The Bears and Packers are must see TV each and every time they line up across from one another. In fact, their last five contests (dating back to the end of the 2024 season) have come down to the last play of the game.
The Packers are the Bears biggest rival — and it ain’t close.
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The Bears also share historic rivalries with the Lions and Vikings. While they are considerably less so, their two annual matchups provide a stage for dramatic games.
Beyond that, there are a lot of cases to be made.
Who is the Bears’ biggest non-divisional rival?
This could go a lot of different ways. Is it recent history? Is it long history? Is it individually based? Based in a beef with other fans?
Outside of their divisional opponents, the team they’ve played the most is the Arizona (previously Chicago) Cardinals with 98 games. But besides the Dennis Green meltdown, it doesn’t feel like there has been enough recent history to warrant this.
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The Bears have had back to back nailbiters with the Washington Commanders in recent years. Pair that with the Jayden Daniels and Caleb Williams back to back draft picks, and this is a strong contender. However, these teams haven’t played each other in games with high importance in a long time.
The Panthers fans seem to hate the Bears due to the poor outcome of the Bryce Young trade. But just like the Donald Draper meme, Bears fans “don’t think about the Panthers at all.”
The Dolphins got bent out of shape during the joint practice last offseason, when Ben Johnson’s team punched them in the mouth. Given how the Dolphins season went, this seems more like a Miami problem and less like a rivalry.
Which brings me to an unconventional option: the New England Patriots.
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Let me explain:
There is some history between these teams, as the Bears mollywhopped the Patriots in Super Bowl XX 46-10.
The Patriots mollywhopped the Bears during the Brady years, where Chicago went 0-5 from 2022-2018
Side note – I hate Tom Brady.
The Bears and Pats have been in search of their next quarterback and have selected quarterbacks in the same draft twice in the last five years, selecting Justin Fields and Mac Jones in 2021 and Caleb Williams and Drake Maye in 2024.
The Bears and Patriots both secured the two hottest head coaches in the 2025 NFL offseason in Ben Johnson and Mike Vrabel.
The two teams had monster turnarounds this past season improving by 6 and 10 wins.
The rivalry might feel a little indirect, and maybe like a bit of a projection, but I see these two teams on a collision course for a title at some point in the future given their QB and HC combos in place. It doesn’t hurt that they are also slated to play each other in 2026…
Now it’s your turn! Who do you think is the Bears’ biggest non-divisional rival? Sound off in the comments!