Jordan Love and Caleb Williams light up a new era for the NFL’s oldest rivalry as the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears meet in the playoffs | NFL News

The NFL welcomes the latest installment of its oldest rivalry as the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears face off in a rare blockbuster playoff matchup Saturday night.

The familiar football foes first met in November 1921 when Chicago, then known as the Staleys, defeated the Packers 20-0. Since then, Green Bay has built a record of 109-99-6 in a series that has seen both teams have dominant eras against each other.

The franchises have split a total of 211 seasons before their NFL-record 213th game, but have only met in the playoffs twice during that span.

The Bears defeated the Packers 33-14 in the 1941 divisional round, before Green Bay posted a 21-14 victory in the 2010 NFC Championship Game as Aaron Rodgers led the Packers to Super Bowl XLV glory.

Ben Johnson’s Bears will now host Matt LaFleur’s Packers at Soldier Field after clinching the NFC North title for the first time since 2018 en route to the No. 2 seed.

“We talk about it every time it’s Bears week, just to understand the history of the Packers and the Bears — the oldest rivalry in the NFL,” Packers quarterback Jordan Love said.

“It’s something that I didn’t really know before I got here, and then I think since I’ve been here, it’s something that you just learn about.”

Love is ready to return under center after being sidelined since entering the concussion protocol following a helmet-to-helmet hit during the second quarter of Green Bay’s 22-16 overtime loss to Chicago on Dec. 20.

It would be part of a four-game losing streak to end the regular season for LaFleur’s limping Packers, who return to the playoffs for the third straight season behind Love as starting quarterback. The 2020 first-round pick, and successor to Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau Field, slumped to three interceptions as the Packers were defeated 22-10 by the eventual champion Philadelphia Eagles in last season’s Wild Card round, which marked his third and most recent playoff start.

In contrast, he had emphatically announced himself in his playoff debut two seasons earlier when he threw three touchdown passes to stun the Dallas Cowboys in a 48-32 victory.

Love finished the regular season 291-of-439 passing for 3,381 yards and 23 touchdowns to just six interceptions in an offense that struggled with injuries to star tight end Tucker Kraft in addition to wide receivers Christian Watson and Jayden Reed.

“I have a lot of confidence in him,” said head coach LaFleur. “There’s no one else I’d rather have than Jordan.”

The notable absentees spilled over to the defense as star player Micah Parsons suffered a torn ACL in Week 15 after arriving in a trade from the Dallas Cowboys before the campaign.

High projections as Super Bowl contenders would be tempered, spiraling form would warrant concern and two losses to the Bears in the regular season would make Green Bay an unlikely underdog heading into Saturday.

“You look at Green Bay, they’re a team that came into the season and brought in Micah Parsons, they had the Super Bowl on their mind,” said Sky Sports NFLThis is Phoebe Schecter. “We talk about teams that are on different timelines all the time. The Packers are kind of in a ‘have to have it’ situation because Matt LaFleur has been there for a little while.

“Jordan Love, they did all the right things, they let him sit behind Aaron Rodgers, build his way. You build the defense. You get him to a good spot. You also have your stars at receiver. You have to be able to finish that against a division rival.

“I just think there’s more pressure on the Packers right now than there is on the Bears. The Bears have a first-year head coach in Ben Johnson, and with what Caleb Williams has done, you have to look at this as essentially the first year for him. I just think that makes things very interesting, but the hatred towards each other is unbelievable.”

The Bears have emerged as contenders under rookie head coach Johnson, who established himself as one of the league’s most in-demand football minds during his time as offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions before choosing to work with 2024 No. 1 overall pick Williams.

Williams had entered the NFL attached to Patrick Mahomes comparisons. Different players, sure, but Williams was welcomed as the latest injection of off-platform artistry and off-structure absurdity seemingly customary to any talented young quarterback looking to come out of college.

With question marks over accuracy issues, there has also been an appreciation for the magical moments as the pilot of a revamped Bears offense under Johnson.

“I think I’m built for these moments, mentality-wise and the way I’ve worked,” Williams said. “I have already participated in several big matches and several big matches between rivals. In those moments, I think I can provide a spark to the team.

“I think I can do whatever my team needs me to do, whether it’s stay in the pocket, whether it’s a run, whether it’s a scrimmage, whether it’s anything, hand the ball over 30 times and be energetic about it. Regardless, that’s where I’m at, where I’m going to be over the next couple of weeks, hopefully.”

Williams completed 330 of 568 passes for an NFL-low completion percentage of 58.1 among qualified starters, while throwing for 3,942 yards and 27 touchdowns to seven interceptions.

“It’s incredible to me that statistic and I think it’s so misleading. He ranks last in the NFL with only a 58 percent completion rate, he’s not that type of player,” said Sky Sports NFLIt’s Neil Reynolds.

“He’s a great playmaker. He’s a big reason why the Bears had 127 big plays – that is, runs of 10 yards or more, passes of 20 yards or more – to rank second in the NFL.

“My only concern with the Bears is they don’t do it quarter to quarter and sometimes they have to turn it on and rally late like they did against the Packers the week before Christmas. That would be a concern for me.”

Williams, who helped the Bears end an 11-game losing streak to the Packers in his rookie year, also rushed for 388 yards and three scores as part of the NFL’s No. 3-ranked rushing attack led by D’Andre Swift (1,087 yards, nine touchdowns) and Kyle Monangai (783 yards, five touchdowns). Chicago’s defense leads the rankings with 33 takeaways on the year, including 23 interceptions.

The Week 16 contest between the NFC North rivals laid bare the drama that could await Saturday as Williams spoke about the start of his young NFL career to pick off DJ Moore in an overtime thriller. In doing so, he brought his fourth-quarter comeback total to six, the best in the NFL.

Rodgers once claimed to “own” the Bears, such was Green Bay’s dominance in the game. But the rules of the game have stabilized.

Watch the Carolina Panthers vs. Los Angeles Rams live on Sky Sports NFL from 9:30 p.m. Saturday, followed by the Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears at 1 a.m. Sunday.