Packers vs. Bears=Football Heaven
Last Updated on Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00 Written by John Rehor Saturday, 01 January 2011 15:21
It all comes down to Sunday.
The Green Bay Packers vs. the Chicago Bears, with playoffs on the line for the Packers.
Two hated rivals, separated by a mere three hours, playing in their 91st season, with so much history, so much tradition, and so much bad blood between them, this is the game of the year in the NFL.
For the past week, I have been thinking about whether this is the most hyped Packers/Bears in years. With as much that has taken place in the 90's and 2000's, with names such as Favre, White, Butler, Rodgers, and Driver dominating the history books for the Packers, they are equally matched with names such as Singletary, Payton, Perry, and Urlacher by the Bears.
Special names...special teams.
As the Bears head up I-43 toward Green Bay, I wonder if they realize what they are heading into. A swarm of green and gold, running with momentum, and coming off the dismantling of the Giants. The truth is they are division champs. The other truth they are facing a Packers team which is on a mission. They have no options. They have to win. Lose, and they go home.
The schedule writers could not be happier. Packers against the Bears in the last game of the season, with playoff implications for the Packers, is exactly what they wanted. Lambeau Field is going to be rocking, and all of Packer Nation will be cheering on their beloved Packers, watching the Bears sulk back to Chicago, licking their wounds.
In recent years, I have felt the rivalry dissipate a little bit. The Vikings, in particular with the addition of Favre for the past two seasons, have overtaken the obsession of Packers fans, with so much hatred thrown in the direction of the purple and white. While the Favre soap opera may have somewhat tempered the Packers/Bears rivalry, it never went away. It just took a small break. That break time ended last Sunday.
So to answer the question of whether this the most hyped Packers/Bears game in years? Absolutely.
Words cannot begin to describe how pumped I am for this game. Maybe it's still some of the buzz coming off last week's game. Perhaps it's the garbage coming out of the Bears world, and I want nothing more than to shut them up. One thing I am certain of is at approximately 630pm tomorrow, the Packers will show they are not only superior to the Bears, but a message will have been sent to the NFL: watch out for Green Bay in the playoffs.
Packers versus Bears: it does not get any better than this.
