Boos rained down on Mitch Trubisky and the Bears offense late in the second quarter after Trubisky was nearly intercepted by Packers rookie safety Darnell Savage on a third-and-14 pass to Allen Robinson.
And the boos were even more pronounced moments later in the final minute of the first half when a short pass to running back Mike Davis on third-and-nine lost one yard and the Bears punted.
So much for hitting the ground running. The best hope for the Bears’ offense was that it would warm up in the second half — or will eventually.
Maybe it was too much to expect too much. The Bears’ offense spent all of training camp the virtually the entire preseason practicing against the Bears’ defense. That’s not a bad way to go considering the Bears’ defense might be the best in the NFL. But the early results from Thursday night’s opener against the Green Bay Packers seemed to confirm an NFL reality — there’s nothing like game speed.
Even Aaron Rodgers needed a little bit of time to warm up after not playing a down in the preseason — be threw for 132 yards in the second quarter after throwing for five in the first. Mitch Trubisky and the Bears’ offense didn’t adjust quite so well. It’s early.
The Bears gained 42 net yards on 18 plays in their first three possessions and finished the first half with 98 yards on 30 offensive plays. If Trubisky was determined to be more patient in the pocket this season, it didn’t look like it. The Bears rushed 11 times for 34 yards — about the only reminder of Walter Payton on the curtain-raiser for the franchise’s 100th season.
The Bears’ first big play — a 27-yard pass from Trubisky to Allen Robinson — came in response to Rodgers driving the Packers 74 yards on four plays for a touchdown that gave Green Bay a 7-3 lead with 13:08 left in the second quarter.
That drive died three plays later when Cordarrelle Patterson — line up as the lone back in the backfield — was stuffed for a two-yard loss by defensive tackle Kenny Clark on third-and-one.
Clark got into the Bears’ backfield by cleanly beating second-year center James Daniels, who was called for holding on the play. It typified a shaky performance by the Bears’ offensive line. The Bears’ first possession died when Blake Martinez came in untouched — an apparent miscommunication between Daniels and guard Kyle Long — to sack Trubisky for a 10-yard loss on third-and-9.
Long was called for holding in the second quarter to put the Bears in a first-and-20 hole at their 17 they could not get out of.
Rookie David Montgomery was a rare highlight. Entering the game on the second series, the third-round draft pick from Iowa State gained four and six yards on his first two NFL carries for a first down. On the next drive, he went wide left and made a nice cut upfield past Martinez for a first down. But even he had a modest 18 yards on five carries for the first half.
It’s early, and the Bears had time to get in a groove in the second half. But it was still a disappointment considering the Bears came out firing on offense in last year’s opener in Nagy’s first season.
That’s when they drove 86 yards on 10 plays for a touchdown on their first drive and 53 yards on nine plays for a field goal on their second drive. After gaining 139 yards on those drives, they were held to 155 the rest of the game. Their best hope Thursday night was a reversal of that fortune.
