(WNFL/PACKERS) – What started back in July with training camp sets the stage for the playoffs Sunday at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
It’s the regular season finale in the NFL as the Packers host the Chicago Bears.
Here’s what you need to know: It is the first time in the history of the series that the Packers will host the Bears in the season finale in back-to-back years. Green Bay won, 17-9, last season in Week 18 to clinch a spot in the playoffs.
- It is the fourth time (2010, 2020, 2023) that the two have ended the regular season at Lambeau Field. u The Packers have 108 wins against the Bears all-time
in the regular season and playoffs. That is tied for the most victories by one team against another in NFL history (108, N.Y. Giants over Washington). - Overall, the Packers have won 11 straight games against the Bears, the longest winning streak by either team in the history of the series (No. 2 is 10 straight by Green Bay from 1994-98). The 10 and 11-game streaks are the longest any team has against the Bears. The 11-game streak is also the longest current streak by an NFL team against a single opponent. Green Bay’s 11-game streak against Chicago is its second-longest winning streak against any franchise (15 games, Chicago Cardinals, 1937-46). During the 10-game streak, the Packers have a plus-128 scoring differential, a plus-15 turnover differential (19 takeaways, four giveaways) and have allowed 20 or fewer points in nine of the 11 wins.
- Head Coach Matt LaFleur is the only coach in NFL history (Elias Sports Bureau) to win his first 11 games against the Bears (Dennis Green won his first six for Minnesota in 1992-94).
- LaFleur (11-0 vs. Chicago) is one of five head coaches in NFL history to be undefeated against a franchise (min. 10 games, including playoffs), joining Joe Gibbs (12-0 vs. DET), George Allen (11-0-1 vs. ATL), Blanton Collier (11-0 vs. WAS), and Curly Lambeau (10-0 vs. Tigers, 9-0-1 vs. Badgers).
- Green Bay has won eight straight and 14 of the last 16 meetings against the Bears at Lambeau Field.
- The Packers have outscored Chicago, 450-244, in the last 16 home games, scoring 20-plus points in 13 of those contests.
- Sunday will be just the second time in the last 16 seasons (2009-24) that the Packers and Bears will play in a noon (CT) game at Lambeau Field (2019 was the other).
- For the second straight season, Green Bay and Chicago will not meet in a prime-time contest. Prior to that, the teams had faced off in a prime-time matchup in 17 consecutive seasons (2006-22).
- This is the first noon CT kickoff for the Packers since Nov. 17 when they played at Chicago. Green Bay is 6-1 in games kicked off at noon CT this season, an .857 winning percentage that is tied for No. 4 in the NFL. Green Bay is 26-11 at noon under LaFleur, a .703 winning percentage that ranks No. 4 in the league since 2019.
- For the fourth straight season and the fifth time in the last six years, the Packers finish the regular season with back-to-back NFC North contests.
- The Packers end the regular season with five NFC games for the second straight year
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