We made it.

The 2023 NFL season is upon us, and the Green Bay Packers are ready to renew the oldest rivalry in football as they travel to Chicago to take on the Bears.

Here are five key things to watch on Sunday as the new era in Green Bay begins:

How different is the new Packers offense?

It’s no secret Aaron Rodgers had a huge influence on how the Packers offense was constructed and run. The consensus is that this stifled or compromised Matt LaFleur’s scheme to a decent degree.

Sunday will bring the first look at a Matt-LaFleur-led Green Bay offense with a quarterback who doesn’t have preferences built up over a decade-plus in the league, but what will that mean?

The hope will be more cohesion.

For all the brilliance and magic moments Rodgers brought, the Packers looked disjointed at times on offense during the LaFleur-Rodgers years, as concepts and plays Rodgers liked from the Mike McCarthy days were shoehorned into LaFleur’s playbook.

Those should now be gone, and Packers fans should expect motion, which Rodgers wasn’t enamored by, to become a bigger part of the offense. The run game could also become much more prominent, especially since the Packers are missing a key pass catcher…

Who steps up in Christian Watson’s absence?

Watson was ruled out of the season opener by LaFleur on Friday with a hamstring injury, the same ailment the second-year receiver missed three games with in 2022.

The hope will be that Romeo Doubs, who was also nursing a hamstring and will be ‘questionable’ for Sunday, can go after practicing in a limited capacity on Thursday and Friday.

Either way, some inexperienced wideouts will have to play significant snaps in Chicago. Rookie second-round pick Jayden Reed already figured to be heavily involved, but Samori Toure, who played fewer than 120 snaps last year, should now take on a bigger role.

Rookie receivers Dontayvion Wicks, who was recently removed from the injury report but has missed time in his first training camp with a concussion and then a hamstring injury, and Malik Heath, another undrafted success story for the Packers, will also get their chance.

The problem? None of these players can replicate the kind of game-breaking speed Watson brings to the offense.                                                

Reed is probably the fastest of Green Bay’s other receivers, with the team clocking him in the 4.3s at his pro day, but he is a more diminutive player and projected to do most of his work for the Packers from the slot.

At Michigan State, Reed was more of an outside, vertical receiver, and played bigger than his size, so he could be moved around the formation on Sunday as a result.

Jordan Love’s poise

Comments regarding Love’s even-keeled nature have been a theme of the summer, and he’ll need all that poise this week entering the hostile surroundings of Soldier Field.

It’ll be his first time taking the field as the opening day starter, and while Love has shown impressive command of the offense in pre-season, it will be more difficult to stay calm and execute while missing his top receiver and with thousands of Bears fans baying for his blood.

Love should have ample protection from an offensive line that looks set to be a strength of the team, which should help him settle in and make sound decisions throwing the ball as he looks to get off to the perfect start.

Stop the (QB) run

Over his first two years in the league, Justin Fields has been an extremely limited passer, but he is a threat to break off a long touchdown run at any time.

The Packers found that out for themselves in their last meeting with the Bears, as Fields got loose for a 55-yard score on the ground.

Outside of that though, Green Bay has held up quite well, with Fields rushing for another 153 yards on 28 attempts against the Packers for an average of 5.46 yards per rush and one touchdown. His career yards per rush is 6.7.

Run defense was certainly an issue for the Packers in 2022 though, and with a much younger defensive line featuring players mostly known for their pass rush, Sunday will serve as a tricky early test.

If their defense can be disciplined in their pass rush and force Fields to become a pocket passer, the Packers will have an advantage at the quarterback position.

In the event Fields does break contain, preventing a chunk play from turning into a touchdown could be the difference between winning and losing for Green Bay.

2022’s first round picks

Amid all the hype around Green Bay’s talented rookie class, last year’s first-rounders, Quay Walker and Devonte Wyatt, have somewhat flown under the radar this summer.

There has been a noticeable lack of discourse around Walker and his performance during training camp and pre-season, for better or worse. It’s therefore difficult to know what to expect from the linebacker in his second year after an up-and-down rookie campaign.

Wyatt didn’t see the field as much as one might expect from a 24-year-old first-round pick in 2022, but when he got his chance, flashed serious explosiveness and pass rush ability.

This year he will be starting along the defensive line after the departure of veterans Dean Lowry and Jarren Reed. Wyatt needs to show he can hold up versus the run as well as getting after the quarterback.

As the Packers look to open their next Super Bowl window, the development of their premium draft picks from a year ago will have a massive say in how quickly the team can become a contender.