Good morning, Bears fans!
Rough night for the Sox, but is history on their side? Chicago teams are 3-0 over Cleveland squads in winner-take-all games, as WGN’s Josh Frydman points out.
Interestingly, that doesn’t include any Bears-Browns title games. While both teams won a combined 16 titles in the pre-Super Bowl era, Cleveland didn’t join the NFL until 1950. The closest their paths came to crossing was the Bears’ title in 1963 and the Browns’ title in 1964, the last championship that franchise has won.
Welcome to all the new faces here, by the way! The Bears By 7 community is now over 1,400 Bears fans strong!
HEADLINES
Kyle Monangai’s status in question?
A Thursday DNP for the running back, who’s dealing with both a thumb injury and turf toe. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports Monangai is hoping to play through it. Keep those fingers crossed.
D’Andre Swift returns to practice
Going into Green Bay without either back would be worrisome, so at least there’s good news on this front. Joe Thuney, Darnell Wright and Jonah Jackson were also back at practice after Wednesday DNPs.
Packers sign Dingle
Green Bay adding a practice squad linebacker named Jack Dingle isn’t really newsworthy; I just wanted to get that headline in here.
GAME INFO
Bears at Packers
Sunday, Noon • Lambeau Field
Fox 32 • ESPN 1000
Kenny Albert, Greg Olsen, Pam Oliver
Packers lead series 109-98-6
Bears -2.5, O/U 45.5
Postgame on Bears By 7 YouTube
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THE BIG ITEM
‘The Ben Johnson Era’ has arrived for the Bears-Packers rivalry
I’m a Bears fan from the ‘Oregon Trail generation,’ which means I can easily divide the Bears-Packers rivalry of my lifetime into three neat chapters.
The Mike Ditka Era: Bears routinely whip the Packers unless Don Majkowski and instant replay are involved.
The Brett Favre Era: The arrival of No. 4 turns the tide just as the Bears take a 23-game lead in the series. The Bears regain their footing late in Favre’s tenure, though not for long …
The Aaron Rodgers Era: Complete and utter dominance as Rodgers becomes arguably the most hated athlete in Chicago sports history. Packers overtake the Bears for the all-time series record in 2017 and haven’t looked back.
Of course, there’s been a little lapse between eras since Rodgers was traded to the Jets in 2023. We waited in dread to see if Jordan Love might make it three-for-three in terms of Bears-killing quarterbacks and have been relieved to learn that won’t be the case.
Even better, it appears as if Ben Johnson might be the real center of the rivalry’s universe for the foreseeable future.
Johnson, of course, has gone 2-1 against the Packers since joining the Bears in 2025, a record that includes two epic victories at Soldier Field within the span of a few weeks last winter.
That alone would be enough tinder to start a good blaze, but Johnson has poured plenty of other gasoline on the fire.
First with his comments about enjoying “beating Matt LaFleur twice a year” at his introductory press conference, then with his fly-by handshake following the playoff victory and cries of “f--- the Packers” in the postgame locker room.
“I don’t like that team,” Johnson explained a day later.
While LaFleur hasn’t really responded in kind — he likely has enough problems — plenty of Packers players have taken the bait and let the hate flow through them.
Check out a sampling of comments this week:
OL Jordan Morgan (via The Athletic): “I mean, he’s dissing us. He’s dissing the Packers. A lot of people in here … take that to heart. And we got a chance to prove to everybody on Sunday that we are the best team.”
S Evan Williams: “It’s easy to have a camera in front of you and say whatever you want. That’s not going to stop you from getting hit in the mouth on any given Sunday.”
LB Zaire Franklin (via NBC 26): “It’s a lot of bad blood, a lot of bad blood. A lot of genuine dislike, which is a little different than nowadays. You know, nowadays, most rivalries are just on social media and [the] offseason you’re hanging out. I don’t think nobody wanna hang out with the Bears in the offseason.”
The best part about that sampling is that Franklin didn’t join Green Bay until this offseason and has never even played in a Bears-Packers game! For him to have an immediate understanding of the stakes shows you where the rivalry currently stands.
And it’s certainly not where it was the last 30 years, when Packers fans made a cottage industry of telling anyone who would listen that they actually considered the Vikings their real rival.
While LaFleur may be right that the rivalry is decided by the players, there’s no doubt the tone is being set by the coach south of the border.
After 30 years of having it set by a quarterback north of it, I can say I like it much better this way. Let’s hope it can last just as long.
If not longer.
THREE STANDOUT STATS
45.5 percent
The Packers own the league’s highest three-and-out rate.
3-15
The Bears have won only three games at Lambeau since winning four straight in Green Bay from 2004–07.
9
Penalties per game committed by Bears opponents, seventh-most in the NFL.
WORTH YOUR TIME
“That ain’t me”: D’Andre Swift talked about his early fumble troubles on Thursday afternoon. (ESPN)
Dan Wiederer dives deep into the Ben Johnson-Packers relationship. (The Athletic)
Jason Lieser on LaFleur’s struggles with the Packers offense. (Sun-Times)
EXTRA POINT
BEARS BY 7 POLL
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