The Packers-Bears rivalry returns Sunday to Lambeau in their most crucial clash since Week 17 of 2013. In honor of the matchup, I revisited the best regular-season moments against the Bears over the past 15 years.
Jordan Love’s Packers-Bears Debut
Jordan Love’s first start against the Bears came in Week 1 of the 2023 season, a pressure cooker at Soldier Field with the entire league watching to see what life after Rodgers looked like. Love answered with 245 yards and three touchdowns, showing patience early before ripping Chicago apart once Green Bay settled in.
Love hit Romeo Doubs for the first score of the game, dropped a perfectly timed swing pass to Aaron Jones for a 35-yard touchdown, and later iced the afternoon with another strike to Doubs in the fourth.
By the second half, Love played with the swagger of someone who knew exactly what this rivalry meant. He repeatedly punished Chicago on third down, kept plays alive with subtle pocket movement, and executed LaFleur’s offense with a veteran level of calmness.
His 123.2 passer rating wasn’t just a strong debut; it was a message. In a rivalry built on big quarterback moments, Love’s first shot against the Bears felt like the start of a new chapter, one where Green Bay’s next leader showed he was more than ready to carry on the tradition of torching Chicago.
Block at the Buzzer
Green Bay’s trip to Soldier Field last year delivered the kind of late-game surge this rivalry has come to expect. Jordan Love threw for 261 yards and a touchdown, then iced it with a 1-yard keeper in the final minutes.
Christian Watson sparked the momentum swing, stretching a lunging grab into a 60-yard game-changer. Watson finished with 150 yards on four catches, repeatedly torching Chicago’s secondary when Green Bay needed a play.
Chicago drove into field-goal range, but the Packers’ defense shut it down as it has so many times before. Karl Brooks tipped Santos’ 46-yard kick as time expired, sealing a 20–19 win and Green Bay’s 11th straight.
It wasn’t flashy, but it was classic Packers-Bears — tight, tense, and fueled by Green Bay making the moment-defining play.
Rodgers to Cobb (Part One)
The Packers traveled to Soldier Field in a winner-take-all game for the NFC North. Aaron Rodgers had been out since breaking his collarbone against the very same Bears team back in Week 9. Without him, they went 2-4-1 and didn’t grab a Rodgers-less win until Week 14 against Atlanta. Matt Flynn was the reason why they were still alive, with both wins coming with him under center.
In Week 17, Rodgers and Randall Cobb returned and delivered exactly when the Packers needed them most. With the Packers trailing by one, Rodgers converted multiple 4th down conversions to keep the season alive. On 4th-and-8 with the season on the line, Peppers blitzed untouched and closed in on Rodgers.
John Kuhn slowed Peppers just enough for Rodgers to escape and hit a wide-open Randall Cobb for the dagger. The 48-yard strike sealed the division for the Packers and broke the hearts of Bears fans everywhere. Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren’s call of the play still brings me chills to this day.
Rodgers to Cobb (Part Two)
Week One of the 2018 NFL season saw the Bears come to Lambeau Field for a Sunday Night Football showdown. The Packers’ offense struggled to get things going, and things only got worse in the 2nd quarter. Roy Robertson-Harris sacked Rodgers and eventually was seen being carted into the locker room, leaving Lambeau in a state of panic.
Meanwhile, DeShone Kizer led the team down the field to a first and goal from the 10-yard line, looking to put up points before the half. The half hit an all-time low when newly acquired Khalil Mack strip-sacked Kizer to kill the drive. The Green Bay backup then threw a pick-six with 39 seconds left in the half. The Packers trailed the Bears 17-0 at halftime, with no momentum.
After the Bears tacked on a field goal to start the second half, Rodgers trotted back onto the field to a thunderous ovation. The Packers offense still struggled in the third quarter and would only tack on a Mason Crosby 42-yard field goal to head into the fourth quarter down 20-3.
The Comeback
Rodgers opened the fourth with a 39-yard dime to Geronimo Allison, trimming the deficit to 20–10. After a defensive three-and-out, Rodgers hit Davante Adams for another score, cutting it to three with 9:01 left. Chicago’s field goal made it 23–17, and Green Bay faced third-and-10 at its 25 with two minutes remaining.
Rodgers hit Cobb streaking across the middle, and with the Bears’ secondary nowhere in sight, Cobb turned on the jets. He ripped straight up the seam and didn’t stop until he hit paydirt — a 75-yard house call. Crosby buried the extra point, giving Green Bay its first lead of the day, 24–23, with 2:13 left.
The defense forced a turnover to seal the game in what would be one of the best comebacks you will see in a division matchup.
Time for more Packers Magic
As we get set for another showdown at Lambeau Field, the stage is set for the rivalry to follow its familiar script. For years, Green Bay has authored the defining moments — the late-game daggers, the quarterback heroics, the momentum swings that flip a season on its head.
These matchups have a way of producing moments that echo through NFL history, and more often than not, it’s the Packers delivering the final blow.
On Sunday, the Packers will have a chance to ignite the Lambeau crowd and move one step closer to taking back what is truly theirs—the NFC North Division title.
