On the opening night of the National Football League’s centennial season, the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears set NFL football back 100 years.
During a snoozer of a game that saw both teams combine for less than 550 yards of offense, the Packers eked out a 10-3 win.
Green Bay’s defense was good — as was Chicago’s — but the biggest reason the Packers were able to win on the road was the ineptness of the Bears on offense.
Third-year quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who was drafted ahead of budding QB stars like Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson in 2017, completed just 26 of 45 passes for 228 yards and also tossed a brutal fourth-quarter interception in the end zone which was snagged by former Bears safety Adrian Amos.
Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears were driving to tie the game.
Until former Bear Adrian Amos pulled in a clutch interception.
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/CNmdeVutJw
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) September 6, 2019
Afterward, Packers cornerback Tramon Williams said Green Bay’s plan was to get Trubisky — who was sacked five times — throwing the ball. “We wanted to make Mitch play quarterback,” he said. “We knew they had a lot of weapons, we knew they were dangerous, we knew all of those things. But we knew if we could make Mitch play quarterback, that we’d have a chance.”
Things weren’t all that much better on the other side of the ball for Aaron Rodgers as he was also sacked five times and completed only 18 of his 30 passes for a measly 203 passing yards. However, when he threw into the end zone to Jimmy Graham in the second quarter, he hit paydirt instead of getting picked.
In the first game of the regular season, Green Bay Packers defeated the Chicago Bears 10-3. Packers QB Aaron Rogers threw for 203 yards and one touchdown. Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky threw for 228 yards and one interception.#NFL100 | #GoPackGo | #Bears100 | #3ptcnvrsn pic.twitter.com/nUlz6tKHEH
— The 3 Point Conversion (@3ptCnvrsn) September 6, 2019
Unfortunately for the NFL and the league’s advertisers, the Packers and Bears (who converted just five of 27 third-down opportunities) are the second consecutive pair of teams to fizzle in a primetime matchup.
In Super Bowl LIII between the Patriots and Rams, New England and Los Angeles combined for just 16 points during Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s sixth championship win.
That clearly was not the type of game fans were looking for to conclude the NFL season as the 2019 Super Bowl was watched by about 98.2 million people, the lowest mark in 11 years, according to CNBC.
It’s not a stretch to say that points correlate with viewers as, for comparison, the AFC Championship game between the Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs averaged 53.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched conference title game in five years, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
During that overtime win for the Patriots, the two teams combined for 68 points in New England’s 37-31 win.
All of Kansas City’s 31 points came in the second half, meaning that the Chiefs, in a single half, outscored the Patriots, Rams, Packers and Bears combined (29 points) during the Super Bowl and the opening night for the NFL.
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