Green Bay Gets Its Big Win: 3 Takeaways From Packers' Blowout Victory Over Bears

After three thrilling battles last season, the first matchup between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers of 2026 was a blowout. The Packers were able to get a dominant 31-7 win over the Bears. As this week's death of Bears icon Mike Ditka loomed over Sunday's game, Green Bay avoided blowing a late lead as it did in its final two matchups against its division rival last year. Sure, the win doesn't avenge the Packers' postseason loss against the Bears, but it helped them move past Chicago in the NFC North standings. Here are my takeaways from Sunday's game. The Packers receiver had a pair of long touchdowns in Sunday’s win over the Bears. The first was a wide-open grab for a 42-yard touchdown. The second was one of the plays of the day, as Watson made a wild catch in traffic in the end zone on third-and-22 for a 53-yard score. Those two grabs now give Watson six touchdown catches in five games. That's already one short of his career high for an entire season, which he set as a rookie in 2022. The Packers traded away Dontayvion Wicks and let Romeo Doubs leave in free agency, trusting that Watson and Matthew Golden could lead the way at receiver. They’ve done that, and with Jayden Reed lost to a season-ending neck injury, they’ll have to do it even more. Watson now has six of Green Bay’s 10 passing touchdowns, helping Jordan Love to another strong start. Last year, Love had nine touchdowns and two interceptions in their first five games. But Sunday was the best game Love's had this season, completing 25 of 31 passes for 367 yards and two touchdowns. It was an emotional home game for the Bears, just two days after the death of beloved coach Mike Ditka, but Chicago couldn’t avoid a disappointing loss to a division rival. Even with that disappointment, Chicago has done well to go 2-1 in three games without Caleb Williams, but backup quarterbacks can only do so much. Tyson Bagent, good enough to beat the Jets last week, looked like a backup Sunday, going 12 of 21 for 87 yards and two interceptions. He was eventually benched for Case Keenum in the fourth quarter, and Keenum threw an interception himself. With the division playing as well as it has from top to bottom, the Bears need Williams back, especially with a road game next weekend at a Falcons team that’s surged in the last two weeks. Winning with backups was a great storyline for two weeks, but if the Bears want to win their division again, they need Williams healthy and playing at his best as soon as possible. When the Packers gave up 39 points to the Vikings in Week 1 and 35 points to the Falcons two weeks later, the storyline was a defense missing coordinator Jeff Hafley and star edge rusher Micah Parsons. But Green Bay’s defense has played well in the last two weeks, holding the Bucs to 14 points in a road win and now keeping the Bears in check. Both wins were against backup quarterbacks, but Chicago had won twice with its backups. The Packers had just four takeaways in their first four games, but had four Sunday, including a pair of interceptions by safety Xavier McKinney. The Packers are 3-2, pulling even with the Bears and two back of the undefeated Vikings, but staying close until Parsons is healthy is a huge accomplishment. Green Bay’s defense will have its hands full in the next month, with or without Parsons. The Packers' next three games are against the Cowboys, Lions and Panthers, all in the top 10 in scoring, and then a Patriots team that just scored 45 points and has found itself with Drake Maye playing the way he did last season over the last two weeks.