Fans Can't Let 2023 Bears' Season Hinge On The Outcome Of Week One

It is game week for the Chicago Bears as the team will start their 2023 season on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field. It will mark the first time in over 31 years that a quarterback not named Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers is the opening day starter for Green Bay, something that is driving Bears fans' excitement ahead of Sunday's contest. Although there is much hype for Chicago's football team heading into the season, loyal fans should remember not to overreact, good or bad, to the final outcome in Week One.

Too Many Times Have Bears Fans Put Too Much Stock In The Results Of The First Game Of The Season

It happens almost every other year with Chicago sports fans as people will overreact and define the rest of the season after just one game. If the Bears have a bad showing, whether on defense or offense, the remainder of the season is worthless despite having 16 games left. If Chicago has a dominant showing, fans will automatically start thinking playoffs and begin assuming that the rest of the season is a cakewalk.

Unfortunately, this overzealous attitude has had a negative effect on several Bears' seasons in the past, where it seemed the team spent the rest of the year trying to fight to overcome a perceived notion placed on them after the first game of the season. The buildup to Sunday's game currently feels that way, as many fans and analysts have shared their concerns regarding the potential final score and what it could mean going forward for the remainder of the season.

Bears fans feel this way due to the departure of Rodgers from the Packers and the likelihood of the new starting quarterback, Jordan Love, being able to live up to the same level of production. Moreso, there is concern about whether or not Chicago's starting quarterback, Justin Fields, will be able to mature as a passer following an offseason where several acquisitions were made to better the talent around the third-year signal-caller and give him a chance to succeed.

If Chicago is unable to beat a Green Bay team led by Love, it almost feels as if Chicago fans will be unable to cope with a potential loss and will refuse to believe the Bears can redeem the rest of their 2023 season despite having several winnable games in the following weeks. Analysts and enthusiasts will potentially write Fields off for the remainder of the season, regardless if he has a bounce back performance the following week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Previous Instances Where Bears' Seasons Were Prematurely Judged Off Of Week One Results

An overreaction to a win or loss in Week One isn't a rarity for Chicago fans, as it has happened recently over the past few seasons. In 2022, Bears' enthusiasts believed the offense would likely underperform with Andy Dalton as the season-opening starter at quarterback instead of Fields, who was a rookie. Despite throwing an interception on Chicago's first offensive series of the game, Dalton performed adequately against a Los Angeles Rams team that would eventually win the Super Bowl that year. Fans' extreme desire for Fields to start at quarterback led to the team keeping the rookie as a starter after Dalton recovered from a Week 2 injury against the Bengals. Chicago's rookie quarterback struggled to find consistency through his first several games and appeared not fully ready to be the team's starter.

Three years earlier, in 2019, the Bears and their fans were in a different position as many loyalists and analysts had picked Chicago as a Super Bowl favorite heading into the team's Opening Night primetime game against the Packers. Many people viewed Bears' quarterback Mitchell Trubisky as a potential MVP candidate and felt that the offense under head coach Matt Nagy would be one of the best in the league. Following a 10-3 loss, all the hype and positive views were gone as fans and analysts believed there were serious issues with Trubisky and that the remainder of the season was in question due to the sudden liability at the quarterback position. Each game of the 2019 season felt like a referendum on Chicago's signal-caller and whether he was to blame for the team's overall success or failure.

In 2012, there was a negative overreaction to Chicago's 41-21 Week One victory over the Indianapolis Colts, who had been the worst team in the NFL the year prior. The Bears' defense intercepted Colts rookie quarterback Andrew Luck three times while Chicago's quarterback, Jay Cutler, passed for over 300 yards and two touchdowns. Ahead of a Week 2 Thursday Night game against Green Bay, fans and even the Bears' players felt too confident that a Chicago win was a foregone conclusion. The Packers would win the game 23-10 as Cutler was intercepted four times and sacked seven times.

Around 7 PM on Sunday, Bears fans will either be ready to give up on the remainder of the 2023 season or be preparing travel plans for Las Vegas in February. Bears' loyalists must remember that an NFL year consists of 18 weeks, with the final overall outcome not decided in Week One. Much will be learned about this year's Bears team, but the final verdict should not be finalized based on one win or loss to the Packers in Week One.