Bears-Packers prediction: And the winner is ...
Bears, 27-20
It remains to be seen if Ben Johnson's offense can hide Tyson Bagent's flaws long-term (if necessary), but experience matters in Johnson's offense (Jared Goff took to it much more quickly than Caleb Williams) and Bagent figures to be better in his second start than he was in his first — even in the unfriendly confines of Lambeau Field.
The Ditka Factor
Mike Ditka's powerful personality elicited both reverence and ridicule (and exagerration and caricature, as in "The Superfans" skit on Saturday Night Live), but everything about him — including every cliche — was authentic.
The Bears-Packers rivalry is Exhibit A. Current Bears coach Ben Johnson already has found success in stoking the Bears-Packers rivalry, but it's largely concocted, with a manufactured gripe with Packers coach Matt LaFleur, literally from Day 1 on the job ("I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year."),
That still works for Bears fans — and for the Bears, who memorably beat the Packers in the regular season and in the playoffs in Soldier Field last season. But the animosity of the Bears-Packers rivalry under Ditka was much more real and organic. Ditka publicly feuded with Packers coach Forrest Gregg — stemming from a 1984 exhibition game when Ditka felt the Packers were pouring it on at the end. That led to Ditka's use of 345-pound (massive in those days) defensive tackle William "The Refigerator" Perry in the backfield on Monday Night Football in 1985, which led to multiple cheap-shots in the rematch at Lambeau Field — Packers cornerback Mark Lee dragging Walter Payton out of bounds and over the Packers bench (he was ejected), and Packers safety Ken Stills dropping Matt Suhey with a blatant late-hit (he was fined $500) — a hit Stills reportedly said was ordered by the coaching staff.
And then the most damaging cheap shot of all following season, when Packers defensive end Charles Martin viciously body-slammed Bears quarterback Jim McMahon after McMahon had thrown a pass. Martin was wearing a "hit-list" towel with McMahon's No. 9 at the top. He was suspended two games, but the Bears got the worst of it — McMahon was out for the season with a shoulder injury and the 14-2 Bears lost to the Redskins in their playoff opener, with Doug Flutie at quarterback.
So of course the Bears-Packers rivalry is a fitting backdrop for the Bears' first game after Ditka passed away at 86 on Friday. You know Johnson — who in a very different way has the similar drive and determination that made Ditka tick — will invoke Ditka's name and most of all, his spirit, to bring out the best in his team Sunday. The only question is how.
The Bears have a history of responding to the emotion of an icon or key figure passing away during the season. And the Bears-Packers rivalry is one of the great chapters in that history — an improbable 14-13 Bears victory at Lambeau Field in 1999 after Payton had died at 45 earlier that week, with Bryan Robinson blocking Ryan Longwell's 28-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the game.
But with all due respect to the memory of Walter Payton, it never mattered more than in 1979, when George "Mugs" Halas, Jr. the son of founder and owner George Halas, died suddenly at 54 on the morning of the Bears' final regular-season game against the Cardinals. The Bears were 9-6, but needed not only a victory, but had to make up a 33-point scoring differential on the Redskins for a potential tie-breaker for the wild-card berth. The Bears, who had averaged 6.3 points in their previous three games, routed the Cardinals 42-6 to take the point-differential lead over the Redskins — and it came into play when the Cowboys scored two late touchdowns to beat the Redskins 35-34 at Texas Stadium later that day.
Whether its coincidence or not, rallying to win in those emotional times has been a Bears theme. In 2020, the Bears beat the Falcons 30-26 in Atlanta the week that Gale Sayers died. And in 2023, they beat the Commanders 40-20 at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. hours after Dick Butkus died.
In fact, the one time the Bears failed to respond with a victory, was ironically under Mike Ditka. In 1983, when the Bears played the Rams at Anaheim Stadium five days after George Halas died, the Bears — wearing a "GSH" patch on their jersey shoulder for the first time — lost 21-14.
But back then, Ditka was just warming up — and coaching a development team with a little more even temperament than fear and bombast. He was in his second season — his first full season after the 1982 players strike.
"If we continue to play hard, good things will happen," Ditka said after that game.
And he was right. While he could not do it that day, Ditka would honor Halas's legacy from that point forward. The Bears were 6-13 under Ditka after that Rams game. But they won five of their final six games after losing to the Rams in 1983 and were 67-18 overall through the 1988 season — winning Super Bowl XX and establishing Ditka's legacy as the new standard by which every Bears coach would be measured.
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