Bears Blitz

Published by Ross Read on July 12, 2013
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Since 1921, The Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers have engaged in the league’s longest and most heated rivalry. The two sides have met 186 times with the Bears winning 92 of the matchups. Close proximity, gritty battles and hated foes are just a few of the reasons why a Bears fan hates the Packers. 

No player haunts Chicago fans more than Brett Favre. He was able to win 11 consecutive times in Chicago, but it was a meeting at Green Bay back in 1995 that cemented hatred for him from Bears fans.

In the November meeting of that season, the Bears were 6-4 and on top of the division, one game over the Packers. Favre was not supposed to play due to an ankle injury and had not practiced all week. A loss for the Bears meant a tie in the standings and a season sweep to Green Bay. Not only did Favre play, but he torched the Bears to the tune of 336 yards and five touchdowns. The Packers went on the win the division while the Bears finished third. 

The name Charles Martin brings up terrible memories for Jim McMahon and the Bears. In a meeting the year after the Bears’ Super Bowl win, Martin inexplicably picked up McMahon and threw him to the ground, causing McMahon to separate his shoulder and miss the rest of the season. The Bears lost in the divisional round of the playoffs that year and McMahon was never the same again. Martin’s action garnered a two game suspension, which was the longest in league history at the time. 

You can credit the November 23, 1924 meeting between the two teams as the first time the league ever saw an ejection. The Bears’ Frank Hanny and Packers’ Walter Voss were tossed after a war of words turned into punches thrown. The Bears won the game 3-0. 

The first playoff meeting between the teams took place in December of 1941. The Bears defeated the Packers 33-14 and went on to win their fourth NFL Championship. The only other playoff meeting between the two sides was the 2011 NFC Championship Game where the Packers defeated the Bears 21-14. 

Vince Lombardi was a fantastic coach, but who really uses the “Free Kick” rule? He of course did back in 1964 to stun the Bears into defeat. In case you don’t know, if a player calls for a fair catch, the team has the right to attempt a free kick from the spot of the catch. It was not well known back when Paul Hornung attempted and made the kick. 

The game back in December of 2008 still remains the coldest game on record at Soldier Field. With a game-time temperature of two degrees and a wind chill of -13, the Bears had to rally from a 14-3 halftime deficit to defeat the Packers in overtime. Bears defensive end Alex Brown blocked Mason Crosby’s game winning attempt in regulation, allowing Robbie Gould the opportunity to hit a 38-yard field goal in overtime for the victory. 

How much do you cringe when you hear “Go Pack Go” chanted over and over again at Lambeau Field? What about the feeling that takes over your body when you see somebody in an orange hunting jacket with a cheesehead hat on? Stop me if you have heard this one: “What do you call a Packer fan with half a brain? Gifted.” 

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