Having just written my 100th article last week for Packers Talk, it is only right that the following week was a monumental achievement for the Green Bay Packers – getting the chance to beat the Chicago Bears, at home, in the snowy tundra of Lambeau Field in December, in their 200th overall meeting.

Currently sitting as the series leader, the Packers have won this year’s first matchup, a 10-3 victory in the season opener in Chicago. Coming into Sunday’s noon matchup, the Packers had won six of the last seven matchups between the two teams, showing which direction each team has been going in over the last few seasons.

As a bit of a history lesson, the first matchup between these two franchises came all the way back in 1921, when the Bears, who were first dubbed the Chicago Staleys, romped over the Packers on their way to the APFA Championship with a 20-0 shutout. 

16 times across the 199 games the Packers have been shut out at the hands of the Bears, while the Bears have failed to put up any sort of points in 14 times in this ongoing rivalry. While the Packers hold the lead in W/L record, they barely have scored more points than the Bears, 3,444 to 3,411.

When this rivalry began, the Bears were much more dominant than the Packers, as Green Bay only managed to win six matchups of 16 played in the 1920s. When the 1930s came around, 11 of the 24 matchups went Green Bay’s way, including four of the first five to begin the decade.

The 1940s and 50s resulted in little success for the Packers, but the 60s was when the team finally looked to have turned the corner, having won 15 of the 20 matchups, all during the regular season.

Over the course of the 1970s and 1980s, 15 of the 40 games were won by the Packers, which again showed how they struggled to field a competitive team. But in the 1990s, the tide looked to have changed and changed for good.

Even though Chicago won six of the first eight games between the two teams, Green Bay won 11 of the final 12 matchups, including 10 in a row. The 2000s brought more of the same Cheesehad dominance, having won 12 of the 20 games between 2000 and 2009. 

16 Packer victories against four Bears victories, including the 2011 NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field that saw the Packers defeat the Bears and their three quarterbacks, currently put us in real-time for this rivalry, which has no indication of slowing down anytime soon.

With these teams being two of the four franchises that still exist today that were founded in the 1920s, this rivalry has stood the test of time and has enveloped more than the casual fan into it. With both of these teams fighting for a playoff berth every year, it looks as though things will continue to hard-fought and heated as ever.

While it is easy to think of other NFL rivalries as being just as good as the one between the Packers and Bears, those like the Cowboys and Eagles, Steelers and Browns, and Bengals and Browns, among others, do not quite match up to what Green Bay and Chicago are able to put up two games a year, every year.

Moving to 99-95-6 all-time against the Bears, the Packers have a lot to be thankful for during this holiday season. Being able to further their playoff hopes, along with officially eliminating the hopes of the Bears, is a great opening to the season of giving.

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Mike Johrendt has been an avid fan of the Packers ever since he can remember. He is now a writer at PackersTalk and you can follow him on Twitter at @MJohrendt23

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