Jordan Love carries on Aaron Rodgers’ tradition of ‘owning’ the Bears after throwing three touchdown passes in Packers’ season-opening win

Jordan Love kept telling himself that he and his Packers teammates would start his first NFL season as a starter on the right foot by pulling off a season-opening victory, and he backed it up by beating Green Bay’s archrivals in the first game of the post . -Aaron Rodgers era on Sunday.

It looked like Love was ready to follow in the footsteps of Rodgers and Brett Favre, throwing three touchdowns to lead the Packers to a 38-20 victory over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday.

Love waited three years for this moment behind four-time MVP Rodgers, who completed a blockbuster trade to the New York Jets in April. He shook off a slow first half and helped the Packers to a lopsided victory.

“It feels great,” Love said. ‘It feels great. It certainly took a long time for me: three years as a backup. Just watching, learning and growing, watching this team work. It feels good to lead those guys and finally play with them. And to come away with a dub, that was exactly what we wanted.”

Aaron Jones ran for a touchdown and caught one, helping the Packers pull away in the second half for their ninth straight victory over the Bears.

Green Bay was 25-5 against Chicago with Rodgers, including a win in the NFC championship game at Soldier Field in the 2010 season, and the Packers were 22-10 in games Favre started.

For the Bears, it was more of the same for a team that went 3-14 last season, setting a franchise record for losses. Chicago entered the season expecting major improvement after a series of offseason upgrades.

Love completed 15 of 27 passes for 245 yards and earned a 123.2 rating. His only previous start was a loss at Kansas City in 2021 when Rodgers was sidelined due to COVID-19.

“I couldn’t be more proud of just his performance and his poise,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said.

“There’s a lot of belief in that dressing room for Jodan Love, and I think the boys will rally around him. They’re excited about him. They love him. They respect him.’

Jones caught two passes for 86 yards. He turned a screen into a 51-yard gain that led to a scoring run for him in the third, and added a 35-yard touchdown on a short pass on the next drive.

Romeo Doubs had two touchdown catches. Quay Walker returned an interception 37 yards for a TD, and the Packers won for the 13th time in 14 games at Soldier Field.

General manager Brian Gutekunst hugged Love in the tunnel and high-fived other players. Loud cheering and clapping could be heard in the Packers’ locker room, and someone shouted, “I want to stay here all night!”

The Bears lost their eleventh straight game overall, and their tenth straight against NFC North opponents.

“You just have to let the truth sink in,” safety Eddie Jackson said. ‘As much as it hurts, as much as it feels that we have to get out, there are still sixteen games to go. We have to come out tomorrow, watch the film, make the corrections and just have it in our minds that we can never let that happen again.”

Fields was 24 of 37 for 216 yards. He had a touchdown pass and an interception in a performance that did little to answer the biggest question hanging over the team: Can he become the passer the Bears need?

Fields also ran for 59 yards.

Award-winning acquisition DJ Moore was targeted just twice and had two catches for 25 yards. Darnell Mooney added 53 yards receiving and a TD.

“This game was hyped and we didn’t bring the juice and the hype to the party today and we lost,” Moore said.

Then the Packers visit Atlanta next Sunday, while the Bears travel to Tampa Bay next Sunday.