Bears-Packers Rivalry

The Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers share the NFL’s longest-running rivalry, with 213 meetings between them. It started in 1921, when the Packers joined the American Professional Football Association (APFA). Since then, the two teams have played each other every season except for 1922 and 1982, and they’ve met at least twice in every non-strike year since 1924. Both clubs began as company teams—the Bears as the Decatur Staleys (a works team for A. E. Staley Manufacturing) and the Packers backed by the Indian Packing Company—and are among the league’s oldest franchises. They’ve been in the same conference or division since the NFL set up its conference system in 1933, first in the Western Conference until 1970, then in the NFC Central (renamed the NFC North in 2002) after the AFL–NFL merger.

For decades, Chicago held a commanding lead in the series, at two points pulling ahead by 24 games. But Green Bay’s standout quarterback play, combined with the Bears’ inconsistency, allowed the Packers to take the overall lead in 2017. The Packers now lead the series 109–98–6. They’ve met three times in the playoffs, with Chicago winning two of those matchups. Both franchises rank among the top five in all-time win-loss records and hold the league record for most total wins; Green Bay passed Chicago for the all-time wins lead in 2022. Together, they boast 77 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees (41 from Chicago, 36 from Green Bay) and have won 22 NFL championships (13 for the Packers, 9 for the Bears)—the highest and second-highest totals in league history. They’ve also combined for five Super Bowl victories: four by Green Bay and one by Chicago.

Notable early moments include the first meeting in 1921, when the Chicago Staleys (renamed the Bears the next year) shut out the Packers 20–0, with Gaylord “Pete” Stinchcomb scoring the game’s first touchdown on a 45-yard run. In 1924, the rivalry produced the NFL’s first ejections for fighting, as the Bears’ Frank Hanny and Packers’ Tillie Voss were tossed before halftime after trading punches. The Packers shut out the Bears five straight times from 1928 to 1930, a streak that included three blankings in 1929 en route to Green Bay’s first NFL title.

In 1935, rookie Don Hutson caught an 83-yard touchdown pass from Arnie Herber on the game’s first play—his first career reception and score—for the only points in a 7–0 Packers win. A year later, during a 30–3 Bears victory, frustrated Packers fan Emmett Platten ran onto the field and punched Bears lineman Ted Rosequist, knocking him out; Platten faced no punishment beyond public criticism from a local newspaper. In 1941, the undefeated Bears—who had outscored opponents by 157 points in their first five games—suffered their only loss of the season, 16–14 to the Packers, prompting accusations of a fixed game and claims of a “secret” Packers defensive scheme.

That same year, the teams met in their first playoff game, a 33–14 Bears win to decide the Western Division title; Chicago went on to win the NFL championship. The highest-scoring game in the series came in 1955, when the Bears built a 45–3 lead and won 52–31 at Soldier Field.