CHICAGO (670 The Score) – After the Bears’ offense disappointed in a 38-20 loss to the Packers on Sunday at Soldier Field, quarterback Justin Fields shared an apology to both his teammates and the fans while also struggling to explain what went wrong.
Fields went 24-of-37 for 216 yards, one touchdown and an interception – which was returned 37 yards for a touchdown by Packers linebacker Quay Walker in the fourth quarter. A game that began with hope for the Bears to have a more explosive offense instead turned into fans filing for the exits early in the fourth quarter as Chicago was blown out by its rival.
As they continually struggled, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and the Bears prioritized a short passing game and didn’t attempt many deep shots down the field. The Bears’ offense produced just three plays for 20 yards or more, with the longest play going for 26 yards on a screen pass to running back Roschon Johnson.
Just four of Fields’ 37 pass attempts traveled past 10 yards from the line of scrimmage, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Fields was 2-of-4 with a touchdown and interception on those passes.
“That’s just the game plan,” Fields said of the conservative offense that featured many screen passes to wide receivers. “I think just with those, we just got to be better at blocking on the perimeter just to set those up. I mean, if you go back and look at the film, if we block those guys, those are 10-, 15-yard plays, 20-yard plays. That’s just the game plan.”
Wide receiver Darnell Mooney had four catches for a team-high 53 yards and a touchdown. Johnson had a team-high six receptions for 35 yards.
New Bears receiver DJ Moore, the team’s biggest addition in the offseason, had just two receptions for 25 yards on a pair of targets. Fellow receiver Chase Claypool, whom the Bears acquired last November in exchange for a second-round pick, had zero catches on a pair of targets.
“It’s football,” Moore said. “At the end of the day, the defense was kind of pushed over to me, so it was hard to see me. I understand that. We just got to learn from it and move on.”
The Bears (0-1) visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) next Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.