The last time the Packers played the Bears, they were hot on an unlikely playoff run and beat the Bears for the 8th straight time, powered by a big performance from Christian Watson, who had 46 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown to go with 48 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown.

Justin Fields led the Bears with 71 rushing yards (plus a rushing touchdown) and also had a season-high 254 passing yards with 2 interceptions, but no passing touchdowns.

The Packers were down 19-10 heading into the 4th quarter, but got hot late and poured on 18 points to win 28-19.

Now, the Packers start a new era in the rivalry, as Jordan Love and Justin Fields face off for the first time.

WHEN THE PACKERS HAVE THE BALL

Jordan Love will be the focal point of the offense and all the narratives, but let's not lose track of a couple other things.

The Packers, even if David Bakhtiari doesn't play, have an offensive line that is flat out better than the Bears defensive line. The Packers also have a couple of running backs that should be able to find success against a Chicago defense that added pieces, but is still a bit of a patch job, especially in the box. The Packers rushed for 378 yards in two games against the Bears last year, and there's no reason they can't do it again.

But we know the passing attack will be a big part of this game.

The Packers have the advantage of the unknown, as their receivers and tight ends are all either rookies or guys who didn't even play the full slate last year. And the new quarterback means the offense will be run differently. That can (and probably will) cause mental mistakes, as well.

Luckily, Jordan Love's mental game seems to have grown over the years. He'll have to play smart for the Packers to win. That means playing within the offense and taking what the Bears give him.

The Bears have good corners, but better safeties. There's no need to test a lot of deep balls. Maybe mix a couple in to keep the defense honest, but the intermediate crossing routes and screen passes should be the staples.

Romeo Doubs looks ready to play (which is critical since the Packers will be missing Christian Watson), so he and Jayden Reed should be frequent targets on crossers and out routes, while Luke Musgrave works the seam, and the Packers throw liberally to Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon to keep the Bears defense stretched horizontally more than vertically.

The Bears would be wise to blitz the bejeesus out of Love early to see how he holds up. The Packers should counter with standard blitz beaters: quick hit hot routes and screen passes mixed with a heavy ground game.

Jordan Love needs to be ready to move around the pocket and make quick decisions.

WHEN THE PACKERS ARE ON DEFENSE

Much like the Packers young quarterback is the focus of the offense, the Bears young quarterback is the focus of theirs, though for different reasons.

Justin Field poses a huge threat as a runner and an inconsistent (at best) threat as a passer. While he has the arm strength, his accuracy is all over the place - even his passing "highlights" feature receivers making diving grabs or difficult adjustments. The pickup of DJ Moore has drawn high praise this offseason, and he looks to be the focal point of the their passing attack.

Jaire Alexander should follow Moore and the Packers should shade coverage to take away the one big receiving threat the Bears have. Chase Claypool, while an athletic phenom, has not been able to capitalize on his tools and didn't seem to mesh with the Bears offense last year. Darnell Mooney is a field-stretching deep threat, who would be a great matchup for Eric Stokes, but may have to be handled by Keisean Nixon or Carrington Valentine, who should give him some space.

The Packers can limit the Bears aerial attack with a strong pass rush. Even if Rashan Gary isn't full speed, the Bears offensive line is still sub-par and ripe for abuse from the Packers front. Green Bay ran their defensive line differently in the preseason than they have in the past. They moved Clark to defensive end and ran a lot more stunts. If they can bring more pressure from the line, instead of just rushing straight forward every play, it can force Justin Fields to throw quicker and also make it harder for him to find run lanes.

Even with that, the Packers will need to put a spy on Justin Fields to make sure he doesn't bust too many long runs. Quay Walker and Darnell Savage are good choices because of their speed, but the job may fall to Walker out of necessity. The Packers are weak at safety and if they plan to run 3 down linemen more often, they may go with more single safety looks, and Savage would have a lot of back end roaming responsibility.

Bears starting running back Khalil Herbert is middling and nowhere near the running threat that Justin Fields is.

The Packers defense will not be able to take any plays off and their front needs to come through. TJ Slaton is now at nose tackle to allow Kenny Clark to be more disruptive at defensive end. Devonte Wyatt looks ready for a year two jump based on his impressive training camp and the Packers will need all three of them to be effective as Rashan Gary probably won't be at full speed and Lukas Van Ness is still developing.

De'Vondre Campbell and Quay Walker could bring some surprise blitzes up the middle if the Packers edge rushers don't generate a lot of pressure.

OTHER NOTES

• The Packers kicking game is going to be a trip with Anders Carlson - let's hope it doesn't come down to a last-second field goal
• Keisean Nixon may see more snaps on defense, which could leave him winded for the return game, and less effective than last year
• Robert Tonyan, Marcedes Lewis, Equanimeous St. Brown, and Lucas Patrick are all former Packers that moved to the Bears - none of them are superstars, but all of them have some insight into the Packers that could be used against them
• I expect a lot of pre-snap motion out of the Packers, and I don't think we'll see the play clock hit 0 nearly as much as we're used to
• Bears fans are really tired of losing to the Packers and see Jordan Love's first start as the leader of this team as their opportunity to turn the history of this rivalry - I expect this will be the loudest we have seen Soldier Field in a long time

FINAL THOUGHTS

Two young quarterbacks with accuracy issues are facing off. There's bound to be big plays and mistakes by both of them.

They'll get most of the attention, but the real discrepancy between these two teams is in the trenches. The Packers offensive line outclasses the Bears defensive line and the Packers defensive line outclasses the Bears offensive line. That should be the difference today.

We don't really know what to expect, but this factor is hard to ignore and I think it will impact the outcome far more than all the quarterback and receiver talk.

I think we're in for a roller coaster of a game with a lot of momentum swings, but I think line play will win out in the end for this one.

Packers 24, Bears 20