There is excitement surrounding the Chicago Bears as they head into their Sunday Night matchup against the Green Bay Packers. Although the Bears are heavy underdogs to the Packers, their Week one victory over the San Francisco 49ers, coupled with Green Bay’s loss to Minnesota, is giving hope to Chicago fans that an upset can happen. There have been several times in recent memory where the Bears believed they were catching the Packers at the right time, only to be gravely mistaken.
Beating the Packers when future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been under center has been virtually impossible for the Bears. Since Rodgers became the starting quarterback in Green Bay, Chicago has only won two games during the quarterback’s 22 starts. The All-Pro quarterback has found a way to beat the Bears in every way possible, including blowout wins, come-from-behind wins, and last-second improbable victorious. Rodger’s dominance over the Bears led to his infamous “I own you” comments following a fourth-quarter touchdown during the rivals’ meeting at Soldier Field last season.
Aaron Rodgers just screamed “I STILL OWN YOU!” at Bears fans after a TD pic.twitter.com/GjHZ8I0S7e
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 17, 2021
Over the past decade, there have been several games in which luck and momentum appeared to be on Chicago’s side, but the team failed to capitalize on the momentum. Although heading into those specific games that it appeared Green Bay was weak and in line for a loss, the Packers still managed to beat the Bears because they took their rival for granted.
The first instance came in Week 2 of the 2012 season when the two teams would meet on Thursday Night Football at Lambeau Field. In Week 1, Chicago blew out the Indianapolis Colts 41-21, while Green Bay lost to San Francisco 30-22. Heading into the game, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, who was coming off a 300-yard passing game against the Colts, was highly confident his offense would have a productive night against the Packers defense. Chicago’s quarterback was proven wrong as he was sacked seven times and intercepted four times in a 23-10 loss.
Two years later, the teams would meet in Week 4 of the 2014 season, as it was their first meeting since the infamous 2013 Week 17 game that decided the NFC North Division. Heading into the Week 4 meeting, the Packers were struggling, losing two of their first three games of the season, while Chicago won two of their first three games. There was so much concern amongst Green Bay fans that Rodgers told fans to relax. The Packers were victorious again as they beat the Bears 38-17 as the loss sent Chicago on a downward spiral as the team lost four of their next five games.
Week 4, 2014 – #Packers @ #Bears
I still don't think I've seen a better throw than this, absolute tragedy it was called back for holding. Look at the platform @AaronRodgers12 threw from. pic.twitter.com/oqHxPsCCq3
— Mike Lounsberry (@Mike_Lounsberry) July 6, 2020
Chicago even failed to capitalize when Green Bay was without Rodgers due to injury. In the 2017 season, the Packers lost their MVP quarterback to a shoulder injury in a Week 6 game against the Minnesota Vikings. Backup quarterback Brent would start for Green Bay as the team lost three straight games before playing the Bears in Week 10. Although Chicago was viewed as a heavy favorite due to Rodgers not playing, the Packers won the game 23-16 as the Bears consistently made mistakes throughout the game, including a fumble on offense that resulted in a touchback.
First-year Bears’ head coach Matt Eberflus has his work cut out for him trying to prepare his young team mentally for their game against the Packers. Eberflus must ensure that his players aren’t timid of Rodgers and Green Bay, but also make sure his players aren’t overtly confident heading into the game. Prior Bears’ teams have loss due to having either mindset heading into the matchup.
The #Bears have lost 11 of their last 12 games against the Packers. It'd be quite a story if the Matt Eberflus + Justin Fields era kicks off their phase of the rivalry with a win in Green Bay Sunday night. #DaBears
— Bryan Perez (@BryanPerezNFL) September 13, 2022
Chicago’s victory against San Francisco last week is highly beneficial to Eberflus’ team was viewed as significant underdogs heading into the game as most NFL analysts believed the 49ers would win easily. Unlike San Francisco, who didn’t play a complete game, Chicago will have to do that against Green Bay as too many times has Rodgers stolen a victory from the Bears at the last moment.
The 2013, 2017, and 2018 seasons all featured games in which Green Bay won by scoring in the final minutes of the contest to take the lead. On Sunday, Eberflus’ team will have to play a complete game as both the offense and defense will have to work hard to avoid Rodgers being able to sway the outcome of the game. In the two team’s most recent matchup, Chicago led 27-21 at halftime only to lose the game 45-30.
Matt Eberflus said the Bears will utilize Luke Getsy's experience from the Packers in preparing for this game in Green Bay: "It's certainly helpful. … We'll lean on him."
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) September 14, 2022
Sunday Night will be another difficult situation for the Bears as they have not won at Lambeau Field since Thanksgiving of 2015. In that game, Chicago’s offense did just enough as the defense limited Rodgers and the Packers to just one touchdown. Eberflus will have his team ready for the challenge, but they can’t afford to take their rival lightly, as it has never worked out for them in prior matchups.
