As much as Green Bay Packers fans revel in their 26-3 record against the Chicago Bears from 2011 to the beginning of 2025, times have changed. After hiring Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams’ emergence as a star QB this season, the Bears look poised to contend in the coming years.
Forget the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions for a second. The Packers must win the NFC North to win their fifth Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the Bears are coming off their first NFC North title since 2018 and look ready to establish dominance atop the division.
So, how do the Packers climb back up the ladder? Well, they might’ve been closer than it appears this year, with key injuries and mistakes derailing a once-promising season. Chicago never took an offensive snap with the lead against Green Bay despite winning two out of their three matchups.
Offensively, the Packers fared well against the porous yet turnover-hungry Chicago defense. In the two full games he played against the Bears, Jordan Love had a passer rating over 100 and threw seven touchdowns to just one interception.
Green Bay averaged 25 points per game against Chicago and looked comfortable, except in their second matchup when they went zero for five in the red zone. They also won’t lose too many impact players, with the most notable likely being unrestricted free agents Romeo Doubs and Rasheed Walker.
Players like lineman Jordan Morgan and receivers Matthew Golden and Savion Williams will serve as replacements for the lost starters, so Green Bay’s offense shouldn’t take much of a step back going into next season.
However, the Packers are likely to undergo significant changes on defense. After former defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley took the Miami Dolphins head coaching job, Green Bay must find a successor for him.
The defense’s story was similar in the final two games against Chicago. They played well in the first half, then collapsed in the final quarter. Although it’s hard to entirely blame the defense for holding strong for three quarters, it’s concerning how easily Chicago moved the ball at the end of games.
Contributors like Kingsley Enagbare and Rashan Gary probably won’t return to Green Bay in 2026. Still, Micah Parsons’ return gives any team an immediate boost regardless of his surrounding cast.
The Packers also only generated 14 takeaways on defense this season, fourth-to-last in the league. However, they took the ball away three times in their three games against Chicago.
Special teams mishaps also cost the Packers points during their three matchups with the Bears, as they always do. The most notable being Brandon McManus’ two missed field goals and a missed extra point in the two teams’ final meeting.
Green Bay’s special teams coordinator, Rich Bisaccia, appears to have uncertain job security at the moment. Many are speculating that his time with the Packers will come to an end in the coming weeks.
If their games this year were any indication, the Packers can and will still be competitive with Chicago next season. Of course, a million other factors play into winning the NFC North. Still, the Bears appear to be Green Bay’s biggest adversary. A division win will be necessary for getting over the seven-seed hump and into the driver’s seat in the playoffs.