Packers Bears History Lesson

It has been an amazing 2010 NFL season filled with the usual ups and downs. But what is about to occur on
Sunday, January 23 is an “up” that could only have been dreamed about before as a Packer fan. The Green Bay Packers will meet the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship Game for the right to go to the Super Bowl.

Amazing!

The NFL’s oldest rivalry on the biggest stage it can be on. Being an NFL historian, I like to look back at these two storied franchises to show just how big this game will be next Sunday. The two teams first met in 1921 when the Bears were in Decatur and called the Staleys. They prevailed with a 20-0 victory on their way to the first NFL title. For the Packers, it was one of only two losses that year. From 1928-1933, the two teams actually played against each other three times each season. In 1929, the Packers swept all three games shutting out the Bears all three times by a combined score of 62-0. The Packers went undefeated that season in route to their first NFL Championship. The Packers won two of three against the Bears the following two seasons, both of which the Packers won the NFL Championship. It was the second three-peat in NFL history following the Canton Bulldogs run in 1922-1924.

The Bears put an end to the Packers run in 1932 by winning the title. In three games between the teams that year, they went 1-1-1. The Packers won 2-0 in Chicago. The Bears won 9-0 in Chicago. And the teams finished in a scoreless tie in their one game in Green Bay. A year later, the Bears won the first NFL Championship game 23-21 over the New York Giants. They swept the Packers in the three games between the teams that season. In 1934, the Bears completed the first NFL regular season ever with no losses or ties but lost in the championship game to the 8-5 New York Giants 30-13 (so the Giants 2008 Super Bowl victory over the Patriots wasn’t the first time New York beat an undefeated team for the title).

Between 1936 and 1944, the Packers and Bears finished 1-2 in the old NFL Western Division every year except once. (The Detroit Lions, Chicago Cardinals and Cleveland Rams were the other teams in that division). Either the Packers or Bears went to the championship game every year during that nine-year span. Green Bay won titles in 1936, 1939 and 1944. Chicago won it in 1940 (73-0 over Washington), 1941 and 1943. 1941 was the last time the Bears and Packers met three times in a season and the only time they have had a postseason meeting. After splitting their regular season meetings and both finishing 10-1, they played in the first ever division playoff game with the Bears winning 33-14. A year later, the Bears completed another undefeated regular season only to lose to Washington 14-6 in the championship game. During this nine-year span, the Packers and Bears split their head to head matches six times.

The Bears and Packers occasionally challenged for division titles in the 1950s but were shut out by the new powers of the league such as the Los Angeles Rams, Detroit Lions (yes, I said Detroit Lions) and the Cleveland Browns who hold the record to this day for making six straight NFL Championship game appearances between 1950-1955.

With the arrival of Vince Lombardi, the Packers returned to glory in the 1960s winning NFL championships in 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966 and 1967 which included the first two Super Bowls victories. The Bears were no slouches during this time winning the championship in 1963. However, the Packers dominated the Bears head to head outside of 1963 winning 15 of the 20 matchups in the 1960’s.

After both teams struggled in the 1970’s, they were both at it in the 1980’s with the Packers making a playoff appearance in the strike shortened year of 1982. Due to seven games being cancelled, it marked the first time since 1922 that the Bears and Packers did not play each other. In 1985, the Bears has their famous 15-1 season and shuffled to their first Super Bowl victory. In 1989, the Packers and Bears were involved in the first NFL game to have its outcome reversed by a reviewed play that was overturned.

The Bears and Packers continued to make many playoff appearances in the 1990’s with the Packers winning the Super Bowl in 1996 and losing it in 1997. The Packers strung together a streak of 12 consecutive victories at Soldier Field which is the second longest streak ever for a visiting team.

The Packers continued to be regular playoff invitees this past decade but it is the Bears who have the Super Bowl appearance which came after the 2006 season, a loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

Now the two teams clash to see which legendary franchise will make its next championship game trip. The Green Bay Packers have more championships than any other NFL team with 12. The Chicago Bears are next with 9. The Packers have played in the NFL/NFC Championship Game 15 times. The Bears have appeared in the NFL/NFC Championship Game 14 times. The Bears hold a 92-83-6 all time edge in meetings between the two teams. And of course they have the one playoff win between the two. Almost 70 years later comes the second meeting between the two most successful storied franchises in NFL history.

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