GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Bears dared Jordan Love to beat them deep.
The Packers quarterback did, over and over again, in a 31-7 rivalry loss Sunday at Lambeau Field.
“We know what they were trying to do from the beginning,” cornerback Jaylon Johnson said, “and we didn’t do a good enough job stopping them.”
One week after Love threw for just 197 yards and totaled 17 points against the Buccaneers, the Packers scored touchdowns on their first two drives. Love finished 25-for-31 for 367 yards and two touchdowns. His 137.5 passer rating was a career high with a minimum 15 throws. He joined Aaron Rodgers as the only Packers quarterbacks ever to throw for at least 350 yards and multiple touchdowns, post a completion percentage of at least 80% and not throw an interception in a game.
Love completed 6-of-8 passes of 20 yards or more, totaling 258 yards and a near-perfect 156.3 passer rating. The Packers had six passes — of 53, 50, 46, 42, 36 and 31 yards — that were longer than the Bears’ longest throw of the game.
Love chewed up the Bears’ man defense, buying time for his receivers to get open downfield and hitting them in stride — often, behind the Bears’ deepest defender.
“We let the ball over our head too many times,” coach Ben Johnson said.
A Bears defense that dominated the previous three weeks — they gave up nine points in the rain to the Vikings, seven to the Eagles and 12 to the Jets — looked more like the unit that produced a disturbing season opening performance. When the Bears gave up 37 points to the Panthers, it seemed like the start of a long, frustrating season for the defense.
It felt that way again Sunday. Bears coordinator Dennis Allen stubbornly stuck with his man defense — and paid dearly for it. He lost a starter at each level of his defense to injury during the game — Dayo Odeyingbo (quad), linebacker T.J. Edwards (hamstring) and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (hamstring) — but the Packers were in charge from the beginning.
The scoring started with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Christian Watson in the first quarter when a blown coverage left him wide open down the left sideline. In the third quarter alone, the Bears gave up a 46-yard pass to tight end Tucker Kraft and a 36-yard pass to Matthew Golden. And then, in the fourth quarter, a 50-yarder to Golden.
In between was the most egregious series of plays the Bears defense has posted this season.
Love thought he’d thrown a 43-yard touchdown down the right sideline to receiver J. Michael Sturdivant about two minutes into the second half. Sturdivant was whistled for offensive pass interference, though, which left the Packers facing third-and-22 at their own 47. On the next play, Love dropped back and, with all the time in the world, stepped up in the pocket. He launched a pass deep down the middle to Watson, who’d slipped behind the back line of the Bears defense. As the ball hung in the air, rookie safety Dillion Thieneman ran underneath the ball. Watson leapt and caught it for a 53-yard touchdown.
Thieneman blamed himself, saying he started off in poor position but got to Watson in time to try to rip up through his hands to force the incompletion. He didn’t get a chance to do so.
“Didn’t play through the hands, didn’t finish on that play,” he said.
Love threw the ball from his own 40 — and it landed in Watson’s arms about three yards beyond the goal line.
“Love, when he’s got a lot of time, he’s got a lot of trust in those pass-catchers,” Ben Johnson said.
Before Sunday, the Bears had defended third-and-22 or more 219 times since 1977. They’d never given up a play so long.
“It was something we saw throughout the game that was working, and we kept doing [it],” Love said. “We kept our foot on the gas right there.”
Packers coach and offensive play-caller Matt LaFleur said his staff saw enough on tape to want to attack the Bears deep. He thought the Packers would have to score a lot to win the game — only for his defense to hold the Bears to seven points. The performance was needed in Green Bay, where a 2-2 start prompted questions from a frustrated fan base that questioned not only Love but LaFleur. For the Bears, though, though, Sunday opens up defensive questions that had been on hold for a month.
As true rivals, the Packers kept throwing long after the game was in control. The Bears could do very little to stop it.
“This game is personal,” Jaylon Johnson said. “I wouldn’t expect them to lay down just because they’re up. For us, we’ve got to fight back. As men at some point you’ve got to play for pride and the name on the front [of the jersey] — and the back.”