GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The NFC North leaders are eager to show they’re not the same old Chicago Bears who continually took their lumps against the Green Bay Packers over the last 15 years or so.
Chicago snapped an 11-game skid in this rivalry when it ended the 2024 regular season by winning at Green Bay. The Bears (9-3) have built on that momentum this year as they have the NFC’s best record and carry a five-game winning streak into their Sunday matchup
with the Packers (8-3-1) at Lambeau Field.
“I think throughout this whole year, what we’ve been able to accomplish has given us extreme confidence,” Bears quarterback Caleb Williams said. "And then, for myself, being a part of something that, everybody knows the stats of the Bears going up there before last year, it wasn’t the best. And so being able to be a part of that (win), being able to contribute to that, provides confidence for myself, and I’m going to exude that to the other guys.”
Chicago hasn’t had a winning season since 2018, but the Bears’ emergence doesn’t surprise Packers safety Xavier McKinney.
McKinney was impressed with the creativity new Bears coach Ben Johnson showed as Detroit’s offensive coordinator when the Lions swept the Packers last season.
“I knew they were going to be good,” McKinney said. “Especially whenever they ended up getting Ben Johnson, I was, 'OK, they’re going to be a problem this year.'"
The Packers also are feeling good about themselves. They’ve won three straight and are eager to regain control of this rivalry.
These two teams will face each other twice in a span of 14 days in a pair of games that will go a long way toward determining the NFC North champion. They meet again Dec. 20 at Chicago.
“I feel like our team knows that we control our destiny at this point,” Packers safety Evan Williams said. “There’s a lot that’s to be said about the Bears and how they’re doing right now. They’ve put together a hell of a season. But at the end of the day, I feel like we all understand if we go out there, put our best foot forward and play our best ball, that we don’t feel there’s a team that can hang with us.”
The two matchups between the Packers and Bears last season both were decided by field-goal attempts on the final play.
Chicago’s Cairo Santos made a 51-yarder in the Bears’ 24-22 victory at Green Bay after having a 46-yarder blocked by Karl Brooks to end the Packers’ 20-19 triumph at Chicago.
Chicago has an NFL-leading plus-17 turnover margin. The Bears have 26 takeaways, four more than any other team.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur credits the arrival of former New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen as Chicago’s defensive coordinator.
“He does such a great job getting that out of his guys, but I also think it’s a credit to his players in regards to just, they’ve got tremendous ball skills, really, on every level of the defense,” LaFleur said.
Chicago might have a tougher time taking the ball away from Green Bay, which hasn’t committed a single turnover during its three-game win streak.
Johnson raised some eyebrows Monday when he said the Bears are winning “in spite of our passing game, not because of it.” He walked that comment back somewhat the next day.
“It is easily construed as I’m not happy with the quarterback,” Johnson said. “That’s not the case whatsoever. He continues to get better each and every week and I couldn’t be more pleased with how he played last week and I know what the stats say. Throw those out the window.”
Against Philadelphia last week, Williams was 17 of 36 for 154 yards and finished with the second-worst completion percentage (47.2) of his career. He has completed only 53.2% of his passes in the past five games and ranks last in the NFL in accuracy at 58.1% this season, though the issues aren’t all on him. In the game against the Eagles, for example, receivers lost their footing on several well-placed throws.
Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson felt “a little sore” and definitely “blessed” after returning from a groin injury last week. The two-time Pro Bowler didn’t think he would play again this season.
“But God had different plans and God pushed me and told me I’m on His time and not what anyone else says,” he said.
Johnson, who had surgery in September, was in on 61% of Chicago’s defensive plays against Philadelphia after missing the previous nine games. His only other appearance was in a loss at Detroit in Week 2.
During one 10-day period in his recovery, Johnson said he consumed only fruits and water.
Green Bay’s Micah Parsons has six sacks in his last three games to improve his season total to 12½. He’s the first player to have at least 12 in each of his first five NFL seasons since the statistic started getting tracked in 1982.
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AP Sports Writer Andrew Seligman contributed to this report.
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