FIRST THINGS FIRST | Nick Wright STUNNED, IF Green Bay Packers LOSE, It Would Be DEVESTATING | NFL

FIRST THINGS FIRST | Nick Wright STUNNED, IF Green Bay Packers LOSE, It Would Be DEVESTATING | NFL

Bears top seed on the entire NFC. Packers on their heels in the NFC North. They can take over with a W. Now Chicago has won five in a row. Green Bay’s won three in a row. Does this game mean more for the Bears or the Packers? Oh, this definitely means more for the Bears. Wow. Yeah. And I figured you guys would kind of be a little like what? Um the Packers have dominated this series for for the past 30 years. And when you I know the Bears in the Bears in recent history, like they finished fourth the last three years. You get a new head coach. He’s now your fifth coach since Lovey Smith, the co the the the last coach to actually have some semblance of success against the Green Bay Packers. Ben Johnson has, you alluded to this yesterday, soon as he gets the job, he alludes to how he’s excited about, you know, continuing to beat Matt Laflur and he un he does he hasn’t shied away from it. He understands the magnitude of this rivalry. He understands what it means not only to the people within that organization, but to the city of Chicago. On the other side, we’re I’m listening to some of the Green Bay guys getting asked about this rivalry and they’re like, “Man, it’s great that they’re winning. We’re excited. Do you think that the rivalry is being restored?” They’re like, “Yeah, man.” Cuz they’re finally winning. And if you’re Chicago, you’re hearing this stuff like, “Man, I don’t need to hear that. It’s been a rivalry. It’s going to remain a rivalry, but the Green Bay Packers, they understand what’s at stake. Chicago has been dominated and thoroughly beaten up in this in this in this uh division and in this series for so long. It naturally has to mean more to them. Believe it or not, I’m with Greg. Like I think it always means more for the little brother to beat the big brother than vice versa. And they’re definitely the little little brother. Absolutely. like all you’re saying that that’s sunning the Bears like oh yeah it’s not they’re actually winning some games we’re happy for them you know but that’s the truth if the Bears win this game like if the Packers lose they’re still going to be in the hunt it gets testy dicey because it’s a tough division but they’ll be fine but the Bears this takes them to a whole another level beating Philly got raised my antennas if they beat Philly and Green Bay in back to back weeks. You are a legitimate Super Bowl back to back road games, too, right? Yes. So, you’re you’re a legitimate Now the expectations go from just kind of making the playoffs, oh, we got a future to let’s win it this year. So, I this might sound contradictory. I don’t mean it to. I agree a win would be more meaningful for the Bears, but a loss would be more damaging for the backers. I agree. So, okay. soon because we are and I promise I am not out here just trying to put every coach in the world on the hot seat. I but I do want to remind everyone that a month ago this same publication this same writer to Matt Schneiderman the athletic told us about hey remember how Laf and Gutenkun didn’t get contract extensions this off season and after back-to-back years where they didn’t have you know great regular seasons and last year lost early in the postseason that after going all in for Micah if this year ends with a you know a whimper there could be some job security questions. Well, to your guys’ point, the Packers aren’t the team in first place. The Packers are coming off a great win and because of that, we looked at what they could be and like, wow, they can win the Super Bowl. But if they lose the home game to the Bears, then it’s certainly on the board that in a couple weeks they lose the road game to the Bears and there’s going to be at least one, if not two really good NFC playoff teams that are left without a seat. And I feel like the Bears are they’re not quite playing with house money yet for this season, but they’re close to it. The Packers have to win a game like this. It’s at home. It’s to keep you alive for the division. So, I think a win would mean more for Chicago, but the only team that’s in panic adjacent with a loss is Green Bay. Yeah, I largely have Nick’s take and I’m bummed he took it from me. Um, so I’ll just really emphasize a loss for the Packers is devastating. That’s the way how I see it. Um, a win, if we’re going to stick with the whole big brother, little brother type thing. If you’re a little brother and you beat your big brother, like, yeah, it feels great. You feel like you’re like, “Oh, look, mom, dad, I beat I beat big bro. I beat him.” But if the big brother loses to the little brother, that becomes like an existential crisis. That becomes what just happened? Am I getting older? Am I too old? Am I losing it? Am I no longer as big and strong as I was? Am I about to be passed by my little is he getting bigger and stronger than me? Like it becomes like a you have to look in the mirror and go, what is happening right now? Now, I’m not trying to put the emphasis on just an individual game because things change and you know, look at the other divisions that have been a little bit more balanced, like the NFC East, probably the best example of that. Um, the Giants have had their reign, the Eagles have had their reign, the Cowboys, right? Like that’s they haven’t had a repeat winner in however many years. I think probably since like Andy Reid was there. So, um, it’s, uh, you know, it doesn’t automatically mean now like, oh, it’s over, right? Like, it’s over. No longer considered great, no longer considered royalty, top team. Because to me, the Green Bay Packers are royalty. Um, they’re they’re football royalty. Um, I feel like they’re probably the first team that I feel like I can like actually remember like that’s a football team in the end. Like, some of my earliest football memories are like the Green Bay Packers. It’s it’s the Green Bay Packers. I remember when I first realized that they didn’t that they weren’t like in this massive city, this massive area. It was like, “No, they’re in Green Bay. Wisconsin.” It’s like, “What’s Wisconsin? What’s Green Bay?” Oh, they’re called the Green Bay Packers because it’s Green Bay. I was like, “I don’t know. I’m a little kid.” Uh, and so it’s just like, you know, knowing what they’ve been able to accomplish and and their standing in the NFL, uh, is pretty remarkable when you think about how some of these other teams have, uh, been over the years and over decades plus. it’s it’s the Green Bay Packers and so you don’t lose all that with a loss against the Chicago Bears, right? You don’t you don’t do that. But if you’re looking at this franchise, and this is what I had said going into this season, um that when you’re the Green Bay Packers, like you’re supposed to be ahead. You’re supposed to be ahead of even the Detroit Lions on the Detroit Lions had been ahead, but that was when they had their continuity of coaching staff, quarterback, roster, etc. But then they lose their coordinators and it’s like and I said I thought that the Lions were going to take a step back. Um and it’s just like okay they take a step back and then you have the Vikings like brand new quarterback JJ McCarthy Kevin Oonnell like you’re hitting the reset button there. You’re starting fresh there and then bringing in Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams, secondyear quarterback, first year head coach, first time together, you know, Caleb and Ben. Like the Packers have the continuity. They have the roster. They have the most continuity of roster specifically as well as quarterback. He’s obviously the most important player on the roster, but just the roster as a whole. The coaching staff specifically of course the head coach and the offensive play caller Matt Laflur. what they’ve been able to do over obviously still a short window relatively speaking to say like a Mahomes window or something or Josh Allen but playoff experience, playoff wins, regular season produ like they they they have that they had the moment, right? Whoever the new offensive coordinator is, which you know at this time who it was going to end up being um obviously we know who the coordinators are now for like the Lions or who was going to be the originally the the head coach for the Bears. It’s just like this is not things that the Packers had to figure out. They had the continuity. They have a big playoff win against the Cowboys. Um a a great playoff game, although it didn’t work out for them. Still a ton of experience right there in it against the 49ers, right? Like you know, they they were in this mix and then the following year they had injuries, they got banged up, wasn’t didn’t work out for them. They lost to the Super Bowl to the future Super Bowl champions. It’s like they should feel good. You have Lions, you have to figure out who your coordinators are. Bears, you have to figure out how Ben Johnson could be a head coach and fix Caleb Williams. You Minnesota Vikings, JJ McCarthy, you got to figure out how to make some 22-year-old be a great quarterback and carry you and and and you know, pick off where Sam Darnold left. Like, we got the continuity. We have the quarterback who’s been in the NFL for years, specifically with this head coach, with this offensive play caller. We we won play we won a playoff game together. We’ve been in the playoffs. We played multiple playoff games together. Kevin Oonnell has played zero playoff games with JJ McCarthy. You know, again, Morton, uh, the actual offensive play, although changing a little bit with Dan Campbell, zero playoff games with Jared Goff and Gibbs, etc., etc., as the actual, you know, main offensive mind there. Uh, Ben Johnson, zero with Caleb Williams and Caleb Williams just in general, zero playoff, you know, etc. So, it’s just like the Packers, if you’re a well-run team, if you have a great quarterback, a great coach, etc., etc., it’s like, well, then that should be enough. That has to be enough to have separation. It has to be. It has to be. If not, then you’re getting leapfrogged. And that’s what then the Bears win could be where it’s just like they beat the Packers, they win the division over the Packers just in general. Not just because of just this game, but just, you know, as the course of the season unfolds. It’s like, well, then you were just leaprogged. Now you do have to say, “Yeah, you know what? The better team is the Bears. The better coach quarterback duo is not Laflur and Jordan Love. It’s Caleb Ben Johnson.” And now you just got Leaprog. And that’s that’s that’s a tough pill to swallow. That that is just tough tough tough tough tough tough. And you know, it’s just Yeah. you you look around the league and and and this is what I had said about um the Bills, the Ravens, like when you haven’t won when you haven’t especially won the Super Bowl, the Eagles get a little bit more wiggle room because they won the Super Bowl last year. So, it’s like, you know, obviously it’s not great if they don’t win the division from their perspective or or get back to the Super Bowl win, but like there’s no sense of like the Cowboys leaprogged them or the commanders obviously if Jaden was healthy and if they now won the division and got to the you know got to the Super Bowl or something like they didn’t get leaprogged. If the Eagles didn’t win the Super Bowl and that happened, now it’s like, well, Jane Daniels and the Washington Commanders just leaprogged you. Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys just leaprogged you. There is that sense of like, wow, we actually just slipped and now this team is for real and seemingly enough, they should be legit for the next minimum two, three years, you know, whatever the timeline ends up being. And so like to me that’s where the Packers are right now where it’s just like you have things that are kind of getting all mixed up and and messy with Detroit with Minnesota and you have this new formed you know this new team that was recently formed uh drafted and built and hired you know from quarterback O line coaching staff etc etc. with the Chicago Bears. It’s like you’re a great team, if you’re well-run, you have the coaching on both sides of the ball, you have the quarterback, you have the pieces, you have the defense, you have the offense, that should be plenty to be able to to lean and win, right? Just like how the Philadelphia Eagles were able to do that specifically to Jane Daniels and the Washington Commanders. New quarterback, new coach, both sides of the ball, new roster, etc., etc. And they’re like, “That’s great. You’re winning a lot of games. You’re having a lot of fun. Jane Daniels looks spectacular. He looks awesome. He looks like he’s ready to take over the league. We’ve been here. We’ve gone to Super Bowls. We We have the h the recent history. We were the play away from winning a Super Bowl in 22, right? Like like we we we know what we’re doing. Our our players have been there. They’ve been in the playoffs. They’ve been in a Super Bowl. They’ve played in the biggest moments. They’ve gotten the job done in the biggest moments. We’ve been here. We have the continuity. and they were able to be like goodbye and they were able to lean on that. And so it’s just like the Packers that should that’s why I that’s why I keep emphasizing this that should be enough and it’s not well then you have to really wrestle with why why were the Bears in year one with a Caleb Ben Johnson experience able to leapfrog you. You can’t just say well injuries and well Tucker Craft went down and it’s just like that’s not a good enough answer to me. that can be part of it, but you can’t just you can’t just dismiss it. I’m always against just automatically dismissing uh you know things and and that’s why I like to use Eagles as that reference point because of what they did in 22 to 23 to 24. They put on a master class of coming up short in the Super Bowl thinking they had the pieces in 23 and not just saying it was an offh you know we’ll run it back in 24. We know we’re right there. this was just a weird year or you know we were a little injured a little they said no we’re firing the coaches we’re hiring new coaches we’re bringing in another piece like Squan we’re drafting you know two key defensive players we’re getting B you know uh CJ Garner or John like they they they made aggressive like no we’re not just going to be like eh they they they were aggressive and they made moves and said this is what we need to do our core we have the continuity we have the continuity with Sirriani Jaylen Herz AJ Brown Devonte you know etc., etc. But they were like, “No, we need we need to do things.” They weren’t just kind of like, “Well, first year play caller. What are you going to do in year two? We think he’s going to be better.” No, they didn’t do that. They didn’t say, “Well, this offense is still going to be great.” Uh, especially now that they brought in Kelman. They’re like, “No, we want Saquon Barkley. We we want to make this even better.” They were very adamant about that. So, that’s why you can’t just dismiss it. You can’t just Well, and that’s what I even said about the Packers last year where I was like, “You can’t just say injuries.” And I defended it and said, “Listen, that was a massive, massive part. Jordan Love in and out of the lineup in his second year as a full-time starter. That’s just not an easy thing to do, especially cuz he got injured after that first game. He was never able to really get in rhythm of the offense. He was never really able to practice and get situated.” I kept saying it’s like they’re playing on ice. It’s very slippery. It just doesn’t feel smooth on time, in rhythm of anything right now. And I and I defend that. And I’m like, “This is a young team. It’s going to happen, but it doesn’t mean that you just do nothing now.” And they didn’t, right? That’s why they were like, “Hey, we want to draft a wide receiver, you know, etc., etc. We want to go out and get Micah Parsons.” Like, they made the aggressive moves, right? They made the aggressive moves and it’s now time for those for for it to all culminate. I’m not saying you have to win a Super Bowl. I’m not saying you have to dominate in a Super Bowl like the Philadelphia Eagles did to prove that you’re on the right track or that you’re doing all things right. But, you know, it’s just this is a game at home in a got to have it moment that Jordan Love and Matt Laflur is supposed to be like, “That’s great. one day you are going to be great Caleb and Ben Johnson and you’re going to be a formidable foe and it’s going to be from a fans perspective fun to watch you know for years to come but like we have the head start we have the experience we’ve been there we know what we’re doing I know Matt Laflur is like I know my quarterback in and out you’re still trying to figure out who the heck your quarterback is I know how to be a head coach you’re still trying to figure out how to be a head coach you’re still making mistakes that I made years ago. Like Matt Matt Laflur is like, I’ve been here with Aaron Rogers, man. I’ve already coached multiple quarterbacks from a head coach perspect. I’ve been here for for a chunk of time now, relatively speaking. Still a short window relative to like an Andy or or like a Harball or something, but like still he’s not a he’s not a secondyear head coach here, third year head coach. He’s been here. And so now it’s time to show why that matters. And that’s why losing becomes devastating. It’s like if next year the Philadelphia Eagles are in like third place or second place and the New York Giants are there and you’re just like, well that’s devastating. They just got a new head coach, a secondyear quarterback. This team has been such a mess. You were in the Super Bowl a couple years ago. You had a down year and now you can’t even get past the New York Giants. That’s a problem. There’s a serious problem with that. And like that would have devastating I can guarantee it had devastating consequences for Philadelphia. And so that that’s just where I’m looking at the Green Bay Packers right now. Um I do think if a loss means more to you and has like it’s like like a true like we got to figure this out, we got to talk about this, then the game means more than just a win. Don’t get me wrong, the fans and the Bears are going to want to win and they’ll celebrate and I’m sure uh Ben Johnson will take a shirt off again or whatever. It’s like, you know, and like that’s all well and good, but like lots of teams celebrate really high moments. Okay. Sam Darnold was getting, you know, dowsted in water and whatever when he beat uh I forget what team they ended up beating in that game when they were celebrating Sam Darn. It was like Sam Sam and it was like through the roof. The Detroit Lions when they beat the Los Angeles Rams, right? Uh in the playoffs, it was like this big moment and it was just like tears and it was like, “Oh my god, we did it. We did it. This is amazing.” A loss has way more devastating consequences for a team that has expectations. Okay, that loss to the Washington Commanders had was was devastating. That moment did not outweigh the joy of beating the Rams or losing to the 49 losing to the 49ers and questioning, should you have gone to Florida on fourth down, this that and the third, should you have kicked a field goal, blah blah blah blah blah. It’s like that was devastating. Absolutely positively devastating. And the joy of beating the Rams and and the redemption for Jared got didn’t outweigh it. Didn’t outweigh it. So if a loss means more and has concrete consequences, then it’s going to mean more for that team. And so that’s why my answer is the Packers. Um but really this question, you could do it both ways. I could go on a whole passionate 20 minute rant about why this game means so much for the Bears about beating big brother and how you’re establishing you’re leapfrogging the Packers. Like I could do that whole I could do the whole opposite rant but you know I’m someone I only recently realized this that like I chase I run away from losses not towards wins. I’m haunted by losing not by the joy of winning. I I I keep going and keep moving forward because I’m afraid of what would happen if I don’t. I don’t take joy in being like, “Look, I can swim. Look, I can swim. Isn’t this cool? I can swim. I can I can swim and tread water for hours every day.” And it’s like, “No, I’m afraid of what happens if I stop swimming and I just sink to the bottom of the floor.” So, a loss always means a lot more to me. But those are just my thoughts. I’d absolutely love to hear yours. What do you guys all think about the Green Bay Packers? Does this game mean more for them or does it mean more for the Bears? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. I read every single comment so you agree with me or disagree with me. Either way, let’s get into some discussions. Let’s get in some fights. But ultimately, let’s just have some fun. And please do consider subscribing. We are building an amazing community here and I absolutely love to see you part of it. I want to build something that we all generally feel connected to, something that we’re really excited to be part of. I think we’re well on our way to doing it. Please don’t forget to give this video a thumbs up as it really does help with visibility and the algorithm. Thank you so much. See you next time.

FIRST THINGS FIRST | Nick Wright STUNNED, IF Green Bay Packers LOSE, It Would Be DEVESTATING | NFL
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