It’s not like we haven’t been here before.
The Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers have played a lot of big games in the 104 years of their rivalry. They’ve played 18 primetime games in the last 20 years. They’ve faced each other with the playoffs on the line. They’ve even battled for the right to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
So why does tonight feel like it means that much more? Like the outcome of this game could alter at least one of these franchises for the foreseeable future—maybe even
both?
Most people expected the Packers to make the playoffs before the season, whereas most models couldn’t cosign the Bears’ playoff chances until they knocked Green Bay off in Week 16.
The Packers kept the DNA of a winning organization for decades, long after the Bears squandered theirs after winning it all in 1985. They’ve always had the star quarterback, while the only franchise with a more depressing list of starting quarterbacks than the Bears’ in the last three decades might be the Cleveland Browns. Green Bay has always had the smart offensive-minded coaches, too, who not only molded their quarterbacks into Bear killers but also armed their whole team with the knowledge that, well, they owned the Bears. Meanwhile, not even Lovie Smith could fully keep his promise to put Green Bay in their place or even make this a dead heat.
But these Bears…they’re different.
Sure, they’re still plenty flawed, like basically every Bears team that has taken the field since 1985, outside of the 2006 season. Their defense is spottier than it’s been in a while, and the offense is still finding its consistency.
But after years of “building winning culture,” they finally became one this year, despite all those imperfections.
The Bears now have the hot new offensive-minded head coach turning the former No. 1 overall quarterback, Caleb Williams, into a killer—one no NFL team wants to see on the field with the game on the line. (Insane, I know.)
And, as Week 16 showed, they’re not the same old Bears. They’re tough. They’re not afraid of anything—especially not the Packers. And they refuse to roll over and die for anyone. Especially the Packers.
We have no idea what we’re going to see tonight when the Bears host the Packers at Soldier Field for this wildcard game, aside from two teams desperate not just to move onto the next round but to assert their dominance in one of the NFL’s longest-recurring beefs.
But one thing seems certain, regardless of the outcome:
Everything will change after tonight.
If the Bears win, they will have proven to the entire league—for seemingly the fifth time this season—that they’re for real. That they deserve respect. That they really, truly can win it all, especially if the NFC has to come through Chicago and its bitter “Bear Weather.” Ben Johnson will have fulfilled his promise of beating Matt LaFleur twice this season, and perhaps cause the Packers to re-evaluate their entire outlook with LaFleur at the helm. They’ll have seized momentum back in a rivalry that has slipped notably toward Green Bay for the past 30 years or so. And Bears fans will be able to leave these playoffs happy no matter what happens.
If they lose…it’s going to suck. A lot.
It’ll feel like the same old story—never coming through against the Packers when it counts. Always going back to being the little brother, the kicked dog. All the haters will be saying “I told you so.” This offseason will be filled with yet more angst among fans about how the Bears can possibly close the gap—and if the Bears can ever outgrow these heartbreaks.
And Johnson, Williams, and the rest of this squad will spend the rest of the offseason feeling the bitterness of that defeat, living with that disappointment every day.
And they’ll work. They’ll scheme. They’ll dream of the day they get their revenge.
And the tide will turn. Because this is only the beginning of their journey. Because Johnson is maniacal and can’t stand to lose. Because Williams has proven himself ice-cold and undaunted by a challenge. Because what they’ve built this year doesn’t even scratch the surface of their true potential with Johnson, Williams, Colston Loveland, Luther Burden Jr., and a squad of veterans with a lot left in the tank.
Because these Bears have come too far not to be great—whether that means right now or in a year or two.
Whatever their weaknesses are, they, at the core, are not the same Bears we’ve been watching the last few years. These Bears are going somewhere, one way or another, as long as they’re lucky enough to stay healthy.
No matter what happens tonight, the Bears have finally started becoming what we hoped they could be. They took the North. Later, they’ll have to stand up to their word to never give it back.
They’ve succeeded where few thought they could, and tonight will spur them to greater heights, in victory or defeat.
But just for the fun of it, how about we get that win? And then another…and another…and maybe one more after that?
