The Packers and Bears have been playing each other since 1921 and have met more times (196, regular season and post-season) than any other NFL teams. It would be a continuous annual rivalry since that first meeting in 1921 were it not for the players strike in 1982 which saw both Packers-Bears games cancelled due to the dispute.
For nearly the whole of the series, the Packers have trailed the Bears – only inching ahead in the early 1930s (when the Packers won 3 consecutive NFL Championships) and again in 2017…the Packers now leading the overall series 96-94-6.(To further highlight how close this series is – the Packers now lead the series in point scored – just 32 points ahead…3,393 to 3,361)
Some anecdotes with regard to wins and losses in the series:
In their long and storied history the Packers and Bears have met only twice in the post-season – with the series being level 1-1. They first met in the post-season in 1941, when the Bears won 33-14 in a game to decide the Western Division Championship and they didn’t lock horns again until after the 2010 season, when the Packers won 21-14 in the NFC Championship game.
For the Packers to get back ahead in the series, as they currently are, is remarkable when you consider that in both the early 1960s and 1990s the Bears led the series by as many as 24 games.
Conversely, the Packers have never been more than 2 games ahead in the overall series (1931, 1932 and 2017).
Between 1994 and 1998, the Packers won 10 consecutive games – the longest winning streak in the series. This streak came in the middle of a stretch of games between 1992 and 2003 when the Packers won 20 out of the 23 games played in the series.
The Packers longest losing streak is 8 games (losing every game in the four seasons from 1985 to 1988, inclusive). These consecutive wins came at the end of a period when the Bears won 10 out of 11 games played.
The Packers worst decade in terms of wins and losses in the series was the 1940s, when the Packers went 4-16-1.
The Packers best decade in terms of wins and losses in the series is the current decade (2010-17), which the Packers lead 14-3.
The 6 ties in the series all came before the NFL instituted the one-period overtime rules. The last tied game between the two teams coming in 1953.
In 1995, the Packers and Bears played each other for the 150th time – this game was doubly significant for the Packers as it was also the 1000th game in their history (regular season and post-season).
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