The Bears made Week 1’s biggest mistake when they gave Aaron Rodgers the chance to win

The NFL is back, and what a wild Sunday to kick things off. Let’s start where it ended, with Aaron Rodgers’ epic second half performance on Sunday night.

After 30 minutes of football, it looked as though Bears new head coach Matt Nagy and second-year quarterback Mitch Trubisky were going into the Hall of Fame and Khalil Mack was going to end the game with 17 sacks. Then we got the second half.

Aaron Rodgers limped back onto the field after injuring his knee with the Packers down 20-0. What we saw next was remarkable. Rodgers systemically took apart the Bears defense, eventually throwing a short pass to Cobb that ended with a 75-yard game winning touchdown.

There’s no quarterback in the NFL I’d rather have in this situation.

What makes Rodgers uniquely able to play well through his bum left knee, the knee he uses to plant on when he throws, is Rodgers throwing motion. It’s a ton of arm and a flick of the wrist. It gets me every time.

Matt Nagy made a critical coaching error at the end of the Bears’ second-to-last drive. The Bears were up 20-17 and moving the ball fairly easily. It’s a big time drive by Trubisky and the run game on the road. They were gashing the Packers.

Then, on third-and-1, where a first down would have essentially ended the game, the Bears made a huge mistake. Instead of running the ball, the Bears went for the home run and threw it towards the end zone.

If you’re going to pass on third down, then run on fourth down to end the game. Nope. Bears trotted out the kicker, go up 23-17 and the rest is history.

Mack was worth every cent and every draft pick the Bears spent to acquire him. He played an outstanding first half with a sack, forced fumble, and an interception returned for a touchdown.

In the second half, much like the rest of his team, he wasn’t as noticeable. First, Packers right tackle Bryan Bulaga played really well, just like I said he would. Yes, he had a bad play or two, but he missed most of last season and almost all of the preseason. In the second half he finally settled into himself. The Packers started using tempo in the second half, something that should be the staple of their offense. Whenever they go tempo, they score points. It slows down the pass rush and simplifies the defense. It’s a no brainer to me.

Last thought about the Sunday night game.

Early in the game when the Bears had scripted the plays, he looked awesome. Nagy’s offense looked exactly like Andy Reid’s early in games ... different formation each play, moving the QB around the pocket, and using Tarik Cohen like Tyreek Hill.

Then, in the second half, all of that was gone. Trubisky was left to make plays within a different offense. But don’t worry Bears fans, Trubisky is young and in a brand new system. The Bears defense is legit and your team is on the upswing.

THANK YOU FOOTBALL GODS! They don’t have a winning streak either. The Browns and Steelers ended in a 21-21 tie. It’s the Browns’ best start to a season since 2004, they’re 0-0-1. My word.

This about sums up the game.

They were up 21-7 and should have cruised to an easy opening weekend road victory. Then came the turnovers. First James Conner, then multiple Big Ben turnovers — five of them all together, three picks and a pair of fumbles. Then came missed field goals, followed by more turnovers, one of which ended with the Browns getting a field goal blocked. It was a glorious contest ... in the rain nonetheless.

The question with the Steelers is “Did they miss Le’Veon Bell?” I’d say they did not. Does he fumble at the end of the game? Probably not. But otherwise Conner was fine. The Steelers’ sloppiness is something that’s emblematic of their locker room. It’s not always buttoned up. They should have won this game easily.

The bright spot for the Browns … Myles Garrett. Dude is a monster. End of story. Who wasn’t a monster? Tyrod Taylor. He had a rushing touchdown which kept the Browns in the game early on. His passing, not good. He was 15-for-40 for 197 yards. Most of those completions were on go routes. That was their offense. Throwing the ball up. That’s not an offense.

The Steelers came hard at Tyrod with pressure to keep him contained in the second half as well. The Browns need to play Baker Mayfield. They are wasting their time with Tyrod. He’s not the future of the franchise. Let Mayfield take his lumps, learn and grow.

Eli Manning looked solid, not sharp, in the debut for the G-Men under Pat Schumur. The wideouts dropped too many passes, and Eli also overthrew Odell in the end zone. It wasn’t the sharpest day, but you can see where this offense is headed.

Saquon Barkley delivered a Saquon Barkley-like performance. Short runs, followed by a monster home run touchdown. It was outstanding. I’ll caution you this though. Barkley needs to find ways to be more consistent. That might be a function of the offensive line, but you can’t rely on hitting a home run every single game. Being able to knock out 4-, 5-, and 6-yard runs through the first three quarters leads to home runs in the fourth. That’s the ideal run game.

What an electric run by Barkley.

The Giants’ revamped offensive line struggled during portions of the game. They were also going against the Jaguars’ outstanding defensive line. It looks as though rookie Will Hernandez is having a difficult time processing things at the moment. I wouldn’t be too worried because he’s tough as nails and a mauler. What would worry me is Ereck Flowers. Same old Flowers, but at right tackle. He’s going to hold the Giants offense back

But he’s going to prevent the Jaguars from getting to the Super Bowl. When Fournette went down with a hamstring injury, the Jaguars offense was unable to function.

Pat Mahomes … he’s good. Tyreek Hill … he’s fast. This time last season, Mahomes wasn’t ready to play. Not close. He had the physical talent, but was behind with everything else. When he played well in Week 17 last season, he did surprise some people in the building with the completeness of his game in Denver that afternoon.

Fast forward to what we saw yesterday. Under complete control. Pinpoint accuracy, even with a little touch on the touchdown pass to the fullback on the swing route. He made some beautiful throws with pressure in his face and also stood in the pocket much better than the preseason.

Credit him for the improvement, plus Andy Reid and staff. They worked wonders with this kid and they’ve got themselves a franchise quarterback.

Dallas Cowboys, yikes. I was fairly certain Dirk Koetter would be the first coach fired (props to Tampa for that big win), but Jason Garrett is getting awfully close to not making it through the season. Yesterday was sloppy.

They looked unprepared and bland on offense. They cut Dan Bailey only to have his replacement miss a field goal. I agreed with cutting Dez Bryant, but they failed to replace him with anyone competent. And their defense seemed like it had no idea Cam Newton could run.

I was pumped to see Norv Turner included Cam Newton in the run game. He’s been a successful offensive coordinator with pro style quarterbacks, so I was interested to see if he’d incorporate more run concepts for Newton into his offense. He did.

Cam Newton is such a weapon with his legs, and running the ball makes him a better quarterback. Plus, it fires him up as well as the team and the entire stadium.

The Panthers defense was as advertised too, and that was even without Thomas Davis. They will be a tough out every week.

Is this a sign the Ravens are very good and the Bills are ridiculously bad? Probably somewhere in the middle. However, the Ravens have talent, especially on defense. If Flacco can play like that, they have a chance to make the playoffs.

But the Bills ... oh my.