The NFL welcomes the latest instalment of its oldest rivalry as the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears collide in a rare blockbuster playoff clash on Saturday night.
Football's familiar foes met for the first time in November 1921 when Chicago, then known as the Staleys, beat the Packers 20-0. Since then Green Bay have built a 109-99-6 record within a series that has seen both teams enjoy dominant eras against one another.
The franchises have shared a combined 211 seasons heading into their NFL-record 213th matchup, but have faced off in the playoffs just twice in that period.
The Bears defeated the Packers 33-14 in the 1941 Divisional Round, before Green Bay claimed a 21-14 victory in the 2010 NFC Championship Game as Aaron Rodgers led the Packers to Super Bowl XLV glory.
Ben Johnson's Bears will now host Matt LaFleur's Packers at Soldier Field after clinching the NFC North title for the first time since 2018 on the way to claiming the No 2 seed.
- Dolphins fire head coach McDaniel
- No Mahomes, no Chiefs - the time is now for Allen's Bills
- NFL playoffs 2026: All you need to know
- Not got Sky? Get instant access with NOW 📺
"We talk about it whenever it's Bears week, just understanding the history of the Packers and the Bears - the oldest rivalry in the NFL," said Packers quarterback Jordan Love.
"It's something that I wasn't even too familiar with before I got here, and then I think since I've been here, it's something you just learn about."
Love is primed to return under center having been sidelined since entering concussion protocol after a helmet-to-helmet hit during the second quarter of Green Bay's 22-16 overtime loss to Chicago on December 20.
It would feature among a four-game losing streak to finish the regular-season for LaFleur's limping Packers, who return to the playoffs for the third straight season behind Love as starting quarterback. The 2020 first-round pick, and successor to Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau Field, slumped to a three-interception performance as the Packers were beaten 22-10 by the eventual champion Philadelphia Eagles in last season's Wild Card round, which marked his third and most recent postseason start.
In contrast, he had announced himself emphatically on his playoff debut two seasons earlier when he threw three touchdown passes to stun the Dallas Cowboys in a 48-32 win.
Love finished the regular season 291 of 439 passing for 3,381 yards and 23 touchdowns to just six interceptions within an offense that battled through injuries to star tight end Tucker Kraft in addition to wide receivers Christian Watson and Jayden Reed.
"I've got a ton of confidence in him," said head coach LaFleur. "There's nobody else I'd rather have than Jordan."
Marquee absentees would spread onto defense as star edge rusher Micah Parsons suffered a torn ACL in Week 15 having arrived in a trade from the Dallas Cowboys prior to the campaign.
Lofty projections as Super Bowl contenders would be tempered, spiralling form would warrant concern and two losses to the Bears in the regular-season would paint Green Bay as unlikely underdogs heading into Saturday.
"You look at Green Bay, this is a team that came into the season and brought in Micah Parsons, they had Super Bowl on their mind," said Sky Sports NFL's Phoebe Schecter. "We talk all the time about teams that are on different timelines. The Packers are kind of in a 'gotta have it' situation because Matt LaFleur has been there for a little bit of time.
"Jordan Love, they've done all the right things, they let him sit behind Aaron Rodgers, build his way up. You build up the defense. You get it to a great spot. You've got your stars at receiver back as well. You've got to be able to finish this against a division rival.
"I just think that there's more pressure on on the Packers right now than there is the Bears. The Bears have a first-year head coach in Ben Johnson, and with what Caleb Williams has been doing, you've got to think of this as year one essentially for him. I just think it makes it very interesting but the hatred for each other is unbelievable."
The Bears have flourished into contenders under rookie head coach Johnson, who asserted himself as one of the league's most in-demand footballing brains during his time as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator before electing to work with 2024 No 1 pick Williams.
Williams had entered the NFL attached to Patrick Mahomes comparisons. Sure, different players, but Williams was welcomed as the latest injection of off-platform artistry and out-of-structure absurdity seemingly customary to any talented young quarterback seeking to move the needle out of college.
With question marks over accuracy issues has also come appreciation of moments of magic as pilot to a revamped Bears attack under Johnson.
"I think I am built for these moments, mentality-wise, how I've worked," Williams said. "I've been in a bunch of big games before and a bunch of big rival games. In those moments, I think I can provide a spark for the team.
"I think I can do whatever my team needs me to do, whether that's stand in the pocket, whether that's run, whether that's scramble, whether that's whatever, hand the ball off 30 times and be energetic about it. Whatever it takes is where I'm at, where I'm going to be at for these next couple of weeks hopefully."
Williams went 330 of 568 passing for an NFL-low completion percentage of 58.1 among qualifying starters, while throwing for 3,942 yards and 27 touchdowns to seven interceptions
"It's incredible to me this stat and I think it's so misleading. He ranks last in the NFL with just a 58 per cent completion rate, he's not that sort of player," said Sky Sports NFL's Neil Reynolds.
"He's an excellent playmaker. He's the one that's been a big reason why the Bears have had 127 big plays - that's runs of 10 yards or more, passes of 20 yards or more - to rank second in the NFL.
"My only concern with the Bears is that they don't do it quarter-to-quarter and sometimes they have to switch it on and rally late like they did against the Packers the week before Christmas. That would be a concern for me."
Williams, who helped the Bears snap an 11-game losing streak to the Packers in his rookie year, has also rushed for 388 yards and three scores within the NFL's No 3-ranked rushing attack, led by D'Andre Swift (1,087 yards, nine TDs) and Kyle Monangai (783 yards, five TDs). Chicago's defense meanwhile topped the charts in total takeaways with 33 on the year, including 23 interceptions.
The Week 16 contest between the NFC North rivals teased the drama that might await on Saturday as Williams conjured the throw of his young NFL career to pick out DJ Moore in an overtime thriller. In doing so he extended his NFL-leading tally of fourth-quarter comebacks to six.
Rodgers once famously claimed to 'own' the Bears such was Green Bay's dominance in the matchup. But the playing field has levelled out.
Watch the Carolina Panthers against the Los Angeles Rams live on Sky Sports NFL from 9.30pm Saturday followed by the Green Bay Packers against the Chicago Bears at 1am in the early hours of Sunday.
