Forget playoff seeding. Forget home-field advantage. Forget the analytics models predicting point spreads. Saturday night at Soldier Field is about something far older and far more primal: Green Bay versus Chicago, round 214 in the NFL's longest-running feud.
And if you watched these two teams tear each other apart twice in December, you already know this is going to be a war.
Two games, two heartbreaks
The Packers took the first meeting in Week 14, 28-21, at Lambeau Field. Caleb Williams threw what should have been the game-tying score in the final seconds, but cornerback Keisean Nixon jumped the route and came down with the interception in the end zone. Game over. Bears heartbreak.
Then came Week 16 at Soldier Field. The Packers led 16-6 with five minutes left. Matt LaFleur's squad looked ready to put a bow on the division race. Instead, Chicago clawed back, forced overtime, and Williams hit D.J. Moore on a 46-yard strike to steal the win 22-16. Green Bay heartbreak.
"Hell yeah, we want Chicago," safety Javon Bullard said after the Packers' regular season finale against Minnesota. When pushed about whether he wanted another shot at the Bears, especially given the painful overtime loss at Soldier Field, Bullard didn't hesitate.
The feeling is mutual.
Ben Johnson's arrival changed everything
Let's not pretend the Bears should be here. This franchise hasn't made the playoffs since 2020. They went 7-10 last year. But first-year head coach Ben Johnson walked into Halas Hall and somehow turned this roster into an 11-6 division champion.
Chicago lost its regular season finale to Detroit, 19-16. The Packers didn't have anything to play for and rested their starters against Minnesota. Neither team enters the playoffs on a high. But records don't tell the full story here.
"Good opponent, and we're fairly evenly matched," Johnson said when asked about facing Green Bay. "I have a lot of respect for how well they're coached and the talent level they have in that building. I expect it to be another exciting game."
That's coach-speak for: buckle up.
What to watch Saturday night
For Chicago, this is about Caleb Williams proving he can win a playoff game. The rookie has shown flashes of brilliance—those touchdown strikes to Moore, the scramble ability, the arm talent—but also the kind of late-game mistakes that haunt you in January. That interception against Nixon in Week 14? Williams had time. He forced the throw anyway.
For Green Bay, it's about Jordan Love's health. The Packers' quarterback was knocked out of the Week 16 loss with a concussion and sat out the final two games of the regular season. He'll be back Saturday. How rusty will he be? The Bears blitzed him relentlessly at Soldier Field, and their defensive front will be hunting him again.
LaFleur was already thinking about preparation when the matchup was confirmed.
"I think every year is a different year and different experience, and you've got to learn from your past, no doubt about it," LaFleur said. "The urgency needs to be there from the moment we start preparing, which is really right now."
History is watching
The Packers and Bears have faced each other 213 times in the regular season and playoffs combined. Only two of those games have been playoff contests. The first was in 1941—yes, 1941—when the Bears beat the Packers 33-14 en route to an NFL Championship. The second was the 2010 NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field, when Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay to a Super Bowl berth.
Saturday adds another chapter. Kickoff is 7 p.m. CT on Prime Video, with a local broadcast on Fox 32 in Chicago and affiliate markets in Green Bay and Milwaukee.
The Bears are 1.5-point favorites. The line feels meaningless. When these teams meet, numbers don't matter. Only history does.
And on Saturday, history gets another update.