Rastall Ramblings: Packers Get Shot at Redemption With Playoff Rubber Match

In the 105-year history of the NFL’s oldest rivalry, there have been just two meetings between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears in the postseason. This Saturday night marks the third such meeting between the two and it comes at a fascinating inflection point in the rivalry’s history.

The new Chicago regime of head coach Ben Johnson and starting quarterback Caleb Williams have not shied away about their desire to take it to the Packers and turn the tide in a series that has been dominated by Green Bay for three decades. Of course, proclamations that the Bears would soon flip the script in the Packers rivalry have been a constant at introductory press conferences for new Chicago head coaches, but to little avail.

It’s possible that things could be different this time. The Bears gave their fans the franchise’s most satisfying win over the Packers in years a few short weeks ago at Soldier Field, where Chicago rallied from a late double-digit deficit and took advantage of a Green Bay meltdown for a miraculous overtime win.

That allowed the Bears to leapfrog the Packers for good in the race for the NFC North as they went on to clinch the division for the first time since 2018. That singular win — especially given the nature of the way it unfolded and the fact that Packers QB Jordan Love was knocked out early with a concussion — does not automatically represent a sea change in the rivalry. But that type of win followed by the Bears winning the playoff rubber match would, at the very least, send the Packers into the 2026 season with something clearly to prove against Chicago for the first time in a long time.

The flip side of it is what makes this such a tantalizing rematch for Packers fans.

This has been a dream season for the Bears. The Ben Johnson hire has paid off right out of the gates and Caleb Williams looks improved after a shaky rookie season in 2024. Yet it could all come crashing down with a home loss in the playoffs to their archrivals, which would be one hell of a bitter pill to have to swallow.

This feels like a coin flip game in about every way. Though they are clearly good, the Bears have lived a charmed existence in close games throughout much of the regular season, and that tends to come back to bite those types of teams at some point in the playoffs.

The Packers, on the other hand, have seen their defense fall off a cliff since Micah Parsons tore his ACL against Denver last month. The good news is their offense is looking as healthy as you could hope for going into the postseason (especially if right tackle Zach Tom is able to go and bolster the offensive line), but Love and Co. will likely need to pick up right where they left off before Love’s concussion in order to compensate for their defensive shortcomings.

No matter who wins, there are built-in excuses ready to go for those who want them. Green Bay fans can point to the defensive injuries, especially Parsons, that have kneecapped their hopes of Super Bowl contention. Chicago fans can point out that they were way ahead of schedule this year and nobody expected them to win the division anyway.

But this is Packers vs. Bears. In the week leading up to their NFC Championship Game meeting in January 2011, I fondly remember a rock station out of Appleton (105.7 WAPL) playing the Happy Schnapps Combo’s song “The Bears Still Suck” at the top of the hour every single hour.

This is not the sort of game that will lend itself to reasonable dissection and discourse after it’s over. It’s all primal joy/rage, with an unworldly amount of bragging rights to enjoy the whole offseason at the end of the rainbow. What’s more fun and nerve-racking than that?