It’s not like the semiannual grudge match between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers needed higher stakes, but the football gods bestowed them anyway.
Sunday’s afternoon matchup (3:25 pm, Fox) will be just the third time in series history that both the Bears (9-3) and Packers (8-3-1) will face off with plus-.700 winning percentages after at least 12 games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
To the winner goes the lead in the NFC North and possibly maintaining the top seed in the conference.
Bears second-year quarterback Caleb Williams knows nothing of the sting of the 211-game rivalry. The Packers have won eight of the last nine games at Lambeau, but Williams and the Bears won last season’s finale.
“The games and how the games have gone, and some of the long streaks that have gone on — I didn’t really know that getting drafted here,” he said. “But I definitely appreciate it.”
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Think what a win would mean for the Bears.
It would mark their first six-game winning streak since 2012 and their first 10-win season since 2006.
Ben Johnson would join legendary Bears owner/founder/coach George Halas as the only first-year head coaches in franchise history to win 10 of their first 13 games. But most importantly, the Bears’ odds of making the playoffs — where they haven’t been since 2020 — would jump from 76% to 93%, per NFL.com.
Safety Kevin Byard III said, “It is the most important game of the season, but it’s only because it’s the next game.
“This is going to be a tough game. They play really well at home. We’re going to have to play good all 60 minutes, all three phases, so just preparing for a tough heavyweight match.”
Here are five things to watch on Sunday — plus our Week 14 predictions.
1. Battle of the young quarterbacks.
Green Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper tackles Bears quarterback Caleb Williams while he tries to make a pass on the last drive on the game during the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field on Jan. 5, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Williams found something at Lambeau Field last season that not many Bears quarterbacks have: redemption.
He led a 24-22 comeback win, halting a 10-game losing streak to put a silver lining on a miserable rookie season in which his offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron, and head coach, Matt Eberflus, were both fired.
“You go through such a tough time and weird time, everybody knows what happened last year,” Williams said. “You go and face a rival like this rival that’s been going on for 100 years or so. Being able to go out there and defeat them, it was important for us as players and the guys that are still here. And for the future, we want to keep that going.”
While it’s difficult to summon the name of a primary Bears rival to Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers, it seems a sure bet that Williams and Jordan Love will be dueling for years to come.
Sunday will mark just the third meeting between the two young signal callers.
Love won the first game 20-19 on Nov. 17, 2024, at Soldier Field, and Williams won the rematch on Jan. 5, 2025, at Lambeau Field.
Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards tackles Packers quarterback Jordan Love just short of the end zone on fourth down during the fourth quarter at Soldier Field on Nov. 17, 2024. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
At present, Love, the No. 26 pick in 2020 by the Packers, has a slight edge over Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in 2024 by the Bears.
This season, Love has thrown for 2,794 yards and 19 touchdowns and three interceptions, while Williams has put up 2,722, 17 and five. But Love has completed 67% of his passes while Williams is scuffling at 58.1% and trending downward — though coach Ben Johnson says to “throw those (stats) out of the window.”
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“Ben has talked about (how) our passing game isn’t exactly where we want it to be right now, and that we all have a hand in that,” Declan Dyole, offensive coordinator, said. “That would be us as coaches, the players, Caleb, the pass catchers, the line. That number goes up by all of us doing a better job.”
Meanwhile, Love has no trouble rising to the occasion, at least when it comes to the Bears. Like his Green Bay predecessors, the QB has a lopsided 3-1 record and a six-touchdown-to-one-interception ratio against the Bears.
“I see a quarterback that does a really good job of processing,” said defensive coordinator Dennis Allen of Love.
“He gets to his reads, he knows where he wants to go with the football, he delivers the ball accurately. I see a guy that’s playing really at a high level, and he’s got a lot of good skill players to get the ball to. So I think it’s certainly a challenge for us, that’s for sure.”
Love gave the Detroit Lions a Thanksgiving they won’t soon forget, hanging four passing touchdowns on them in a 31-24 win.
“He’s willing to face down the barrel and take one in the chin while delivering an accurate ball,” Johnson said. “You saw that last week with the game on the line, that fourth down.”
With the Lions desperate to get the ball back just after the two-minute warning, Love killed their comeback hopes with a 16-yard completion to Dontayvion Wicks.
“I thought that was one of the better throws I’ve seen all year long from him. And then their wideouts are getting healthy,” Johnson said. “They’ve got speed. They’re really deep and so you can’t just hone in one guy. You’ve got to be able to cover all of them.
2. Player in the spotlight: Micah Parsons
Packers defensive end Micah Parsons celebrates after a quarterback sack against the Lions during the first half on Nov. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/David Dermer)
It’s hard to quantify Parsons’ impact on an already-good Pacers defense since the Dallas Cowboys traded him in August.
The Packers were fifth in average yards allowed last season — and they’re fourth so far this season. But certainly, his NFL peers feel the difference.
“He’s a game-wrecker if you don’t account for him,” Bears running back Kyle Monangai said. “He’s shown that time and time again, now in Green Bay.”
According to Next Gen Stats, Parsons has generated a league-high 70 pressures, including a third-ranked 12.5 sacks, this season.
“There’s a number of guys that you play in the league that you have to be aware of on every snap. He’s one of those guys,” Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said.
“He’s slippery. He’s a great pass rusher. They’ll move him around. They do a great job in the defensive scheme of putting him in different positions, and it’s simple to them and yet it can create complex looks for us.
“So the biggest thing is that you don’t overlook anything. You don’t overlook where he is on the field.”
3. Pressing question: Which secondary will make a bigger impact?
Bears free safety Kevin Byard celebrates with his teammates after Byard made an interception in the third quarter against the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Nov. 28, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Both sides can boast at least two former Pro Bowler or All-Pro.
The Bears secondary has been racking up accolades and accomplishments.
Cornerback Nahshon Wright won NFC Defensive Player of the Month for November with 19 tackles, six pass break-ups, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. That’s not to say he’s invulnerable: he has allowed the eighth-most yards in coverage among cornerbacks this season, according to NFL Pro’s Next Gen Stats.
Safety Kevin Byard III leads the NFL with six interceptions, the first player 32 or older to lead the league in picks through 13 weeks since New England’s Devin McCourty did it in 2019.
Bears newcomer C.J. Gardner-Johnson has had three sacks and a forced fumble. Top cornerback Jaylon Johnson returned for his first game last week after a long recovery from an in-season groin surgery, and top nickel corner Kyler Gordon came back as well from a calf injury.
For the Bears, it’s a question of how to get them all on the field. They used dime personnel on a season-high 45.1% of snaps against the Eagles, according to Next Gen Stats.
Though the Packers secondary is a challenge overall, corners Keisean Nixon and Carrington Valentine haven’t played as well in recent weeks.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff had a 110.4 rating against Nixon, but had a perfect 158.3 against Valentine. Receiver Jameson Williams had seven catches for a season-high 144 yards and a touchdown.
But it’s safeties Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams that had the Bears talking this week.
McKinney, who snagged an interception the last time he faced the Bears, has had at least five tackles in nine of his last 10 games. Williams had eight tackles in Week 13 and an interception in back-to-back games prior to Thanksgiving in Detroit.
“They do an exceptional job in their run fits,” Doyle said. “They’re willing to be physical, they show up fast in the run game, they make it challenging for your perimeter players to go block them. They’re certainly very good in the pass game as well, but that’s the area that flashes off the tape right away.”
4. The pass rush’s ‘get-off’ needs to get up.
Bears defensive tackle Andrew Billings rushes Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels in the first quarter on Oct. 27, 2024, at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
In the third quarter, during one of nine pressures against Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, Bears defensive tackle Andrew Billings rumbled up the gut of the offensive line and flushed Hurts out of the pocket.
As fellow defensive lineman Chris Williams gave chase, Hurts threw an interception to Byard.
You’d think with plays like that, the Bears would have more attractive pass-rush numbers. But they own the league’s slowest average “get-off,” a Next Gen Stat that measures the defensive line’s quickness to cross the line of scrimmage after the snap.
The Bears also have the second-slowest time to pressure (2.89), and, according to ESPN analytics, their pass-rush win rate (30%) ranks 29th.
“Stats can say whatever you want,” defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “At the end of the day, people play this game and thank God for that.” But he acknowledged, “There’s always work to be done.”
Defensive end Austin Booker said the Bears have the means to improve.
“We can get them off the spot,” he said. “We can go power, we can go speed, we can work hands, just all around. And I feel it starts with practice.”
5. Injury updates.
Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze warms up before the game against the Steelers at Soldier Field on Nov. 23, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
The key players to watch for status updates on Friday will be wide receiver Rome Odunze (foot) and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (hip), who both missed both days of practice this week.
Monangai (ankle) was limited Thursday after being listed as a non-participant in Wednesday’s estimated report. He told the Tribune Thursday that he expects to be active.
“For sure, wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he said.
Meanwhile, T.J. Edwards (hand/hamstring) was limited for a second straight day Thursday, and fellow linebacker Noah Sewell (elbow) was a full participant both days.
Predictions
Packers safety Javon Bullard tackles Bears wide receiver DJ Moore during the second quarter at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., on Jan. 5, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Brad Biggs (8-4)
Ben Johnson’s run game has emerged as a wagon and it will be fascinating to see how it performs in this matchup. The Bears rank No. 2 in the league, averaging 153.8 yards per game. Green Bay’s run defense is tied for seventh, allowing only 98.3 per game. The Packers are the only opponent on the schedule — to date — that rank inside the top 10 in run defense. Eight of the 12 teams the Bears have played currently rank 20th or worse. In part, that’s because the Bears have run on them. It took a few weeks for the Packers offense to recover from the loss of tight end Tucker Kraft to a season-ending knee injury.
This feels like it will be a close game, and last season’s two meetings were decided by a total of three points. But from 2019 through 2023, a span of 10 meetings, the Packers didn’t lose once and the closest margin was seven points.
Packers 27, Bears 24
Sean Hammond (9-3)
This is such a tough game to pick. The Bears run game has been electric, while the Packers run defense has been among the best in the NFL. Jordan Love has thrown just three interceptions, while the Bears defense leads the NFL in interceptions. The Bears keep winning football games and it would be silly to doubt them now. Still, it has been nearly two decades since this franchise won back-to-back games at Lambeau Field. I like the Packers at home.
Packers 24, Bears 21
Phil Thompson (7-5)
It’s hard to see a path to victory for the Bears, though most thought the same of their Week 13 matchup against the Eagles. The Packers give up the sixth-fewest points per game and allow the eighth-fewest rushing yards per game (98.3), which is the Bears’ bread and butter. Packers QB Jordan Love has a Jekyll-and-Hyde quality to him – just look at the last six starts – so a Bears upset is not unthinkable, just unlikely.
Packers 27, Bears 23
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