisty, that has retooled what they look like both offensively and defensively, but it gives Love an opportunity to go against a team that he can beat."
The Packers are convinced that, like Rodgers way back in 2008 after sitting for three seasons behind Brett Favre, Love is ready for prime time. The NFL believes so, too, and has placed the Packers in a bunch of spotlight games as if Rodgers was still behind center.
He’s not, and the pressure Love could face can’t be ignored. With few exceptions since Favre arrived in 1992, the Packers have been contenders. Most of the time, they were division favorites – and surely favored to beat the Bears.
Not now, with Minnesota Vikings winning the NFC North title in 2022 and Detroit Lions clearly on the rise, Jordan needs to spread the love – and the victories – pretty quickly. Doing what Rodgers almost always managed against the Bears would be a good start, and, despite Love’s lack of experience, Cheeseheads everywhere are expecting a lot of Love this year.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur believes working with veteran quarterbacks coach Tom Clements has led to “huge strides” for his fourth-year quarterback. LaFleur also recognizes Love is stepping into some massive shoes and tries to downplay Love’s elevation.
“It’s going to be a different role for him, certainly,” LaFleur said this offseason, “and I think we all have to kind of temper our expectations for him. It’s different when you’re going into a game versus when you’re starting a game. It’s going to be a process, but it’s going to be exciting for him, for us.”
WATCH: Analyzing Packers vs. Bears
Barry Wilner was a sportswriter for the Associated Press for 46 years. He has covered virtually every major sporting event, including 14 Olympics, 9 World Cups, 34 Super Bowls, the World Series, and the Stanley Cup Final, and has written 75 books. Follow him on Twitter @Wilner88