The 8-8 Green Bay Packers' second and final matchup against the 7-9 Chicago Bears Sunday afternoon carries more weight than the usual amount that comes with the bragging rights associated with winning the NFL's longest running rivalry. The two teams have played 207 times including the postseason with Green Bay leading the all-time series 106-95-6.
If the Packers beat the Bears on Sunday at Lambeau Field, they will clinch a spot in the NFC playoffs in their first season with Jordan Love as their starting quarterback. Love, of course, took the reins from four-time NFL MVP and Super Bowl champion Aaron Rodgers, who was traded to the New York Jets this past offseason.
Green Bay is the midst of a nine-game winning streak against Chicago, a run that began in 2019 during current head coach Matt LaFleur's first season in charge of the Packers.
A win on Sunday for the Packers would tie the longest winning streak in series history with Green Bay also winning 10 in a row with Hall of Famer Brett Favre at quarterback in the 1990s.
"It's the Super Bowl for the Bears just about every year because they haven't been to the playoffs in for so long [since the 2020 season]," Rodgers said on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Tuesday. "We've won, [Packers head coach] Matt [LaFleur] has never lost to them, so nine in a row. ... Is it a rivalry anymore? If they can't beat us, is it a rivalry? Every coach that gets hired in Chicago, his first goal is to beat Green Bay."
Much of the Packers' recent success against their NFC North rival can be credited to their last two starting quarterbacks, Favre and Rodgers. Rodgers passed Favre for the most regular-season season wins (24) against Chicago by a quarterback since at least 1950 in Green Bay's 28-19 triumph at Soldier Field in Week 13 of the 2022 season. Rodgers went 25-5 against the Bears in his 15 seasons as the Packers starting quarterback from 2008-2022, including Green Bay's NFC Championship Game matchup in the 2010 season that the Packers won 21-14 prior to winning Super Bowl XLV against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Eight of the nine wins in the current streak for Green Bay occurred with Rodgers under center, making it understandable why he chose to use the word "us" when describing the active Packers run of success in the rivalry.
"It's been rough the last 30-plus years," Rodgers said. "There were a lot of people who were like 'Favre is out of here, this young kid won't be worth a shit and then we had our run. Then it's like 'the old guy is out, this young kid isn't going to be worth a shit.' Now it's, 'oh shit, Jordan Love is pretty damn good.'"
Most regular-season wins vs. Bears by starting QB since 1950
| RECORD | |
|---|---|
Aaron Rodgers | 24-5 |
Brett Favre | 23-13 |
Bart Starr | 15-8 |
Fran Tarkenton | 14-12-1 |
Love threw for 245 yards and three touchdowns on 15 of 27 passing in the Packers' 38-20 Week 1 win at the Bears this season, just his second career NFL start. He is now up to 30 passing touchdowns in his first season as a full-time NFL starting quarterback, which ranks as the third-most in the entire NFL entering the final week of the regular season, trailing only Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (32) and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (31). Love has the best touchdown-to-interception in the league across the last seven games while being tied for the most scoring strikes in the same span.
Jordan Love since Week 11
2023 season, NFL ranks
| NFL QB Rank | ||
|---|---|---|
W-L | 5-2 | T-6th |
Comp Pct | 68.4% | 5th |
Pass YPG | 262.0 | 6th |
| Pass TD | 16 | T-1st |
TD-INT | 16-1 | 1st |
| Passer Rating | 109.9 | 2nd |
| EPA/Play | 0.24 | 2nd |
Love will have his hands full with a locked in Bears defense that leads the league in scoring defense since Week 12, allowing 15.2 points per game in that time. The Packers have won seven consecutive home games against Chicago with their last loss against the Bears at Lambeau Field coming back on Thanksgiving in the 2015 season when Jay Cutler was still the Bears starting quarterback.