The Lass Word: I Want Fields vs Love
Match-up would be a good indicator of the future of these arch rivals.
By KenLass
Never thought I would write this, but I was actually disappointed by the news that Aaron Rodgers expects to play against the Bears on Sunday. Not that I was pulling for him to be hurt, but I was hoping for a quarterback match-up between Justin Fields and Jordan Love. The Packers need a measuring stick to see whether Love can start and win in the NFL. What better comparison would there be, than to have him play versus Fields, who suddenly has become the hot young signal caller in the league.
It still could happen. Fields missed last week’s game as he recovers from a separated shoulder. He is listed as a limited participant in practice this week and has been described as the dreaded “day-to-day". The Bears quarterback situation is quite muddy at the moment, with back-up Trevor Simien also hurt with an oblique injury. Nathan Peterman is the third string signal caller. One indication that neither Fields nor Simien may be ready to play Sunday came when Chicago signed former Packers quarterback Tim Boyle off the Detroit Lions practice squad. Actually, Love vs Boyle would also be an intriguing match-up, considering both were back-ups to Rodgers, and Green Bay chose to keep Love and let Boyle walk.
Meanwhile Matt LaFleur told the beat writers on Wednesday that he expects Rodgers to play Sunday. Rodgers didn’t practice Wednesday, as has been the case each week since he injured his thumb. Rodgers said earlier this week he had gotten good news out of the tests on his ribs and also anticipates playing against the Bears. However, you never know how something like this goes. Rodgers could get out on the practice field and experience pain while throwing and moving, and the Packers could rethink his status. Green Bay will have a bye next week. The coaches may opt to give QB12 a solid two weeks rest to completely heal.
I would really be interested to see Love play against Fields. The Bears’ second year phenom was creating a lot of buzz before getting hurt in week eleven. The coaching staff finally figured out this kid can run, and began designing game plans around it. In his last three appearances, Fields rushed for 178, 147 and 85 yards. He has 834 rush yards on the season, averaging 6.8 per attempt. His passing game has remained mediocre. He’s only gone over 200 passing yards in a game once (208), his completion rate is just 59.6 percent. He’s thrown 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Most importantly, he has not been able to lift his team to victory. The Bears have lost in all four of his last starts, including those three games he had those huge rushing numbers. Still, his ability to take it all the way every time he tucks the ball makes him a constant threat. Considering Green Bay’s inability to stop Jalen Hurts running last week, it makes one wonder what Fields might do against them.
Although it’s never been a big part of his game, Jordan Love can run a bit too. He’s a long strider, but he’s got some speed and used it effectively at Utah State. Love rushed for seven touchdowns in his sophomore year. In his only start against the Chiefs in 2021, he ran five times for 23 yards, an average of over four yards per try. He moves well out of the pocket but seldom looks to run once he gets out of trouble. I’d love to see the Packers design some running plays for him, the way the Bears now do for Fields. I’m certainly not saying Love possesses the kind of running talent that Fields has demonstrated, but I believe Love could be an effective weapon in that way. Love also throws a better ball than Fields. I would rate the receiving units on both teams as roughly even. Ditto for the defenses. They both stink.
The Packers moved up to draft Love with the 26th pick in 2020. The Bears selected Fields with the 11th pick in 2021. Which team made the better move? Wouldn’t it be great to see them play against each other Sunday? Of course, it wouldn’t be definitive. We won’t know who will turn out to be the better player for years to come. But it might certainly give us an indication. Fields is getting a chance to prove himself. Love is still waiting. If you ask folks right now, most observers would probably say Fields is the better player and will go on to a more productive career. After what I saw from Love in the fourth quarter last Sunday, I’m not so sure.
Game Prediction: Packers 24 Bears 21
Unexpected Hero of the Game: Preston Smith
Upset Special of the Week: Texans over Browns (spoiling Deshaun Watson’s debut)
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Ken Lass is a former Green Bay television sports anchor and 43 year media veteran, a lifelong Packers fan, and a shareholder.
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Comments (51)
jlc1
December 01, 2022 at 03:08 pm
If Fields plays and is not too limited that score seems about right but reversed. If he doesn't then even this GB team could pull a win out. There is no excuse for not getting 30+ on this Bears D other than that this Packer team overall is a sorry excuse for an NFL team.
stockholder
December 01, 2022 at 03:23 pm
If you're not sure. Don't write it. We finally have a chance to trade Love. We need another top 50 pick. Don't make wishes that can't come true. Rodgers owns the Bears. If it sounds too good to be True. It probably is.
PackyCheese500
December 01, 2022 at 04:49 pm
WHY in the world would the Packers trade Love? That makes NO sense! Trade Rodgers if anything.
Coldworld
December 01, 2022 at 05:31 pm
If he’s no good, but it’s usually a means to prevent having to face up to the mismatch of Rodgers and youth.
PackyCheese500
December 02, 2022 at 10:13 am
If Love is bad, we likely wouldn’t get much for him. If he’s good, why would we want to trade him? It doesn’t work out.
stockholder
December 01, 2022 at 08:16 pm
100 million reason. All guaranteed.
jannesbjornson
December 01, 2022 at 05:13 pm
Looking like a Jimmy G scenario, since the brain trust put their chips on Rodgers.
barutanseijin
December 01, 2022 at 05:31 pm
Except that unlike say 2016 Brady, 2022 Rodgers is over the hill. Or if you mean the Jimmy G / Trey Lance situation, again Jimmy G has something left in the tank and Rodgers is running out of gas.
coolhand
December 02, 2022 at 09:49 am
If we had SF's defense we wouldn't be 4-8 and it wouldn't matter that age is catching up to ARod
jannesbjornson
December 02, 2022 at 10:04 am
The situation was Jimmy G showed well as a backup when Brady nursed an injury. Bill used a two pick for him and wanted to retain the guy. Kraft was smart enough to retain Brady and they brokered the deal to move Jimmy to the 49rs. Brady obviously performed well. Love would be the Jimmy G chip to be dealt since Packertown put the cash on Rodgers after consecutive MVP seasons. They may wait and see if Rodgers stays in one piece until season's ending.
ricky
December 01, 2022 at 03:37 pm
Love and Jalen Hurts were both drafted the same year; Love in the first, Hurts in the second round. Fields was also drafted in the first. All three were considered "head scratchers" by so-called NFL experts. If you want to read about this, Google "Were Love and Hurts drafted the same year". And read the extremely negative reception each got. Now that Fields is being used correctly, giving him chances to run the ball, he's a more intriguing prospect. And with the large amount of cap space, the Bears have the chance to put some complementary pieces around him. Unless the Packers can find a taker for Rodgers (which I strongly believe they can), they can bounce back in a year or two. If they decide to hang onto Rodgers? Two to three years of hope, then a quick descent into "who's our QB?", while Love quite possibly thrives elsewhere. Take the medicine, no matter how bitter, now; get it over with, and move into a new era of Packers football.
PackyCheese500
December 01, 2022 at 04:54 pm
Yes: We should start a rebuild and then begin a new era!
Trade Rodgers and all the other older players to other teams for draft picks; tear down the roster, but keep all of the promising, young, cheap talent. Hopefully we can get lots of draft picks and turn the 2023 draft into a foundation for the next era. 2023 should be a "wash" year, where we absorb all of the big cap hits that allowed us to contend in '20 and '21, and then in 2024, we can start making contending moves with TONs of cap space that will allow us to make contending move so, hopefully, we can finally win another ring.
jannesbjornson
December 01, 2022 at 05:18 pm
The Bears did not have a MVP quarterback in place. A big whiff choosing Trubitsky over Mahomes. Brady doing well at age 40+ reset the tablet. The brain trust thought they could emulate the Tampa plan, but chose an incompetent coach for the D and soft players, missing on draft picks from 2018 onward. A lot of cash tied to Rodgers piggy bank.
P.S. run driven QBs, playing a variation of a college offense tend to get injured in the NFL. I like Love for the reason he is a pocket passer.
Coldworld
December 01, 2022 at 05:33 pm
Running QBs become a fad every couple of decades. They usually have short careers or evolve into pocket types. Great while they last, but they typically don’t. Win fast if you have one and have a good back up.
dblbogey
December 01, 2022 at 08:59 pm
Kaepernick comes to mind.
jannesbjornson
December 02, 2022 at 10:07 am
They really abused Robert Griffin III.
Leatherhead
December 01, 2022 at 11:33 pm
Running QBs get broken eventually. . Much better if you let the RBs run with the ball and let the QB throw with good protection. Running is a nice quality in a QB, but so is throwing laser darts in the red zone.
splitpea1
December 01, 2022 at 03:49 pm
How about the FO/coaches give QB12 a solid two MONTHS to heal? There would be absolutely no excuse for not starting Love vs. the Rams, as he will have two weeks to prepare--by which point we will be mathematically eliminated anyway. If not against the Bears, then the Rams will be a great opportunity for him to notch his first win.
I hate to be a party pooper, but I could really care less who the Bears QB is now. Let's see if our defense can actually deliver a respectable effort and make a few tackles.
PackyCheese500
December 01, 2022 at 04:49 pm
Yes - that will maintain his trade value and let us see what Love can do.
Bitternotsour
December 01, 2022 at 07:28 pm
The only correlation to the bears is whether Love is afforded the same opportunity to grow into the role of starter. it's shocking how many people hate Love because he was drafted at all (not all that shocking, remember the hatred Rodgers endured because of all the kids with Brett Favre PJ's and hurt fee fees). The bears have endured a lot of ups and downs with their throwing challenged QB. End of the day I believe Love is the better QB.
coolhand
December 02, 2022 at 09:55 am
I agree that Love is the better QB. Since in the NFL, you want your QB THROWING the ball NOT be your featured running back. I have seen plenty of Bears games this year and Fields is not that great of a passing QB. Maybe in time he will be, but I think Love at this point has the better arm and only scrambles to avoid the rush. Fields is quick to run when the pocket breaks down and doesn't always look for the throw.
beerandbrats
December 01, 2022 at 04:36 pm
I too would love to see Fields vs Love because it could be a pretty entertaining game! The Packers will be the winning-est team in the NFL if they win this game (same goes for the bears). AR12 needs to go to IR and figure out what he wants to do next year. Unfortunately, the drama queen just won't go away!
BirdDogUni
December 01, 2022 at 05:01 pm
I wish Fields was healthy for two reasons.
1. If he were to play Sunday, no matter what happens duh bares fans can say, "Well, he has a separated non-throwing shoulder."
2. It won't be much fun watching AR beat duh bares for the last time without Fields.
I still can't see an easy way out of this mess for Gutey. The organization is committed to Rodgers the next 2 seasons. Even if Love were to play great the last 4 weeks of the season, Gutey trying to find a trade partner may be next to impossible when every GM in the league knows they probably can't keep both Rodgers and Love.
Even if I were the Jets, I wouldn't offer much for Rodgers, even if they were inclined to trade for him, if Love balls out, Gutey is either going to have to fish or cut bait.
The only way this ends well is if Rodgers retires right after the season and I don't see that happening.
barutanseijin
December 01, 2022 at 05:18 pm
The Packers should take whatever they can get for Rodgers. Anything!
Coldworld
December 01, 2022 at 05:38 pm
I’d take nothing if it got us out of the hole Murphy has dug for us. Rodgers could be a good short term pick up for the right team. We start to dig out of the Murphy pit and it doesn’t get quite as deep.
BirdDogUni
December 01, 2022 at 07:32 pm
I agree Cw... I wish we had someone who could fire Murphy the 9th of January. Gutey, MaLF, & Barry too.
A new GM could Trade AR and not blink an eye, especially if he believes in Jordan Love. To clean house and start a rebuild this next off-season, we almost have to have a new President and GM.
Otherwise they'll try to limp along with 1/2 measures for a couple more years...
PackyCheese500
December 01, 2022 at 06:10 pm
I think that they could convince a desperate enough team, like the Jets, to give them even a first-round pick! with an exceptional o-line, supporting cast, and defense in NYC, not to mention Rodgers being fully healthy, it's reasonable to think that he would be somewhat better for the Jets. Unlike Russell Wilson, Rodgers has shown flashes that he can still make impressive throws, even with a broken thumb, which is pretty impressive when you consider it.
BirdDogUni
December 01, 2022 at 07:37 pm
I would love to see it, but I just don't see the current management doing so. Maybe they'll surprise me.
We can hope!
croatpackfan
December 01, 2022 at 06:48 pm
I will offer them ACR & 3rd round pick (next draft) if they will accept half the contract to be on them and half to stay as dead money with Packers. We do not have much success with 3rd rounders.
The other players we can trade for draft picks.
Do not forget that many teams pass the ACR in his draft because he had reputation he is "cocky". No team likes drama queens in the locker room, except, of course, Packers and Browns...
If they chose ACR over Love (even if he will not be the one), they'll become worse version of Browns for a long time.
I do not wish that to this team I'm fan of.
You may say what you want, but there is very small sample of future hall of fame QB in college football. They do not have time to develop QBs properly, only 2 to 3 years and most of the talents have low ceiling because they rarely use developmental type of players to college.
If it is easy to find top QBs at college, why all those teams that are in neccesity of QB looks so long for Mahoms, Allen, Burrow &/or Herbert. Why there is so many teams without HOF QB for so long?
If you have one on the team that shows that potential, you have to roll with him, not trade him. Bet on old and already injury prone QB is not wise or clever.
PackyCheese500
December 02, 2022 at 10:11 am
Rodgers’ contract doesn’t work like that. It’s either we trade him or we don’t. If we do, the Jets, for instance, would only have to pay him 15.5m in 2023. We would take on about 40m of dead money, which would be fine, i think, if the compensation is right. The Jets have a stud-filled o-line, excellent pass-catching corps, and one of the best defenses in the NFL, not to mention their HC Saleh knows Rodgers and their OC is MLF’s brother. Also, Rodgers would be fully healthy in 2023. With Rodgers, they would be one of the best super bowl contenders. Without him, they are a team with a great roster that is being held back by a terrible QB. For only 15.5m in 2023, I think that is enough to warrant a first-round pick, and maybe an additional fourth-round pick.
PackyCheese500
December 01, 2022 at 06:12 pm
They could always keep Rodgers if necessary...no matter how awkward that would be.
BirdDogUni
December 01, 2022 at 07:39 pm
That would be hilarious. (For a day or two at least.)
Coldworld
December 02, 2022 at 09:21 am
Favre on the sidelines moments …
Rarescope
December 01, 2022 at 05:07 pm
I could not care less who plays QB for either team - if it's the Packers, I'm watching it. Matt Ryan and the Colts on the other hand... I had to question my entertainment choices for a bit there on Monday night - but it did end up being close at the end.
Coldworld
December 01, 2022 at 05:41 pm
I’d prefer to see a healthy fields just to see how our D responds. That said, that seems a pretty unlikely scenario. A hobbled Fields is a much diminished player. Not much fun there.
I’d rather see Love simply because I can’t think of a better team to start him against, since he can’t play us.
barutanseijin
December 01, 2022 at 05:51 pm
Aaron Rodgers is a known quantity. There’s the question of how much his injuries and age will affect him from game to game, but you know you’re going to get the play clock running down to zero, wasted timeouts, questionable mechanics, lots of shotgun, backyard play calling, throwaways and hesitation. It’s not fun to watch. I would much rather watch a QB with confidence in himself and the play calls, someone who can throw the ball with authority.
croatpackfan
December 01, 2022 at 06:54 pm
You forget to add after game day activities, like throwing his team mates publucly under the bus or finding excuses for his bad plays. Crying how he has to play injured etc...
PackyCheese500
December 01, 2022 at 06:08 pm
It would be fun to finally have a good QB rivalry between the Packers and Bears. Rodgers vs Cutler and Rodgers vs Trubisky were very one-sided, so hopefully, Fields vs Love is able to develop into a good rivalry. Who doesn't love a good rivalry?
BirdDogUni
December 01, 2022 at 07:47 pm
Be nice to finally have a good QB!
It's only been 30 years since the Majik Man got hurt...
: P
GregC
December 02, 2022 at 06:55 am
You are a better sport than I am. I'll take a great Packer QB vs. a horrible Bears QB any day of the week!
Dr-J
December 01, 2022 at 09:56 pm
You overlook the mental part of the game. Neither Fields nor Love is very good at reading defenses. So what would we learn by watching them play against each other?
Since'61
December 01, 2022 at 11:24 pm
We would learn which one is worse at reading defenses! Which is actually another reason for the Packers to start Love for the remainder of the season so they can see if he improves in reading defenses before they need to decide to pick up his 5th year option or not. Thanks, Since '61
Leatherhead
December 01, 2022 at 11:39 pm
We could see which one is better at leading the team to scoring drives. I know which one I’d put my money on.
Reading defenses is nice, but scoring points is nicer.
Since'61
December 02, 2022 at 08:24 am
So your money is going on "Da" Bears!!!??? LOL Thanks, Since '61
PackyCheese500
December 02, 2022 at 10:04 am
I thought Love looked pretty good augainst the Eagles, just saying…
Philarod
December 02, 2022 at 12:39 am
Credit to Love for looking prepared to play well on Sunday night. He looked promising.
(But) I'm still amazed at the backlash at Rodgers.
Over the Hill? When did that happen? Yep, he's getting old for an NFL starter, but he's less than a full season removed from back-to-back league MVPs leading the Pack to the #1 seed both years. His play has been spotty by his standards, which can plausibly be explained (most of it) by a shaky Oline, a group of WRs that were mostly overrated, injured or young for lonnng stretches, a TE who hasn't recovered his decent speed, an injured thumb, etc. I think he still has 2-3 strong years left.
Diva for what? I'm not happy with how AR approached or approaches Covid/vaccination, but other than that, he's a very solid professional, and actually gives thoughtful, analytical answers to all questions posed, and plays hard, including through pain and injuries. Always has, not to mention, looking at his whole career, better than 99.9% of QBs I've ever seen.
Coldworld
December 02, 2022 at 09:26 am
It’s not really about Rodgers ability in isolation. It’s about whether this team and Rodgers has any rationality. This season has pretty much shown that his resigning was as deluded as it seemed at the time given the surrounding cap and roster. Most of us talk from a Packers first perspective.
PackyCheese500
December 02, 2022 at 10:06 am
Rodgers may have 2-3 good years left, and hopefully he does, because I see him being traded in the off-season, probably to the Jets. Love has many, many years ahead of him, and hasn’t even hit his prime yet. Rodgers is on the decline. We should commit to Love.
KnockTheSnotOutOfYou
December 02, 2022 at 05:36 am
Whether Fields or not I just want Love. Playing Rodgers in this game is about the dumbest thing I have ever seen the Packer organization do outside of giving Rodgers that contract, or playing Graham with broken hand at end of 2019 vs a young Tonyan. Having Love start and play the whole game against the Bears would be the perfect launch pad for Love to build confidence and get comfortable.
MEO73
December 02, 2022 at 07:32 am
The other issue is whether they know what they have in Love. Right now, he's good trade bait. He had a nice game last week, even though he only threw 9 passes and played less than a quarter of football. He's an interesting trade prospect if thats what they are planning to do. If he plays, and plays poorly, his trade value may be affected. Now that's a lot of "ifs" and maybe they have no intention of trading him, but its a possibility.
Coldworld
December 02, 2022 at 09:33 am
He is not good trade bait yet, but he might be if he can continue to build upon it. It’s more about whether we want him here or we need to go draft another. No team in its right mind wants to be the one that traded a Favre. Heck, it’s been bad enough knowing we let Hyde go. A true starting QB is a generation changer. What we saw last week should have screamed we need to find out.
Conversely, if Rodgers gets hurt, we are stuck with his contract and might not be able to keep Love if he’s any good for cap reasons. The risk is actually in reverse.