Greatest rivalry, or is it a rivalry? Packers seek continued domination of Bears

On opposite sides and years apart, Adam Stenavich and Josh Myers both played in one of the best rivalries in college football: Michigan-Ohio State.

"THE best rivalry in college football," Stenavich corrected.

Their shared experiences made them uniquely qualified this past week to discuss Sunday's 209th matchup in what the two men believe is the NFL's greatest rivalry.

"I feel like those are the two best rivalries in football — Ohio State-Michigan and Packers-Bears. I think they're the best rivalry at their respective levels," Myers said before the Packers (6-3) departed for Chicago in advance of their showdown with the reeling Bears (4-5) at Soldier Field.

"Of course, I'm biased, because I've played in both."

Stenavich, the Packers offensive coordinator, was born and raised in Marshfield, roughly two hours from Lambeau Field. He was a three-year starter at left tackle for the Wolverines, who were 1-2 against the Buckeyes during his time in Ann Arbor — including a 35-21 win in 2003 (when Michigan was ranked fifth in the country and Ohio State was ranked No. 4) that sent the Wolverines to the Rose Bowl.

Myers, the Packers' fourth-year starting center, spent four seasons in Columbus and was a two-year starter for the Buckeyes. He never lost to Michigan, going 3-0 before the 2020 game was canceled because of a COVID-19 outbreak in Michigan's program — marking the first time in a rivalry that began in 1918 that "The Game" wasn't played.

And so, as they got ready to be part of another Packers-Bears NFC North showdown, Stenavich and Myers were asked to ponder this: Are NFL rivalries anything like college rivalries? Or are they more about how the respective fan bases feel about their arch enemies than how players and coaches view them?

"That's a good question. Wow," Myers said. "That's one of the best questions I've ever gotten."

The answers were harder to discern.

Asked if he hated the Bears as a kid growing up, Stenavich smiled and replied, "Absolutely. I was a huge Cheesehead growing up. Yeah. You bet."

But when asked if he hated the Bears, Myers hedged — "I mean, I don't love them," he said with a laugh — and pointed to his former Buckeyes teammates (like ex-Bears quarterback Justin Fields) and Packers teammates (like current Bears tight end Marcedes Lewis and former Bears offensive lineman Lucas Patrick) who remain his friends despite playing for Chicago.

"It was just so different. Because every time we played Michigan, the fate of our season was on the line. Every. Time. If we lose, our season is basically over," Myers said. "That was every time we played them. So, it was different from that perspective."

Remember when quarterback Aaron Rodgers shouted, "I own you! I still own you!" at Bears fans after a touchdown run during the Packers' 2021 victory in Chicago? Myers, who'd left that game with a knee injury suffered on the Packers' fourth offensive play, was on a medical table in the visitors' locker room at Soldier Field and watching the game on TV when Rodgers delivered his proclamation.

"I was obviously very upset at the time, but I was like, 'Oh my god.' I couldn't believe it," Myers remembered. "I was like, 'Holy (expletive).'"

The way the rivalry has shifted in the Packers' favor over the past three decades deserves a similar reaction.

Packers domination since 1992

The Packers have won 10 straight games against the Bears, all under coach Matt LaFleur (10-0). During that streak, the Packers have a plus-127 scoring differential, a plus-16 turnover differential and have allowed 20 or fewer points in eight of the 10 wins.

Including their victory in the 2010 NFC Championship Game at Chicago, the Packers have won 25 of the last 30 meetings between the rivals at Soldier Field, including 13 of the last 14.

But wait, there's more.

Since the start of the 1992 season — Brett Favre's first season as the Packers' starting quarterback — the Packers hold a stunning 50-15 advantage in the all-time series, which stood at 81-57-6 in favor of the Bears after Chicago's 30-10 victory at Soldier Field on Oct. 25, 1992, Favre's first start against them.

It now stands at 107-95-6 (including playoffs) in the Packers' favor.

"Is that a rivalry?" Packers cornerback/kick returner Keisean Nixon asked rhetorically on Friday.

'The realest'

While Nixon's one-liner was funny, it does make a larger point: In a league where yesterday's opponent could be tomorrow's teammate given the amount of player movement in the professional ranks, is there an intensity to such NFL matchups?

Surveying roughly a dozen Packers players throughout the week, opinions were mixed.

Packers safety Xavier McKinney, who came over in free agency from the New York Giants and has emerged as the defense's unquestioned leader, played collegiately at Alabama and insisted he feels as strongly about his first Packers-Bears game as he felt about the Crimson Tide's annual Iron Bowl showdowns with in-state rival Auburn.

"I don't think it's anything fake about this. Honestly," said McKinney, whose perspective might've been a tad skewed given his personal beef with Bears wide receiver D.J. Moore, whom McKinney believes slighted him on a podcast during the offseason. "In the league, I think rivalries are extremely real. And I think this is one of the realest ones that we've got in this league."

But second-year wide receiver Jayden Reed, who grew up in Chicago as a Bears fan, tip-toed around the subject, clearly not wanting to give the Bears any bulletin-board fodder.

"I was a Bears fan, but I just really liked to watch football," said Reed, who caught six passes for 160 yards in his two games against the Bears last season — and who has roughly 15 family members and friends coming to Sunday's game in his hometown. "I also looked up to players on the Packers like Randall Cobb, all those great receivers that played here. Plus, it was kind of hard being a Bears fan at that time.

"At the end of the day, the goal is to win any game you play. That's how I look at it at this level. For me, especially a division opponent, that's a must-have."

And running back Josh Jacobs, who came over from the Las Vegas Raiders as a free agent in March, found himself torn.

"I know the history. But man, I'm not going to lie, whenever I'm on that field, whoever I'm going against, I take every game personal. I take every game like it could be my last game," Jacobs said. "But these types of games, there's just a little bit more to it, a little bit more bragging rights, a little bit more, you know. You walk with a little different type of aura."

History 101

Perhaps most telling about where the so-called rivalry stands was how the history of the matchup was presented to the Packers players, who make up the NFL's youngest roster for the second consecutive year.

On Wednesday, Packers director of football technology Mike Halbach and the team's extensive staff put together a retrospective on the rivalry's history. But LaFleur admitted Friday that it wasn't his idea and wasn't created at his behest.

"It kind of got presented to me by Mike Halbach and I was like, 'Yeah, that sounds great,'" LaFleur said. "It wasn't too long, but I thought it was enough.

"We still have a young team. Sometimes guys don't recognize the importance. But still, for me, it always comes back to, it's an NFC North opponent. That's as important as any game."

Asked if he thought the presentation, which began with black-and-white, leather helmet-era footage and ran through last season's two victories, was well-received by his players, LaFleur said, "I don't know. I didn't ask for feedback or anything like that. I think we have enough to worry about within ourselves each and every day."

Although several players said they enjoyed the video — "I mean, they were damn near fighting on the field," wide receiver Bo Melton marveled, "and I'm watching like, 'This is the real deal'" — it obviously wasn't nearly as important as, say, the film of the Bears' recent losses to Washington, Arizona and New England, which served as the basis for the players' scouting of their upcoming opponent.

Which is why Stenavich's perspective, despite never playing in a Packers-Bears game during his two seasons as a player in Green Bay (2006-07), seemed to have the sharpest perspective on what the rivalry means in the midst of the NFL's 17-game regular-season grind.

"When you go back and look at this history, you're like, 'Wow, this is a big deal.' I think that's great for any rookie or young guy who's coming in, anyone new to the Packers, to understand what this game's all about," Stenavich said.

"Going through a 17-game schedule, things can get tedious. So anytime you can emphasize something or get the guys fired up a little bit more for things, I think that's a good thing."