For the Bears, the whole season comes down to one more game against the Packers: Telander
A first look at Bears vs. Packers, Round 3 | Chicago Sports Tonight
Lou is joined by Tina Nguyen,670's Matt Spiegel and CHSN's Clay Harbor on CST. They recap the Bears regular season finale loss to the Lions, what it means for the Bears to still grab the #2 seed, and a preview of the huge Bears/Packers Wild Card Matchup on Saturday.
CHICAGO - How can the whole season come down to this: one more game against the Green Bay Packers?
It’s kind of mind-blowing that for the Chicago Bears to advance in the NFL playoffs—that is, win a playoff game for the first time in 15 years—they have to beat the hated Cheese Balls from up north. Again.
It will be the third Bears-Packers game in five weeks. They split the first two; the Packers won up there, the Bears down here. Maybe both teams should camp out in Waukesha and play each other every week for the whole season? Okay, maybe a neutral site in Iowa.
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But seriously, there are 30 other teams in the NFL. And this is what happens? For the NFC North-winning Bears to lose on Saturday night, it would create so many ripple effects on the organization and fan perception that I really don’t want to go there. Too ugly.
Consider, for instance, that the Bears have played the Packers 212 times, more times than anybody in the NFL has played anybody else. The Bears once led the series, but because of a couple fellows named Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, the Packers now lead, 109-97, with six ties.
Danny Parkins says there’s no way the Bears lose Saturday | Chicago Sports Tonight
FS1's Danny Parkins joined Lou on tonight's CST. Danny said he bought tickets to Saturday's playoff game and will be in attendance. Hear why he believes there's no way the Bears lose on Saturday. Also, Danny lets us know where he has the Bears on his Parkins Super Bowl-O-Meter.
Every time the Bears lose, the Cheese Wall that begins at the Wisconsin-Illinois border grows a little stronger, a little nastier, one more brick of cheddar atop. Ponder that after a recent win against another team at Lambeau Field, Packer fans left the stadium chanting, "The Bears still suck!"
Anybody who remembers the NFC Championship game at Soldier Field in January 2011, remembers the sad sack face of injured quarterback Jay Cutler, watching from the sidelines as backup Todd Collins and then third-stringer Caleb Hanie finish the 21-14 elimination loss to the Packers. What Bears fans might not remember is that the Bears had also lost the last game of the regular season to the Packers, making it possible for the Packers to qualify for the playoffs and therefore have the chance to beat the Bears again two games later. Which they did.
Stacey Dales breaks down the Bears-Packers playoff matchup | Chicago Sports Tonight
NFL Network's Stacey Dales joined Lou on tonight's CST. They recap Sunday's disappointing loss to the Lions and look ahead to the enormous playoff matchup with the Packers. Also, Stacey gives us her keys to victory on Saturday night and previews what the atmosphere will be like at Soldier Field.
The Packers hang around the Bears' neck like a deer carcass around a truck bumper. The 9-7-1 Packers lost their last four games this season. They lost their final game Sunday to the Minnesota Vikings, 10-3, playing scrubs and a quarterback you’ve never heard of, Clayton Tune. Tune completed six passes for 34 yards and was sacked four times for minus-41 yards, meaning he went backward a net seven yards.
This is the team the Bears might lose to. If that happens, the shame will be manifest. The entire 2025 season will mean nothing. Well, for bright-eyed optimists it might mean promise. Promise you can eat with an imaginary fork.
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For starters, this will be all hands on deck for the Packers. Tune and company will be replanted on the bench. Back will be ace quarterback Jordan Love, who might have a chip of firewood on his shoulder against the Bears. It was Bears defensive end Austin Booker who cheap-shotted Love into concussion protocol with a helmet-to-helmet blow in their last game, a roughing the passer call that was as good as it gets for the Bears.
Imagine, you KO the other team’s star quarterback, leading to your team’s overtime win, and all it costs you is a 15-yard penalty and a paltry $5,818 fine from the NFL. Of course, it was an accident. Chuckle. Booker got a separate $5,818 fine for dropping his full 245-pound bodyweight on Love earlier. An accident too. Hope the Bears reimbursed him.
Bears gear up for playoff match against Packers | Chicago Sports Tonight
The Bears are preparing to face division rival Packers at Soldier Field on Saturday for a playoff match.
Bad blood between these two teams is the only blood there is. I’ve seen so many Bears-Packers games that the insults and penalties have blended into a kind of video mashup: Bears quarterback Jim McMahon getting pile driven into the turf headfirst by Packers defensive end Charles Martin. (When Martin died in 2005, McMahon said, "I won’t be going to the funeral.") Walter Payton getting driven over the bench into a golf cart. On and on.
I remember a 1984 game at Lambeau Field that looked like a WWE cage match. The Bears won in a 9-7 rumble so primeval all that was needed were pikes and maces to make it look pure 14th-century. In that game, Yale-educated free safety Gary Fencik got a personal foul for kicking Packers tackle Karl Swanke. "Yeah, I kicked him. I kicked the sh-t out of him," Fencik told me in the locker room. "I’m not proud of it. But in this game, sometimes you get into that gray area."
If the Bears don’t win on Saturday, that gray becomes very dark. And winter is just beginning.
Dig deeper:
Want more? Read some of Rick Telander’s recent columns for Fox 32:
- Caleb Williams is electric - but are the Bears asking too much too soon: Telander
- How Notre Dame should fit itself into he Wild West of college football | Telander
- With Packers looming, Caleb Williams looks like the quarterback Chicago has waited 75 years for: Telander
- Notre Dame's playoff snub could trigger seismic shifts across college football: Telander
- Why Ben Johnson may be the Bears' best move in decades: Telander
The Source: This article was written by Rick Telander, a contributing sports columnist for FOX 32 Chicago.