Packers: Positives, negatives from Week 1 victory vs. Bears

Positives, negatives for the Green Bay Packers in Week 1.

Week 1 against the Chicago Bears was one of the greatest games in team history.

Against their arch rival on Sunday night to kick off their 100th season, Aaron Rodgers led the Green Bay Packers on a historic comeback.

Here are the best and worst aspects of Week 1:

Positive: Bryan Bulaga

It is a minor miracle that Bryan Bulaga managed to suit up for the season opener. During training camp, there was legitimate concern that Bulaga could miss up to half of the entire season. Bulaga was coming off yet another season-ending knee injury and still laced them up to face the league’s best pass rusher.

While Khalil Mack certainly got his against Bulaga, the Packers all but shut him down in the second half. Bulaga was excellent in pass protection which was especially critical given the state of Aaron Rodgers’ injured knee. Bulaga appears to still have quite a bit left in the tank.

Negative: Clay Matthews

Clay Matthews was atrocious against the Bears. Numerous missed tackles, non-existent pass rush, and a boneheaded roughing the passer penalty on the final drive nearly cost the Packers the game. But Matthews’ awful performance seems to be a recurring theme.

Matthews has not been a dominant pass rusher for years. Most opposing offenses no longer have to game plan for the outside linebacker, and while the numbers may not tell the whole story, Matthews recorded just a single tackle on Sunday night.

The Packers have the horses on the defensive line to draw attention away from Matthews, but time will tell if the six-time Pro Bowler has anything left.

Positive: Kentrell Brice

Josh Jones missed Week 1 due to injury, but Kentrell Brice stepped in and did not disappoint. For a defense that has put on clinic after clinic on how to miss tackles, Brice made eight tackles including several crucial stops in the second half. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix is the flashier player, but he routinely takes poor angles and misses ball carriers.

Brice has shown promise each year he’s been in the league, but he simply has not been able to stay healthy. The Packers may want to consider making him the full-time strong safety in front of Jones who could stay in a utility role.

Negative: Blake Martinez

The Packers desperately need a presence in the middle of their defense to emerge. Blake Martinez really came on towards the end of last season, and looked like a potential star at the position. He did not follow that up appropriately against the Bears. Already down Jake Ryan, rookie Oren Burks missed the game with an injured shoulder.

Antonio Morrison is a decent run defender, but is just not physically talented or athletic enough to contribute in any meaningful way this year. Martinez might have just had a rough game against a solid offensive line, but against a potent offense next week in the Vikings, the Packers need him to turn things around.

Positive: Secondary

The secondary might qualify as a positive only because of how bad things had been over the past four seasons, but the defensive backs quietly had a very good game against the Bears. The Packers might finally have the depth at the position to rely more on their secondary to defend opposing offenses.

Jaire Alexander, Josh Jackson and Kevin King all had solid games along with veteran Tramon Williams. While the Packers are definitely going to play better quarterbacks than Mitchell Trubisky, it was a promising sight to see the two rookies play so well in their first game.

Negative: Mike McCarthy

Mike McCarthy must understand what happened to his team in the first half against the Bears. On opening night, in primetime, against their arch rival, to kick off a historic season, the Packers looked absolutely pathetic. That lies squarely on the head coach not having his team ready to play.

For four straight years, the Packers have run three plays on offense: The bubble screen, hi-lo dig routes, and a quick slant with the slot receiver leaking to the flat.

Apart from that, hoping Aaron Rodgers draws the defense offsides and letting Rodgers scramble for miles before a receiver finally uncovers is McCarthy’s best bet. The Packers have no offensive philosophy and are not adequately prepared to play against the more complete teams of the NFL.