Sunday brings the 196th renewal of the NFL’s oldest rivalry. The Packers lead 95-94-6, including two playoff games.
On September 28th, the Packers beat the Bears 35-14 in Green Bay.
The Packers have won 3 consecutive games over the Bears, outscoring them 91-51. The Packers have won 15 of 18 matchups in the Aaron Rodgers era and seven of the last eight since Week 17 of the 2013 season. Green Bay has six straight wins at Soldier Field.
In the first 15 seasons of the NFC North, the Packers (9) and the Bears (3) have accounted for 12 division titles!
About the Bears
Chicago, 3-5 and coming off a bye, has already won as many games as they won all of last year. The Bears have won two of their last three and start the second half of the season with three of their next four games at Soldier Field (Packers, Lions, at Eagles, 49ers).
A 20-12 road loss in New Orleans prevented Chicago from its first three-game winning streak since the 2013 season, but the play of the Bears’ top 10 defense, which has allowed three touchdowns over its last three games, is offering as much promise as fans have seen since Chicago’s last Super Bowl appearance more than a decade ago.
It should be noted the Bears opportunistic defense has taken three turnovers back to the house for touchdowns this season.
They are calling this one of the biggest games, if not the biggest game in the John Fox era in Chicago.
About the Packers
Green Bay, 4-4, is coming off a 30-17 loss to the Detroit Lions. The Packers have dropped three in a row, are 1-2 on the road this season, but 50-41 away from home during the McCarthy era. That is the third best road record in the NFL over the past 11 plus seasons.
The Packers have a 49-19-1 (.717) overall regular-season record against NFC North opponents under head coach Mike McCarthy, a divisional mark that ranks No. 2 in the NFL since 2006. New England is first 52-15-0.
The Packers are losing the time of possession battle this season; the Green Bay offense is not sustaining enough drives but more to the point, the defense’s problems on third downs (last 4 games opponents are 27 of 52 on third down conversions, 52%) have limited offensive snaps.
Last week, Detroit had a 13:50 time of possession advantage over the Packers (36:55 to 23:05). Two weeks, ago New Orleans held a 13:52 advantage in time of possession (36:56 to 23:04).
