Eight months of hype for the 2019 Bears season fizzled into boos Thursday night at Soldier Field.
The opener for the NFL’s 100th season also was supposed to be a kickoff for the Bears’ Super Bowl hopes in their 100th year. Instead, the offense’s sloppy play and coach Matt Nagy’s questionable decisions will be remembered after a 10-3 loss to the Packers.
Despite being sacked five times, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers improved to 17-5 in the regular season against the Bears. He led a 74-yard touchdown drive in the first half to put the Packers up for good.
The Bears held the Packers to only a 39-yard Mason Crosby field goal beyond that. But a fine defensive effort wasn’t enough to make up for the offense’s shortcomings.
Former Bears safety Adrian Amos sealed the Bears’ sixth straight season-opening loss when he intercepted quarterback Mitch Trubisky in the end zone with 2 minutes, 3 seconds to play.
And that might not have been the ugliest play of the night for the Bears offense.
Bears fans started to boo at the end of the first half, and the displeasure increased after the Bears went three-and-out on each of their first two drives of the second half. They failed to convert a third-and-inches at their own 19-yard line on the second drive when Trubisky was sacked.
Then a promising drive ended with an odd call by Nagy.
The Bears had a second-and-5 from the Packers’ 28-yard line. But two Trubisky incompletions sandwiched the Bears’ second delay-of-game penalty of the drive to make it fourth-and-10 from the 33. Instead of having kicker Eddy Pineiro attempt a 51-yarder, Nagy chose to go for it. Trubisky gained 3 yards, and the Packers took over.
The Bears reached the Packers’ 43-yard line on their next drive, but two penalties on left tackle Charles Leno and an offensive pass interference call on Taylor Gabriel backed them up to first-and-40 at the Bears’ 27.
Pineiro made his first career field goal attempt, a 38-yarder late in the first quarter, for the Bears’ only points.
After totaling minus-12 yards on the Packers’ first three drives, Rodgers completed all four of his passes on the touchdown drive. He found Jimmy Graham for an 8-yard touchdown pass in front of backup safety Deon Bush.
From the locker room
“This is a test. It’s a different type of loss than last year. … It was a frustrating game. We couldn’t get in a rhythm offensively. And then when we did get in a rhythm, we’d have penalties. We’ve got to be better. I’ve got to be better.” — Coach Matt Nagy
“If they’re booing at us, yeah, it’s difficult. But playing in a large market in New York, I was used to it there. I just take it as the fans being very passionate. They have a lot invested in the Bears and they want a lot from us. They hold us to a high standard.” — Cornerback Prince Amukamara
“It was just sloppy by myself and as an offense as a whole, just going through all our procedures. It was just tough. We couldn’t find a rhythm. It’s really frustrating because it’s very uncharacteristic of this offense, especially the way we’ve been practicing.” — Quarterback Mitch Trubisky
Storylines
3 keys revisited after the Bears fall flat in a 10-3 loss to the Packers, from Dan Wiederer
Tight end Trey Burton sidelined with a groin injury for Bears opener, from Rich Campbell
Here’s how the game unfolded:
Hey, we know you
The Bears’ season opener against the Packers had a familiar face in the crowd: former quarterback Jay Cutler. He told a Chicago radio station several weeks ago that he and his wife, Kristin Cavallari, would attend the game as fans.
Bears take a 3-0 lead
Eddy Pineiro made a 38-yard field goal to give the Bears a 3-0 lead against the Packers with 4:09 to play in the first quarter.
Pineiro’s first career field goal capped a six-play, 16-yard drive, in which rookie running back David Montgomery rushed three times for 11 yards.
The Packers offense had minus-17 yards on their first two drives thanks to a pair of Bears sacks on third down. Roy Robertson-Harris took down Aaron Rodgers for minus-10 yards to end their first drive. Khalil Mack got a hand on Rodgers, and Leonard Floyd capitalized with the sack to end the second drive.
Packers take a 7-3 lead
Aaron Rodgers’ 8-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham gave the Packers a 7-3 lead against the Bears with 13:08 to play in the second quarter.
After totaling minus-12 yards on their first three drives, Rodgers completed all four of his passes on a 74-yard drive. He opened it with a 47-yard toss to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who was being defended by Prince Amukamara.
The Bears offense struggled to get moving early in the game. Before Rodgers’ touchdown drive, Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky nearly threw an interception to open the second quarter, but Packers cornerback Kevin King dropped the pass intended for Cordarrelle Patterson.
Packers lead 7-3 at halftime
A sluggish Bears offense sucked some of the life out of Soldier Field, and the Packers took a 7-3 lead into halftime.
Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky completed 10 of 16 passes for 73 yards in the first half, getting the Bears only close enough for a 38-yard Eddy Pineiro field goal. He was sacked three times.
The Bears defense kept it close, sacking quarterback Aaron Rodgers three times for a loss of 25 yards in the half. But Rodgers also led a surgical 74-yard touchdown drive for the lead.
Bears’ third-quarter drive stalls
The Bears’ most promising drive of the night ended with a questionable decision by Bears coach Matt Nagy.
The Bears had a second-and-5 from the Packers’ 28-yard line. But two Trubisky incompletions sandwiched the Bears’ second delay-of-game penalty to make it fourth-and-10 from the 33. Instead of having kicker Eddy Pineiro attempt a 51-yarder, Nagy chose to go for it.
Trubisky gained 3 yards, and the Packers took over.
On their next drive, the Bears backed up to a first-and-40 after three penalties.
Amos intercepts Trubisky
Former Bears safety Adrian Amos intercepted Trubisky in the end zone with 2:03 to play to all but seal the Packers victory.
Packers kicker Mason Crosby made a 39-yard field goal earlier in the fourth quarter to put the Packers up 10-3.
Our ranking of the 100 best Bears players ever
Get the full list and all 100 stories at chicagotribune.com/bears100
Celebrating the Bears’ 100th season
We ranked the 100 greatest moments in Bears history.
Take a look back at a century of Bears uniforms, including 97 years of orange and blue (and three of red and gold).
Go inside the world of Steve McMichael, still one of the most colorful and beloved characters from the 1985 Bears.
Da story behind Da Bears — and how the sausage-eating, Mike Ditka-obsessed, Chicago-aggrandizing Super Fans are still part of Chicago sports today.
An oral history of Devin Hester’s Super Bowl XLI kickoff return touchdown — and the coverage team that dared to stop him.
Virginia McCaskey rarely does interviews, but she sat down to talk about the Bears’ 100th season. Listen to the podcast here.
Past glory collided with future dreams at the Bears100 Celebration Weekend.
From the Tribune archives
Take a stroll down Chicago Bears Memory Lane with some cool old-timey photos from the Chicago Tribune archives.
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