Amos returns home and sends LaFleur home a winner as Packers upset Bears

CHICAGO – Chalk one up for the new guys.

Matt LaFleur won his Green Bay Packers coaching debut, a 10-3 triumph that came on the shoulders of Adrian Amos’ end-zone interception and a clinching sack by outside linebacker Preston Smith.

Afterward, quarterback Aaron Rodgers awarded LaFleur the game ball.

The NFL’s 100th season started with its oldest rivalry. It was an old-school, defensive slugfest. The Packers were outgained 254-213. Green Bay went 2-of-12 on third down but held Chicago to 3-of-15. Both teams had five sacks.

Early in the fourth quarter, after the Bears had crossed midfield, they shifted into reverse and stomped on the gas. Two penalties on left tackle Charles Leno and an offensive pass interference penalty on Taylor Gabriel created a first-and-40. The crowd booed when Bears coach Matt Nagy called a screen on third-and-40 – as if there were a better option.

Pinned at their 6 after the punt, the Packers mounted only their second good drive of the game. A pair of 28-yard completions, first to receiver Trevor Davis and then tight end Robert Tonyan, moved the ball into scoring position. Chicago’s defense stiffened, and Mason Crosby booted a 39-yard field goal to make it 10-3 with 5:15 remaining.

The Bears pushed into scoring possession on what essentially was a do-or-die final drive for the defending NFC North champions. On third-and-10 from the 16 on the final play before the two-minute warning, Chicago quarterback Mitchell Trubisky threw into the end zone to star receiver Allen Robinson but Amos - the former Bears safety - grabbed the interception.

"Man, it felt great," Amos said. "At the beginning it got so quiet that I was wondering if there was a penalty somewhere, because the stadium got so quiet. That was a big play in the game and we eventually held them out. I keep saying it but holding them to three points, that's a big thing."

Green Bay couldn’t run out the clock but JK Scott uncorked a 63-yard punt and Preston Smith clinched the game with a fourth-down sack.

The Bears had 50 passing plays to 15 runs, which played into the hands of Green Bay's game plan. Trubisky finished 26-of-45 for 228 yards and a rating of 62.1.

"We wanted to make Mitch play quarterback," cornerback Tramon Williams said. "We knew they had a lot of weapons, we knew they were dangerous. We knew all of those things. But we knew if we could make Mitch play quarterback, that we’d have a chance. Plus, we have some new toys up front, too, who did their job up front and looked good. They did their thing today."

The game could hardly have started worse for LaFleur’s offense. Its first two drives lost 17 yards, and that set up the Bears in good field position for their first possession and phenomenal field position for their second. The Bears started that second drive on Green Bay’s 36, and Mike Pettine’s defense did well to escape with a 38-yard field goal by Eddie Pineiro. The crowd erupted when the ball split the uprights, memories of last year’s double-doink playoff disaster in a playoff game against the Eagles still fresh in their minds.

Pineiro’s kickoff went out of bounds – the best play of the night to that point – but it didn’t matter. Aaron Rodgers threw three consecutive passes to Adams and was rewarded with just a 5-yard completion for a third consecutive three-and-out.

Green Bay’s fourth possession got off to an inauspicious start when Rodgers had to call timeout after a change of possession. But then, the Packers roared to life. Rodgers threw a 47-yard bomb to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, a play set up by end-around action to Adams. Rodgers followed with a 9-yard completion to tight end Marcedes Lewis, an 8-yard pass to Adams and an 8-yard touchdown to tight end Jimmy Graham, who boxed out defensive back Deon Bush against a 12-man Bears defense.

While Chicago’s defense dominated the start, Green Bay’s had the upper hand at halftime, holding the Bears to 98 yards and 1-of-7 on third down.

The Packers had a chance to build their advantage on their opening possession of the third quarter, with a 38-yard interference penalty on linebacker Roquan Smith on a deep pass to Graham moving the ball into scoring position. On third-and-5 from the Bears’ 30, Rodgers scrambled for 7 – he was stripped by former Packers safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix but recovered – but left tackle David Bakhtiari was flagged for holding. On third-and-15, with Green Bay needing a short gain to get into field-goal range, Bakhtiari was bulled backward by linebacker Leonard Floyd for a sack.

With only Blake Martinez, rookie Ty Summers and newly acquired B.J. Goodson, Pettine relied on five- and six-defensive packages. At times, safety Raven Greene joined Martinez at linebacker. Other times, Martinez was the lone inside linebacker behind a three-man defensive line.

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