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The Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears have the honor of playing the first game of the 2019 NFL regular season on Thursday night as the Packers will head to Soldier Field to take on their hated NFC North rivals.
Green Bay is coming off of a disappointing 6-9-1 campaign and faces an uphill battle in its season opener, as Chicago won 12 games in 2018 and will be the favorite at home.
But that doesn't mean the Packers don't stand a chance here. They absolutely can win this game.
Here are four reasons Green Bay will beat Chicago in Week 1:
4. Health
Outside of Equanimeous St. Brown landing on the injured reserve list, the Packers are basically entering 2019 with a clean bill of health, which is in stark contrast to last year when injuries absolutely derailed them.
Not saying that health was the main reason why Green Bay missed the playoffs in 2018, but it was certainly a contributing factor.
Now, Aaron Rodgers actually has some healthy receivers to throw to other than Davante Adams, and Aaron Jones seems to be just fine after missing four games due to a knee injury last season.
The Packers are certainly one of the more talented teams in the conference, so having all of their guys ready for battle this time around may end up making a colossal difference.
3. New Strategy
For the first time since 2006, the Packers are entering the regular season with a new head coach.
Mike McCarthy was at the helm for the last 13 years, so the Bears had been accustomed to his style. Sure, he would make alterations year in and year out to not get too stale, just like any head coach, but McCarthy was still McCarthy.
Green Bay now has a bright, young coach in Matt LaFleur, who is surely going to throw in some new wrinkles that Chicago has not seen before. As a result, the Packers could keep the Bears off balance and could end up surprising them with a couple of their big plays.
While Rodgers is still the quarterback, Green Bay's offense will probably look quite a bit different than it did under McCarthy, so the Packers need to exploit the newness in Week 1.
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2. An Improved Defense
The Packers' defense wasn't horrendous last season, but it wasn't good, either. It ranked 18th in the NFL in total defense and 22nd in points allowed, so they were in the bottom half of the league.
The good news is that Green Bay made numerous big additions on that side of the ball this offseason, landing linebackers Za'Darius Smith and Preston Smith and former Bears safety Adrian Amos in free agency while selecting pass rusher Rashan Gary in the first round of the draft.
As a result, the Packers should be more prepared to handle anything offenses throw their way in 2019, and while they won't be an elite defensive ball club, they should still be quite a bit better than they were last year.
It's also not like Chicago is a top-flight offensive team, so Green Bay should be able to contain the Bears' offense on Thursday night.
1. Their Quarterback
The clearest edge the Packers have over the Bears is at quarterback.
Yes, Mitchell Trubisky is a popular candidate to have a breakout year this season, but he's not Aaron Rodgers, and even if he hits his ceiling, he'll still likely never be Aaron Rodgers.
In a close game, the team with the better signal-caller almost always has the advantage, because you are going to feel a heck of a lot more comfortable with a top-five quarterback in the fourth quarter than an unproven one.
If this contest comes down to quarterback play, Green Bay has the clear edge, as Rodgers can make throws that Trubisky simply is not capable of. Well, not that we've seen so far, anyway.
