There's nothing quite like the start of a new NFL season. Hope fuels excitement for all 32 fan bases, and the 2023 season has a chance to be special for the Chicago Bears.
No, I'm not suggesting the Bears will go on an improbable Super Bowl run this year. Instead, Chicago has a chance to re-establish the franchise as a contender, a team that's no longer on an endless quest to find a quarterback. The Bears can become a club that has its long-term head coach and general manager in place. They can finally enter a phase of stability, which tends to lead to wins.
The Chicago Bears may sneak into the playoffs if they win enough games. And once the playoffs begin, anything can happen. No NFC team would want to face Justin Fields in the post-season, that's for sure.
The Bears have a chance to begin their 2023 season in fantastic fashion. They'll welcome the arch-rival Green Bay Packers to Soldier Field in a game that features two young quarterbacks jockeying for NFC North supremacy.
Bears fans should feel good about Fields' chances to come out on top. Here are four reasons why.
Justin Fields is better than Jordan Love
Sounds simplistic, right? It's also true.
Justin Fields is, and always has been, a better quarterback than Jordan Love. He was a better high school quarterback, he was a better college quarterback, and he has more experience and success than Jordan Love at the pro level.
Yes, Love has a chance to be a competent starter who flashes a quality arm from time to time, but he's a far cry from the level of quarterback we've become accustomed to in Green Bay. The Packers will finally field a starter who, at best, will be a Kirk Cousins-type passer. The Vikings have won a fair share of games with Cousins, so that's not meant to be a dig at Love. But Fields' ceiling is much higher, and we'll see it firsthand on Sunday.
Fields' revamped wide receiver corps should help him gain respect as a passer immediately. The trio of DJ Moore, Chase Claypool, and Darnell Mooney has the most playmaking ability of any combination of skill players he's played with so far in the NFL.
Love, meanwhile, could be down to a bunch of unknown rookies if the Packers don't get healthy before Sunday.
Expect Fields to throw for more than 250 yards, run for another 50, and toss a few scores in a statement win over Green Bay.
Revamped Bears defense will catch Packers by surprise
The Chicago Bears' defense was terrible last season. They were 32nd in points allowed (27.1 per game), 31st in rushing yards allowed (158.3 per game), 32nd in rushing touchdowns (29), and last in sacks (20).
It can't get much worse than that.
General manager Ryan Poles responded by renovating the starting lineup. The list of new starters is long: Tremaine Edmunds, TJ Edwards, Yannick Ngakoue, DeMarcus Walker, Andrew Billings, and Tyrique Stevenson. Key depth players are new, too, with rookie defensive tackles Gervon Dexter Sr. and Zacch Pickens the headliners.
New doesn't always mean better, but there's no denying the Bears have their most talented pass-rusher since Khalil Mack in Ngakoue, and Edmunds is the kind of inside linebacker who can force takeaways in the passing game. Chicago will have a more productive defense.
And here's the other point: there's no film of this group playing together. Combine the early-season shock value the Bears' defense will have with Jordan Love's inexperience, and the result is an advantage heavily tilted in Chicago's favor.
DJ Moore will neutralize Jaire Alexander
The Green Bay Packers' defense is strong. There's no denying that. And one of its greatest strengths is cornerback Jaire Alexander, who led a top-five secondary in passing yards allowed in 2022 (195.6 per game). The Packers' defense ranked third in the NFL with 17 interceptions, too. Alexander led the team with five.
Alexander is the kind of defensive back who can take away half the field. He can wipe out opposing passing games, especially if the wide receivers aren't... threatening.
That was the case for the Bears in 2022, who fielded Darnell Mooney as their WR1 in the teams' first meeting in Week 2 and were down to the newly traded Chase Claypool in Week 13.
In Week 1, the Bears will unleash DJ Moore, one of the few receivers who can challenge Alexander for four quarters. It doesn't mean Moore will win the matchup, but by drawing Alexander his way, opportunities for Mooney and Claypool as the WR2 and WR3 will be plentiful.
The Bears know their strengths
The Chicago Bears went on a bit of a heater in the middle of the 2022 season because it took a while to figure out how to unlock Justin Fields. Now, with a full offseason to focus on an offense that best suits his skills, the Bears are set up to get off to a fast start.
Adding DJ Moore will help that process, of course, but knowing what your quarterback does best and tailoring the offense to those traits is the fastest way to score points consistently.
The Bears only scored 29 total points in their two games against the Packers in 2022. They might score that many in Week 1 alone.
The hope (and expectation) is that Justin Fields will evolve as a passer in 2023. But unlike last year, it won't take long for the Bears to pivot and recalibrate the offense to score a lot of points even if his development is slower than expected.