I can’t remember a later first matchup in the season for the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears in my lifetime, but on this first weekend of December, the two teams finally square off once again in a continuation of the league’s oldest rivalry.

This matchup represents a potential start to a new phase or era of the rivalry. Ben Johnson’s arrival in Chicago has resulted in an unlikely transformation of the perennial basement dwellers of the NFC North. Only a small number of times this century have the Chicago Bears been relevant to the playoff picture come December and January, and in a development not even the biggest Bears homers could have foreseen, Chicago occupies the NFC’s top side with five games to go. 

The Bears and Packers both have young, talented quarterbacks, and while Caleb Williams has a long way to go before he’s in the same tier as Jordan Love, he’s clearly made some strides under Johnson’s tutelage while not having to shoulder the load of the offense thanks to the Bears’ potent rushing attack. The team is playing with a level of confidence and swagger not seen since the mid-2000s; even that random 2018 playoff team never felt quite as loose as this current edition of the club.

This is not the first “reset” the Bears have had in recent years. They started over with Mitch Trubisky, then Matt Nagy a year later. They started over with Justin Fields, then Matt Eberflus a year later. Now they’ve started over with Caleb Williams, and then Ben Johnson a year later. Three quarterbacks, three lost rookie seasons, two failed coaches and one who’s looking promising. 

This time definitely feels different. The Bears needed a cultural reset, and neither Nagy or Eberflus ever successfully brought that aboard. Johnson is a dynamic personality and was highly sought after in a way Nagy and Eberflus simply were not when they were interviewing. 

And so now, we have the first highly anticipated matchup between Johnson’s Bears and Matt LaFleur’s Packers. Johnson’s Lions offenses tended to give the Packers fits during the last few years; it’s no coincidence that the Packers have had much greater defensive success against the Lions this season in Johnson’s absence.

To add some spice to the matchup, Johnson was quoted in the offseason as (and I’m paraphrasing here) being excited to still be in the NFC North because he enjoyed beating LaFleur twice a year.

The Bears are coming off their first victory over the Packers in years, and were it not for a blocked field goal, they would have swept Green Bay a season ago. The Packers almost certainly are remembering this and hoping to reestablish dominance over their longtime foe. 

But the Bears have a swagger they did not a season ago. While they haven’t exactly been dominant (they only just recently got back into a positive point differential for the season and have mostly been in one-score games), they’ve been winning, and that doesn’t happen consistently by accident. They’re doing enough to beat the teams on their schedule, and that includes the NFL’s defending champions.

The atmosphere will be intense at Lambeau Field on Sunday afternoon. And while I love seeing the Bears be bad, there’s also something exciting and “right” about both teams being good at the same time. It makes the rivalry mean that much more.

These two teams will meet twice in the next three weeks. Let’s see how they stack up.

Wisconsin Beer of the Week

I do love a good Black IPA, and while the style has kind of dipped in broader popularity over the last five to ten years since it peaked in the mid-2010s, I still take any opportunity I can to grab one up when I see it.

Black Bird by Lakefront Brewery is a seasonal they started making a year or two ago, and every time it comes available I make sure to grab a pack, because it’s sort of a rare treat in this beer market. 

Here’s how Lakefront describes it:

“The hoppy aromas ready the palate for an immediate bitterness. Instead, the sweet, caramelly crystal malts blitz through, followed by citrus and tropical fruit flavor from citra, el dorado, Idaho 7 and cashmere hops.”

The beer comes in at 6.8 percent ABV and a not-too-bitter 40 IBUs.

So what changed on offense?

Thanksgiving Day was the best the Packers’ offense has looked in a long time. So what exactly changed?

There’s been a lot of talk about how Matt LaFleur called the game. Yes, he was more aggressive than usual with his fourth downs, which did end up playing a significant role in the outcome of the game, especially when comparing the Packers’ success rate on fourth down to that of the Lions. But I think really since the New York game, LaFleur has actually been calling pretty good games–it’s just been a lack of execution.

The Packers certainly executed to a higher level in this game than they have previously. The number of dropped passes has decreased. The Packers have also reduced the number of penalties they’ve committed: three against Detroit, two against Minnesota. It should come as no surprise that those games, which saw them play their most polished football since September, also represented the games this season in which they committed the fewest penalties.

Another key point to consider is the improved performance of the offensive line. The offensive performance was at its worst this season when there was inconsistency with the starting lineup and players who were playing hurt.

The last three weeks, offensive line performance has gradually improved. Perhaps the most notable improvement has come from Aaron Banks, who for a while was looking dreadful and disappointing after being signed this offseason. Now that he’s regained his health, he’s been playing much better football. But Sean Rhyan has also been solid in his shift to center to cover for Elgton Jenkins and has been particularly strong in the run game. Anthony Belton, while still learning as a rookie, has already come a long way and shown off some impressive physical attributes. And overall, the team has had much more consistency with the guys who are playing along that front.

Really, it’s that offensive line component here that is the most promising. If that consistency remains and this unit can gel together, it opens up a whole world of possibilities for the offense. The running game has been more consistent, and Jordan Love has more time to throw the football. The playbook begins to open back up for Matt LaFleur because you have an offensive line capable of moving people and that’s not being a sieve in front of the quarterback.  To me, that is what’s making the biggest difference at this point.

So yes, players are executing better. LaFleur has been coaching better. But a lot of that is also a credit to how much the offensive line has come along in recent weeks. 

Hopefully that trend continues; the teams that are going to go far in the playoffs are the teams that can run the football and protect the quarterback, and without a quality line, you’re not going to be able to do that.

Around the NFC North

As always, it’s time to go around the NFC North. 

• The CHICAGO BEARS had what many thought would be their first “real test” of the season in the Philadelphia Eagles, and if it truly was that, then they passed with flying colors. The Eagles have been seeing a bit of a late season wilt, but they are still the defending champs and still the odds-on favorite to win their division. The Bears took the Eagles down on their home field with relative ease, controlling the clock with their running game as they’ve managed to do successfully against opponents for the last couple months. It remains to be seen whether the Bears are a true upper tier contender, but one thing’s for sure: they at least deserve to be taken seriously.

• The DETROIT LIONS are in desperation mode. They absolutely needed a victory against the Packers, but instead they continued one of my favorite traditions in football: Detroit losing at home on Thanksgiving Day. It was one of the most consequential games in the league this year; it was about a 35 percentage point swing as to the likelihood of the team making the playoffs based on whether they won or lost. Now, the Lions need to get back in winning mode as soon as possible if they’re going to be able to salvage their hopes of getting to the playoffs, let alone advancing in them. With their offensive line troubles and the defense’s defanged nature, it looks like it may all be a bit too much for this year’s edition of the Lions to handle.

• The MINNESOTA VIKINGS apparently have TWO quarterbacks who suck, plus the shambling corpse of Carson Wentz, reaffirming the idea that this team has to go back to the drawing board at the position this offseason… and it’s not exactly going to be the greatest year to be in that position, either. The team might attempt to find a band-aid solution for now, but the decision to allow Sam Darnold to walk away after the season he put up continues to look worse and worse, especially with how he’s helped transform Seattle’s passing offense this year. The Vikings are going to be in a tough position this offseason not only because of their quarterback deficiency, but also because they have a lot of aging veterans on big contracts. It might be approaching time for some major roster overhauls. You sure hate to see it.

Mr. Backes’s “This or That”

Every day I put a different “this or that” poll up on my whiteboard and have students leave tallies throughout the day. I then compile this information and post it here for laughs.

Here’s what we’ve seen over the last week (there were only a couple with the holiday break):

• Home Alone defeated Elf
• Snow forts defeated snowmen

Does he have a vintage moment in him?

Yesterday (Wednesday) was the 10th anniversary of the Packers’ dramatic victory in Detroit that saw Aaron Rodgers launch an absolute moonball of a hail mary into the awaiting arms of Richard Rodgers on an untimed down to win the game. Some call it the Miracle in Motown. 

For me personally, it’s one of the most memorable experiences I have of watching a game simply because of the setting. I am notorious among my friends for absolutely having to be locked in during a game, paying full attention to what’s happening rather than the people around me. For this reason, I kind of hate watching the games out at bars or at parties because the setting prevents me from doing that, and because people expect there to be some social interaction when you’re watching the game with them. It’s not that I don’t want to engage with my friends! I just want to be focused on the game!

But on this particular occasion, December 3, 2015, I allowed my friends to convince me to go out to a local bar that we liked for the game. The bar owners always made a full spread of food (including some awesome chili) and patrons would often bring in stuff as well, and there’d be a free potluck plus free touchdown shots. Really a great environment, if you’re the kind of person who likes watching games out in public around other people.

So I was there begrudgingly, and the game was awful. Like, I’m not sure how well you all remember that full game, but it was dull. The team looked bad, they took forever to get any kind of scoring drive going, and even the fourth quarter itself wasn’t all that dramatic–the offense was so anemic and it seemed to be a given that they were going to lose the game.

But then the moment happened. We got the untimed down. A hush came over the bar. And… well, you know the rest. The hail mary. Jim Nantz’s vintage call. “He turned 32 yesterday, does he have a vintage moment in him?” Phil Simms saying, “It’s gonna get there!” and then, well, it got there. A win.

The entire bar absolutely erupted. It was electric. I’ve never experienced anything like that while watching a game; the closest was when I had some friends over to watch the Packers against the Bears in 2013, and that fourth down touchdown to Randall Cobb happened. But I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced anything else like this while watching live sports. Everyone in the bar thought the game was over. And then, the most miraculous ending.

Anyway, a great sports memory, and while the 2015 season wasn’t exactly one that ended well, that will always be one of my favorite Packer memories.

Week 14 NFL Picks

Remember all that talk about taking the Bears seriously? Yes, okay, I do mean that… BUT. There’s simply no chance of me ever picking the Bears over the Packers. I don’t care what the records are, I don’t care what the stakes are. The Bears still suck. The Packers have owned this team for three decades, and will continue to do so no matter what kind of wunderkind coach they’ve got on staff.

Packers 70, Bears 3

Other games:

COWBOYS over Lions

BROWNS over Titans

SEAHAWKS over Falcons

JAGUARS over Colts

COMMANDERS over Vikings

BILLS over Bengals

BUCS over Saints

RAVENS over Steelers

DOLPHINS over Jets

BRONCOS over Raiders

RAMS over Cardinals

PACKERS over Bears

CHIEFS over Texans

CHARGERS over Eagles