How wild-card game sent Bears, Packers in opposite directions
Ever since Chicago sent Green Bay home, the Bears have taken flight and the Packers can't find their footing.
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Nearly nine months later, two things remain true about the Jan. 10, 2026, wild-card playoff game between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field: It was an epic event on its own, but it also deeply affected the course of each franchise and the vibe around each team.
While the Bears were eliminated from the playoffs a week later in an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams, confidence has gushed from Chicago ever since quarterback Caleb Williams capped an improbable comeback and a 25-point fourth-quarter barrage with the game-winning touchdown to DJ Moore to eliminate the Packers from the playoffs 31-27, thus ending their season on a five-game losing streak.
That game, combined with another improbable comeback against the Packers less than a month earlier, validated everything that coach Ben Johnson preached when he got the job about his team's approach to their rivals from up North.
From Johnson's comment during his introductory news conference -- when he said how much he enjoyed beating LaFleur twice a year when he was the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator -- to his "F--- the Packers" exclamation in the locker room after the playoff game, the Bears coach hasn't been shy about injecting himself into the rivalry.
Everyone in the Bears' locker room after Sunday's 23-12 win over the New York Jets had to know what was coming from Johnson at some point during his postgame speech. He saved it for the end.
"You guys know what next week is?" Johnson exclaimed.
"You guys know what next week is?" he repeated for emphasis. "Enough said."
Jordan Love's Packers beat Caleb Williams' Bears on Dec. 7, but Chicago has flipped the script with two straight wins and enter Sunday's game as road favorites. AP Photo/Morry Gash Meanwhile in Green Bay, the blown 21-3 lead in the playoff game hung over coach Matt LaFleur -- and all the high-ranking decision-makers in the Packers organization for that matter -- like the sword of Damocles. Just like in ancient Greek story, the sword has seemingly followed them ever since, just waiting to drop.
As much as Johnson has enjoyed poking the Packers since he got the job, LaFleur has taken a different approach, which he reiterated this week.
"This game is about players, and so we'll keep it about the players," LaFleur said. "I'm not the one out there playing, so I think that's always been my mentality, and we're going to keep it about those guys.
"And don't get me wrong, I love the rivalry. It's awesome. It's great. It's intense. You can feel it on game day. You can feel it throughout the course of the week, and also the significance. I mean, they're the defending North champions. So, what a great opportunity, great challenge for us in our home stadium to play against the defending champs."
The two teams meet again Sunday at Lambeau Field (1:00 p.m. ET, Fox) for the 214th time, playoffs included, in their storied histories. While only one game separates the Bears (3-1) and the Packers (2-2) in the NFC North standings, they look like organizations that have headed in opposite directions since the last meeting.
At one point, LaFleur was 11-0 against the Bears. Now, Chicago has won three of the past four.
This week, the Bears are road favorites against the Packers (-1.5, per DraftKings) for the first time since the 2006 season opener, and the Packers are home underdogs against anyone for the first time since Week 9 of the 2024 season against the Lions.
Flanked by his toddler son donning a cheese grater hat following Chicago's wild-card win, Moore tried to make sense of the shift that was taking place in this rivalry after catching his second winning touchdown in as many games against Green Bay
"To beat the Packers how we did and then just move on in the playoffs is amazing," Moore said on Jan. 10.
And then just move on.
Moore's delivery was given in such a matter-of-fact way that the words seemed to describe an expectation of victory in a rivalry that had been so one-sided for years.
That expectation created a carry-over effect for a team leaving its rebuild phase in the past as it transitioned into an aggressive contender expecting to repeat for the NFC North title in 2026.
"Winning helps," Bears special teams ace Josh Blackwell said. "I think us winning and knowing what that feels like and carrying that momentum into the season helps. Whereas I feel like they ended on the loss and haven't found their footing this season."
The makeup of the Bears is different now with Moore on the Buffalo Bills, but the edge Chicago gained by leveling the playing field with its heated rival remains within the walls of the locker room.
It has been that way since the offseason began. Even those who weren't a part of last season's series understood what those wins did to catapult Chicago into a new class of the NFL.
"I didn't really tune in too much about it because we were still in season ourselves," said defensive back Cam Lewis, who was with Buffalo during 2025. "Since I've been here in the spring, getting here it was just like, 'f--- the Packers.' This week now, we've been focused. Now let's tighten our focus even a little bit more. But it's just cool to be a part of something so historic. We just trying to go out there and get a win on Sunday, beat they ass and come back here."
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The Bears are seeking their first 4-1 start since the 2020 season and fourth win over the Packers since 2024. That would match their win total over the previous 15 seasons combined (2009-23), a 4-27 record against Green Bay which was the worst mark by any team against a division opponent during that span.
As the Bears' trajectory has gone upward, so has the outside belief in this organization as evidenced by the Bears being favored at Lambeau Field for the first time in 20 years.
And that's with a backup quarterback at the helm. Even after Williams went down with a hamstring injury in Week 2, Chicago hasn't lost its footing. The Bears lead the NFL with 1,716 yards of total offense, their most through four games in a season in franchise history, powered by the league's best run game and wins by both of their backup quarterbacks, Case Keenum and Tyson Bagent.
But the offense hasn't had to pull out wins on its own. The Bears have held opponents to fewer than 14 points in three straight games after allowing 37 during their opener at Carolina. Their 39 takeaways since the start of last season are the most in the NFL, including one in each of their past two meetings with Green Bay.
That backs the belief internally for a team that enters Week 5 with the upper hand.
"We just want to beat them real bad and make them quit," wide receiver Luther Burden III.
Shortly after one of those players arrived, he seemed confused when the subject of last season's collapse was brought up.
"How did it end, again?" the player asked clearly oblivious to the weight the Packers had been carrying around for months.
When reminded of the collapse against the Bears, the player's response was: "Oh yeah, that's right."
If only the Packers had an entire roster of players who weren't affected by it. If only Lambeau Field was full of coaches and executives who didn't have the scars from the living through it.
"When you end a season on a note like that, you spend a little more time looking at it," Packers quarterback Jordan Love said this week.
As LaFleur put it in the immediate aftermath of the collapse, "A lot of bad things happened."
Even in the wake of it all, LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst both received contract extensions shortly after. But neither could shake questions about the way last season ended in collapse -- losing twice to the Bears and ending the season on a five-game losing streak. Just about every time LaFleur or Gutekunst took questions this offseason, the end of last year inevitably came up.
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The entire organizational mantra after last season was "finish" -- as in finish games better and finish seasons better. In nearly every meeting all offseason, the idea of finishing came up. In every practice drill, it was emphasized.
"At the end of last season, we weren't finishing games," offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said this week. "So that was a big thing we talked about this offseason. Everything we do, talking about finishing. Making sure we're doing a better job with that."
So what did the Packers do when they opened this season?
They blew another lead.
"Still a work in progress, for sure," Stenavich admitted.
If any of the newcomers somehow didn't realize the sense of dread that hung over the Packers before this year's season opener, they certainly did after the Week 1 loss to the NFC North rival Minnesota Vikings -- a game in which the Packers led by 12 points in the second half only to give up 29 straight points.
"Stop talking about last year," said linebacker Zaire Franklin, who came to Green Bay in an offseason trade. "Because it's last year, and we can't change it. It happened. Now with that being said, we've got to look ourselves in the mirror and realize why we keep putting ourselves in this situation."
For Green Bay, Sunday's game represents a chance to flip the momentum and change the perception of where this team is headed.
"That's something we've got to prove to ourselves," Packers safety Evan Williams said. "That in order to be who we say we are, we have to show up like who we say we are every single week."
