Good news; A club who what to player with Green Bay Packers: A Hate Story (103 Years of Bad Blood)….
You can tell there’s more going on here than just football when Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields, who is normally very diplomatic and amiable, takes to the microphone and rants into someone or something.
Fields recently said to the media, referring to the Bears’ next game at Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers, “Their fans are going to be loud because there’s not much to do in Green Bay except watch football.”
But before that, former quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Packers dropped another bomb on the rivalry, demonstrating that the Packers-Bears rivalry will always exist.
Is it still a rivalry? Is there a rivalry if they can’t defeat us? satirised on a recent visit to The Pat McAfee Show by Rodgers.
The Packers are 9-0 going into this Sunday’s regular season finale, so this rivalry hasn’t really existed in recent years. Between them, the loathed Bears and Green Bay have a roughly 103-year rivalry that has seen Green Bay win 105-94-6 overall.
However, there will be more mystery in this next game. The Bears are not only dominating on defence and offence, but they also have the potential to seriously harm the Packers’ hopes of qualifying for the postseason. A Packers victory ensures a postseason berth. However, a Bears victory further complicates things by removing Green Bay’s control over their postseason destiny and placing it in the hands of other teams’ actions in the last week of the regular season.
But why is there such a fierce competition that has raged for more than a century? This timeline illustrates the history of the Packers-Bears rivalry.
27 November, 1921. In the inaugural meeting between the two teams, the Bears (then known as the Chicago Staleys) defeated the Packers 20-0 at Cubs Park in Chicago. There are reports that angry Packers supporters descended upon Chicago and wrecked damage on the downtown area. Chicago’s Tarzan Taylor officially started a blood feud with Green Bay’s Cub Bruck during the game when he attacked the player, breaking his nose.
– The Packers-Bears rivalry resulted in the first-ever ejection in league history on November 23, 1924. After an altercation turned physical, Bears’ Frank Hanny and Packers’ Walter Voss were led off the pitch. The Bears would triumph 3-0 in the match.
The teams met for the first of their two playoff meetings in December 1941. The Bears would go on to win their fourth NFL Championship after defeating the Packers 33–14.
September 30, 1962 was the date of Lombardi v. Halas and Beyond. The Packers, under Vince Lombardi’s leadership, defeated George Halas’ Bears 49-0. After defeating the Bears 2-0, Green Bay went on to win thecChampionship that season.
Thirteen September 1964. At the conclusion of the first half of the Packers’ game against the Bears, Vince Lombardi executed a calculated surprise by opting for the infrequently utilised “free kick” attempt. With a few seconds remaining in the half, Elijah Pitts asked for a fair catch of a punt. After that, Bart Starr held to allow Paul Hornung to make an uncontested 52-yard field goal. The game would end with a 23–12 victory for Green Bay.
– At Chicago’s Solider Field on December 7, 1980, the Bears thrashed the Packers 61-7. When the game was well out of reach in the closing minutes, Packers coach Bart Starr would sprint across the pitch to confront Bears coach Neil Armstrong for his continued blitzing.
With a strong defence in place, the legendary 1985 Super Bowl Bears defeated the Packers 2-0 in the game. It was an attacking play, nevertheless, and would turn out to be Chicago’s attempt to outdo their opponents. Head coach Mike Ditka would give the go-ahead for 300+ pound defensive tackle William “The Refrigerator” Perry to run his first career touchdown past the Packers end zone defence on October 21 at Soldier Field. When Chicago visited town on November 3, Green Bay answered the shot by delivering horse dung to the Bears locker room at Lambeau Field.
– On November 23, 1986, following a play, Packers nose lineman Charles Martin pulled up Bears quarterback Jim McMahon and delivered the cheap shot that went viral. The hit separated McMahon’s shoulder and forced him to miss the remainder of the season. The 14-2 Bears, who were a strong favourite to win the Super Bowl again, would lose in the divisional round of the postseason. Martin’s infraction only carried a two-game ban.
– On October 31, 1994, Packers quarterback Brett Favre proved he was a real Bears killer. An ailing Favre led the Bears to a 33-6 rout on the night that cherished Bears greats Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers had their jersey numbers retired at Soldier Field.
– On January 23, 2011, in just the two teams’ second postseason meeting, quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers defeated each other 21-14 at Soldier Field in Chicago, setting the stage for a victory at Super Bowl XLV.
– On December 29, 2013. Following his return from injury, Aaron Rodgers cemented his status as another Bears killer by leading his team to a 33-28 victory and the NFC North title. On fourth and 8, with just 38 seconds remaining, Rodgers would find another Bears killer, Randall Cobb, for a 48-yard touchdown pass. At that moment, Green Bay was down one point.
On October 17, 2021, during their 100th encounter, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers cemented his reputation as the Bears’ most despised opponent by leading his squad to a 24-14 triumph in a pivotal divisional match. Following a game-winning touchdown run, Aaron Rodgers uttered the iconic insult against Chicago that has made him the subject of widespread derision: “I’ve owned you all my f**king life.” You are mine. You are still mine!
Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears: A New Era?
– Ryan Poles, the recently hired general manager of the Bears, promised the public on January 31, 2022, that the team will concentrate on the Bears-Packers rivalry, saying, “We’re going to take the North and never give it back.”
– Justin Fields, the quarterback for the Bears, declared to the public on July 28, 2022, “I want a Super Bowl,” reiterating the team’s goals. I only have one goal in mind: to defeat the Green Bay Packers.
– The Packers, under the direction of new starting quarterback Jordan Love, defeated Justin Fields and the Bears 38-20 at Soldier Field on September 10, 2023, in the 25th Packers-Bears season opening in history. This victory made it nine consecutive losses for Chicago versus their bitter division rivals.
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