Bears-Packers rivalry

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The Bears-Packers rivalry is a sports rivalry between two of the NFL's most storied and successful franchises, the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. The two clubs have won a combined 21 NFL Championships (including 4 Super Bowls) and have 48 members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The rivalry began in 1921 and has grown to be the league's longest rivalry with 175 regular season and post season matches. With both clubs a part of the NFC North division, they will play each other twice each regular season.

Chicago currently leads the all-time series 90-79-6.

[edit] History

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[edit] Notable moments and games

• Bears 33, Packers 14 (December 14, 1941) – In the first and so far only playoff meeting between these two rivals, the Bears defeated the Packers 33-14 in a one-game-playoff to determine the Western Division championship. After the Packers, the Bears defeated the New York Giants enroute to their fourth NFL Championship.
• Packers 12, Bears 6 (OT) (September 7, 1980) – The Packers and the Bears were tied at 6-6 in overtime. A 32-yard pass from Lynn Dickey to James Lofton helped set up a game-winning field goal attempt by Packers' kicker Chester Marcol. Bears' defender Alan Page was able to block the field goal, sending the ball straight back to Marcol. Surprised by getting the ball back, Marcol ran around the Bears defenders who were confused by the play. Marcol received a block and was able to run in for the game winning touchdown.^[4]
• Bears 12, Packers 10 (November 23, 1986) – In Week 12 of the 1986 season Green Bay defensive tackle Charles Martin wore a towel with a hit list of specific Bears numbers written on it, such as #34, Walter Payton, #9 Jim McMahon, and others. Following a McMahon interception Martin came up from behind and body slammed him to the turf, separating McMahon's shoulder, ending the quarterback's season. Martin would be suspended for two games, at the time the longest suspension in NFL history.
• Packers 14, Bears 13 (November 5, 1989) – Dubbed as the Instant Replay Game^[5], Packers quarterback Don Majkowski led the Packers to a comeback and a game-winning touchdown pass to WR Sterling Sharpe with only seconds left to play. Initially the play was called a touchdown, but line judge Jim Quirk had called a penalty on Majkowski for being beyond the line of scrimmage when he threw the pass. With a nervous and tense crowd at Lambeau Field, the call went up to the instant replay official, Bill Parkinson. Several minutes later the call came down and the touchdown was correctly awarded as recorded by instant replay. The Lambeau faithful and Packer players erupted with joy because it marked the first time since 1984 that the Packers had beaten their long-time rivals.
• Packers 35, Bears 28 (November 12, 1995) Coming into their much anticipated match up with the Bears, first place was on the line as a victory would give the Packers an identical record with them at 6-4 and would mean a series sweep giving them the head-to-head tie-breaker if the teams were to finished tied by season's end. Brett Favre had a badly sprained ankle which kept his status for the game uncertain. He had not been able to practice all week until the Friday leading up to the game. He had his best game of the season up to that point going 25 of 33 for 336 yards and a career high 5 touchdowns. Erik Kramer also had a solid game going 23 of 38 for 318 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Both teams combined for 800 yards of offense and the game wasn't over until LeRoy Butler intercepted Erik Kramer in the end zone on a 4th and 2 with just under two minutes to play in the game.^[6]
• Packers 24, Bears 23 (October 12, 1997) In one of the more back and forth contests in the rivalry, the Bears got off to a 10-0 lead thanks in part to a rushing touchdown by Raymont Harris in the first quarter before the Packers came back to take a 14-10 halftime lead due to a rushing score by Dorsey Levens. In the third quarter quarterback Erik Kramer capped off a three yard rushing touchdown to put the Bears back in front 17-14. However in the waning seconds of the third quarter, Brett Favre connected with Mark Chmura to put the Packers back in front 21-17. After extending their lead to 24-17, the Bears marched down the field and scored a touchdown by Kramer connecting with Chris Penn just inside two minutes to play in the game. In an "all-or-nothing" maneuver, the Bears opted to go for the win by going for a two point conversion but the pass fell incomplete, essentially preserving the 24-23 win for the Packers.^[7]
• Bears 14, Packers 13 (November 7, 1999) – In their first game since the passing of running back Walter Payton, the Bears defeated the Packers for the first time since 1993 on a blocked field goal by defensive tackle Bryan Robinson.

Brett Favre (#4 in the white jersey) of the Packers looks on at the Chicago Bears defense.

• Bears 26, Packers 0 (September 10, 2006) – In the opening week of the 2006 season, September 10, the Chicago Bears handed Packer quarterback Brett Favre his first shutout in his 16-year career, winning 26-0 in Green Bay. The Bears offense, criticized for being conservative, tore the game open from the get-go with a 49 yard long touchdown pass from Rex Grossman to Bernard Berrian. The Packers were the first team to feel the impact of phenom Devin Hester, who returned a punt 82 yards enroute to the Bears victory.
• Packers 26, Bears 7 (December 31, 2006) – In the final week of the 2006 season, the Packers traveled to Soldier Field to take on the Bears in a New Year's Eve game. The Bears entered the game with lackluster motivation due to the fact that they had earned a record of 13-2 and already secured home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. During the game, Bears quarterback Rex Grossman threw 3 interceptions and completed only 2 out of 12 passes and registered a quarterback rating of 0.0. His replacement in the second half, Brian Griese, also had a 0.0 quarterback rating. After the game a teary-eyed Favre seemed to be bidding farewell to the NFL in his interview with NBC's Andrea Kramer.

[edit] Statistics and records

As of December 23, 2007 there have been 175 competitive meetings, most in NFL history, between the two teams since the first league meeting in 1921, of which the Bears have won 90 and the Packers 79.^[8][9] The largest margin of victory was a 61–7 Bears win over the Packers on December 7, 1980.

[edit] Summary of results

Updated December 23, 2007

[edit] Each Game Result

This is a list of results from all of the meetings between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers from their first meeting in 1921 to the present.

[edit] 1920s

[edit] 1930s

[edit] 1940s

[edit] 1950s

[edit] 1960s

[edit] 1970s

[edit] 1980s

[edit] 1990s

[edit] 2000s

[edit] Championship success

As of 2006, the Bears and Packers are the NFL's two most storied and successful franchises. The two clubs have won a combined 21 championships in the league's 87 year history.

[edit] References