This is it, folks. The Green Bay Packers officially kick off their 2019 season against the Chicago Bears tonight at Soldier Field.
The hype can finally be realized. The questions will finally be answered. Tonight, the talk will die down and Aaron Rodgers, Matt LaFleur, and the rest of the team can finally go to work to prove themselves – haters and doubters be damned.
It’s a huge game for this 2019 team and the Packers' organization in general. It’s a new era of football and hopes are high. Anxiety, and the fear of the unknown, is also at a high level as well, so there’s a ton on the line tonight for Green Bay.
With that in mind, here are three last-minute Packers predictions before they kick off the 2019 season against Chicago.
Prediction 1: Aaron Rodgers will throw four touchdowns
We’ve seen it before so there’s a good chance we’ll see it again. Rodgers seems to play his best in big games and this is the biggest Packers game we’ve seen in the past few seasons. He also plays his best in this rivalry against Chicago, and he undoubtedly knows just how much Green Bay needs him to step up.
Even in an antiquated Mike McCarthy offense, Rodgers was always good for a few touchdowns against the Bears. With LaFleur now running the show, the expectation is that Green Bay’s offense will be crisp and that receivers will be schemed open rather than Rodgers having to make a great play in order to move the chains. We saw glimpses of an offense that can move the ball in chunks in the preseason and that was with Tim Boyle throwing to second and third string players.
Considering the situation and the fact that LaFleur has had a whole offseason to scheme this game together, we’re predicting a huge four touchdown game from Rodgers.
Prediction 2: Adrian Amos will force a turnover
Nobody on Green Bay’s defense knows Chicago better than newly signed safety Adrian Amos. He was, after all, a Bear for the past four seasons. Matt Nagy will certainly give the Packers unscouted looks and there are question marks surrounding how David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen will be used together, but at the end of the day Amos has had plenty of practice reading Mitch Trubisky and the Bears’ offense – so who better to thwart them?
Amos has been known as a solid yet unspectacular player who’s always in the right place at the right time, but doesn’t make a huge plays. Expect him to change that narrative tonight by forcing a big turnover for the Packers – our bet is on a Trubisky interception.
Prediction 3: Jimmy Graham will bounce back to form
Jimmy Graham was undoubtedly a disappointment last season for the Packers and he was a bit banged up this preseason – which is concerning. With that said, under McCarthy he – and every other receiver – was asked to get open in one-on-one situations and Graham, unfortunately, just doesn’t have that kind of juice anymore. Conversely, we know that LaFleur likes to scheme his tight ends open using creative routes, misdirection and play-action passes, so Graham doesn’t have to be an athletic marvel as much as he simply just needs to be a consistent target for Rodgers.
Look for LaFleur to game-plan a few really easy open touches for Graham, especially near the red zone, and we expect him to have a big game with at least one touchdown catch.
Bonus Prediction: If all three of these predictions come true, the Packers will walk away 1-0.
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