Chicago Bears NFC North Rivals: A look at the Green Bay Packers
In our second series looking at NFC North rival this off-season and their draft needs on April 25, we look at the Green Bay Packers, who the Bears must overcome if they want to become a perennial contender moving forward.
The Green Bay Packers own the Chicago Bears. No matter who they put at quarterback, they have found a way to beat the Bears for the last three decades. Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, and now Jordan Love. Different quarterbacks, same results. It has been a nightmare for the Bears fans for the last three decades.
The Packers and the Bears squared off in the 2023 season opener, and as usual, they gave the Bears an old-fashioned beat down, winning 38-20. Since then, they struggled throughout last season as Jordan Love had an up-and-down performance. But after a 2-4 start, the Packers making the playoffs is a direct correlation to Love's improvement in his performance as the season progressed.
And adding insult to injury, they beat the Bears 17-9 in a season finale to clinch the playoff spot, promptly destroyed the Dallas Cowboys in the opening round of the playoffs, and nearly beat the San Francisco 49ers in the next round had it not been for a terrible kicking game and bad defense.
It is easy for the Bears fans to feel discouraged that they will have to deal with the Packers for years to come now with Love. And why not? They were the youngest team in the NFL last year to win a playoff game since the 1970 NFL/AFL merger. And after an acrimonious divorce from Rodgers that has been in the making for the last few years now, the mood and the morale within the organization has to be much improved.
Also, Matt LaFluer is 8-0 against the Bears, 4-0 against Bears head coach Matt Eberflus. If Eberflus did not understand the significance of this rivalry when he took the Bears head coaching job, he better be by now because it has been so one-sided.
Their front office has been able to replace both Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams the last few years with Love and a slew of young receivers, who were drafted late rounds. And you bet that some will take major steps next season and will be a household name in a few years based on their past track records. Let's look at what have they been up to this off-season.