The two silver linings in the Chicago Bears loss to the Green Bay PackersTodd Welteron December 5, 2022 at 12:44 pm

The Chicago Bears are no longer the winningest franchise in the NFL. The Green Bay Packers victory over the Bears at Soldier Field allowed the Pack to move into the top spot.

The Packers have not lost to the Bears since 2018. Aaron Rodgers continued his unofficial ownership of the Chicago Bears. It is unknown if this was his last game played in the rivalry.

He now has 24 victories against the Bears while Chicago has only defeated the Packers five times during the Rodgers era.

It is never fun to lose to the Packers. The Bears have been doing a lot of it to Green Bay since 1992. Unlike so many of those losses, Chicago has two silver linings coming out of this defeat.

Justin Fields was outstanding against the Packers.

Fields returned after missing last week’s game with a shoulder injury against the New York Jets. Fields showed the injury did not bother him.

He made his presence felt early in the game when he raced 55 yards for a touchdown with three minutes left in the first quarter.

The knock on Justin Fields this year is he has not been a great passer. Well, he proved his doubters wrong.

He turned in his best passing game of the season as he completed 20 of 25 passes for 254 yards. Fields threw some nice deep-ball completions.

He hooked up with Equanimeous St. Brown for a 56-yard completion midway through the second quarter. That set up a touchdown by David Montgomery.

Justin Fields found N’Keal Harry for an amazing 49-yard reception early in the fourth quarter.

Fields did throw two interceptions in the fourth quarter that helped seal the Packers’ victory. The first interception happened because St. Brown ran a poor route. The second interception happened when Fields was trying to make something happen late in the game and forced a pass into good coverage.

Outside of those two picks, Fields made good decisions with the ball. He read the field well and the offensive line gave him time to throw. Fields was not sacked for the first time all season.

Fields continues to show he is worth the Chicago Bears building around him. That brings us to our next silver lining.

The Chicago Bears are still in a position for a prime draft pick.

The Bears are still in line to get the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Had the Bears won, they could have fallen as far as the ninth pick in the first round.

That is the ideal draft pick for a rebuilding team to have. It holds even more value since the Chicago Bears do not need a quarterback. A lot can change between today and draft day but right now Alabama quarterback Bryce Young and Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud will be the most sought after signal callers in the draft.

The Houston Texans will most likely take a quarterback after Davis Mills flamed out. That will leave a team in desperate need of a franchise quarterback looking to possibly trade up to get whoever the Texans do not select.

That means the Chicago Bears could be in line to get the same trade package the Miami Dolphins got from the San Francisco 49ers in 2020. The 49ers moved up from the 12th pick to the third pick to select Trey Lance and gave up three first-round picks.

Imagine the type of offseason general manager Ryan Poles can have with all the salary cap space he has and additional draft capital.

Poles could also stay at the second pick and take Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter or Alabama pass rusher Will Anderson. Both are game wreckers the defense needs to get better.

The Chicago Bears still need the Los Angeles Rams and the Denver Broncos to win a few games down the stretch. While they both traded their first-round picks away, their record will still determine the draft slot the Seattle Seahawks (they own the rights to the Broncos pick) and Detroit Lions (they own the rights to the Rams pick) will have.

The Chicago Bears have the highest strength of schedule between the three teams. That means the Bears do not have the tiebreaker in their favor. Therefore, if all three end the season with the same record, the Bears could drop a few slots.

If they are still in the top 5, Chicago would still be in a good spot for an impact player. Although, it means sitting through four more games of losing to land the highest pick possible.

If Fields continues to play well, it will be worth watching. It will mean a premium pick and a thriving quarterback will put the Chicago Bears in a good spot for a better 2023 season.

Read More