Green Bay Packers Picked To Win Week 1 by NFL Analyst For A Surprising Reason

Green Bay Packers fans have been waiting for this week for a long time. The first regular season game of the Jordan Love Era sees them take on their oldest rival in the Chicago Bears. Over the last three decades, Green Bay has dominated the rivalry behind the Hall of Fame quarterback play of Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. Head Coach Matt LaFleur is 8-0 against the Bears, but times have certainly changed.

While there are a great deal of analysts who have become admirers of Love through his play in the preseason, and while current NFL players who played against him in preseason games have walked away impressed, whether or not Love will be a good regular season quarterback remains to be seen.

The Packers, of course, are trying to get back to the NFL Playoffs after a disappointing 8-9 season ended the Aaron Rodgers era and Green Bay’s run of consecutive NFC North crowns. Meanwhile, the Bears are just trying to improve from a 3-14 season that saw them as the worst team in the NFL.

Still, in the minds of many (including the oddsmakers), Green Bay is going into Chicago as a one-point underdog. Pete Prisco of CBS Sports believes the Packers will pull off the [slight] upset, but not for the reason one may think.

Pete Prisco Claims The Green Bay Packers Defense Will Be “Really Good”

Prisco writes an article in which he picks the winners of each week’s NFL games and explains why he made those decisions. He predicts that the Packers will beat the Bears 27-23, not necessarily because of brilliant quarterback play from Love, but because of how good the Green Bay defense will be:

“The Bears will be improved this season with Justin Fields taking steps forward as a passer. But this Green Bay defense should be really good and offer a big-time challenge here. Green Bay has Jordan Love in now as a full-time starter at quarterback, and I think he will get off to a good start in this one. The Packers will get a tough road victory to open the season.”

Pick: Packers 27, Bears 23

Most Packers’ fans are taking the “I’ll believe it when I see it” approach to the defense this season. Under defensive coordinator Joe Barry, the Packers’ defensive units have under performed and consistently finished in the bottom half of the NFL over the last two years.

However, Green Bay did have the highest graded defense in the NFL during the 2023 preseason, per PFF. If Barry has finally figured out how to use the talent of eight first round picks, the Packers will not need Love to be the next Hall of Fame quarterback in Green Bay. He will just need to be better than 2022 Aaron Rodgers, which is not setting a very high bar.

There is also the fact that Chicago simply does not have a good offensive line. As many improvements Justin Fields may have made, they will mean nothing if his line can’t block for him.

The Packers’ offense may be struggling to get healthy (at least, the wide receivers are), but the defense is not. They are primed and ready to go.

That will be a problem for Chicago.