Pack In The City

This week, we look at the Green Bay Packers’ history against the Bears in Chicago. The road games against the Bears are pretty even, with the Bears leading the all-time series in Chicago by the count of 52-44-1, and the playoff series is tied 1-1.

The Packers entered the NFL in 1921. In the early years of this series, the Bears got the better of the Packers in Chicago, winning five of the first six games played there between the teams. The Packers finally broke through in Chicago in 1928, winning the first of five straight games there, defeating the Bears twice that season.

From then on, the Bears’ home at Wrigley Field became a true house of horrors for the Packers. The Bears won 19 of 22 games from 1939-1959, including the first (and for a long time, only) playoff game between the teams. This perennial losing streak even included Vince Lombardi’s first road game against the Bears as Green Bay’s coach.

Beginning in 1960, however, Green Bay’s fortunes changed in Chicago. The Packers would win 11 of the next 14 games in Illinois, a streak which continued to 1973 even after Lombardi moved on to coach the Redskins. The Packers win in 1968 gave the Vikings the division title, while the 1962 game is to date tied as the most lopsided Packers win ever in Chicago (38-7).

From 1974-1991, however, Chicago once again became a source of pain for Packers players and fans as the Packers receded into the depths of the NFC. The Bears won 14 of 17 home games between the teams, and several of these were infamous around the NFL. In 1980, the Packers, hoping for a winning season, went to Chicago with a 5-7-1 record. The Bears, however, ended those dreams by giving the Packers their worst defeat ever, 61-7. Six years later, Charles Martin committed what may be the single most infamous act in this rivalry ever. After Jim McMahon threw a pass, Martin came up behind McMahon and body-slammed him to the Soldier Field turf. Martin would be suspended, his career effectively tainted and finished.

Brett Favre traded wins with the Bears in 1992 and 1993 at Soldier Field, but beginning in 1994, the Packers began an 11-game road win streak against the Bears. The 1994 game featured a windy, cold game, won by the Packers 33-6. In 1995, Favre hit Robert Brooks for a 99-yard touchdown pass as Green Bay won 27-24. The 1997 game saw the Bears attempt a two-point conversion after closing to 24-23, but it failed and Green Bay would hold on to win by that score.

The Packers opened the newly-renovated Soldier Field in 2003 by defeating the Bears, 38-23. Finally, in 2005, the Bears would break through and defeat the Packers in Chicago. The teams traded wins over the next few years, with the Bears ending the Packers’ hopes of home-field advantage in 2007 and benefiting from a blocked field goal at the end of regulation in 2008. In 2010, the Packers committed 18 penalties, enabling the Bears to win 20-17 in the closing seconds of the week three matchup.

The Packers, however, would get the last laugh in 2010. Playing for the right to go to the Super Bowl, the Packers went into Chicago and played the Bears in the NFC Championship Game. The game was a tough defensive battle, and Aaron Rodgers struggled after dicing up the Atlanta Falcons the week earlier. The Packers’ defense, however, rose to the occasion. B.J. Raji ran an interception back for a touchdown, and then, when the Bears appeared poised to tie the game, Sam Shields ended the threat by intercepting a Caleb Hanie pass in the end zone to seal Green Bay’s 21-14 victory.

In 2013, the Packers and Bears again met in Chicago with the right to go to the playoffs at stake. In a back-and-forth game, the Packers trailed, 28-27, with a few minutes remaining. The Packers drove sluggishly, and then faced a 4th down and eight to go. Aaron Rodgers broke free, and hit Randall Cobb for the NFC North-sealing touchdown pass as the Packers won, 33-28.