GREEN BAY (3-2) VS. CHICAGO BEARS (1-5)
Thursday, Oct. 20 l Lambeau Field l 7:25 p.m. CDT
The Green Bay Packers will host the Chicago Bears at home in the final contest of a four-game homestand. It is the first time the Packers have played four consecutive home games during a single regular season since 1963 (Games 1-4).
Green Bay is facing Chicago on a Thursday night for the second consecutive season.
It is the 11th consecutive year that the Packers and Bears will play in prime time.
Dating back to 1970, the Packers’ 20 prime-time games against the Bears are the most they have played against any team.
Under Head Coach Mike McCarthy, the Packers are 14-7 against the Bears during the regular and postseason, including wins in 10 of the last 12 games.
In all but one of the 14 wins under McCarthy, Green Bay has scored at least 20 points.
The Packers have scored 30-plus points in four of the last five contests (31, 55, 38, 33, 13) against Chicago.
The Packers have won six of the last eight meetings against the Bears at Lambeau Field.
Thursday will mark game No. 193 in the NFL’s oldest rivalry. The Bears hold a 94-92-6 edge in the series, which includes two playoff games (1-1).
In the 14 seasons of the NFC North (2002-15), the Packers (eight) and Bears (three) have accounted for 11 division titles.
On Thursday, the Packers will debut their color-rush uniform featuring a white jersey, white pants and white socks.
Dating back to 2006, the Packers (29-10, .744) hold the second-best winning percentages in the month of October behind the New England Patriots (37-7, .841).
Green Bay has won 11 of their past 12 home games during the month of October.
Next week, the Packers go on the road to the play the Atlanta Falcons.
RODGERS AND THE BEARS
With Aaron Rodgers as the starting quarterback, Green Bay is 13-4 during the regular and postseason against the Bears, with one loss coming in 2013 after Rodgers left the game with an injury after the first series.
In the 17 games against Chicago, Rodgers has an overall passer rating of 104.3 and has thrown for a passer rating of more than 100.0 in six of the last 10 matchups.
Of the players that have attempted 175 or more passes against the Bears during the regular and postseason, Rodgers’ 104.3 passer rating is No. 1.
In the last four games against the Bears, Rodgers has completed 80 of 121 passes for 1,008 yards, 14 touchdowns, one interception and a passer rating of 127.0. He has registered passer ratings of 140.0-plus in three of the four contests (140.5, 145.8, 151.2).
WITH THE CALL
Thursday night’s game will be televised to a national audience on CBS and NFL Network, as well as streamed on Twitter, with play-by-play man Jim Nantz and analyst Phil Simms handling the call from the broadcast booth and Tracy Wolfson and Jay Feely reporting from the sidelines.
In Wisconsin, CBS affiliates around the state, including WFRV (Ch. 5) in Green Bay and WDJT (Ch. 58) in Milwaukee, will carry the Thursday night contest.
Milwaukee’s WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since November 1929, heads up the Packers Radio Network that is made up of 50 stations in five states. Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren (analyst) call the action. McCarren first joined the team’s broadcasts in 1995 and enters his 22nd season calling Packers games. After originally being paired together in 1999, McCarren and Larrivee enter their 18th season of broadcasts together.
Westwood One Sports will air the game across the country. Ian Eagle (play-by-play) and Tony Boselli (analyst) will call the action and Scott Graham will host pregame and halftime shows.
The broadcast is also available on Sirius Satellite Radio (WTMJ feed).
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK’S OPPONENT:
Packers vs. Bears
All-time, Regular season: 91-93-6
All-time, Postseason: 1-1
All-time, in Green Bay: 44-42-4
Streaks: The Packers have won 12 of 15 matchups since 2008.
Last meeting, regular season: Nov. 26, 2015; Bears won, 17-13, Lambeau Field
COACHES CAPSULES
Mike McCarthy: 115-64-1, .642 (incl. 8-7 postseason); 11th NFL season
John Fox: 134-111-0, .547 (incl. 8-7 postseason); 15th NFL season
Head to Head: McCarthy 3-2
vs. Opponent: McCarthy 14-7 vs. Bears; Fox 3-5 vs. Packers
MIKE McCARTHY…Is in his 11th year as the Packers’ 14th head coach.
Joined Vince Lombardi and Mike Holmgren as the only coaches to guide the Packers to a Super Bowl title with a win over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV.
Led the Packers to their seventh consecutive playoff appearance last season, joining New England as the only two NFL teams to do so over that span. Has also led the team to eight playoff appearances in the last nine years (2007, 2009-15).
Guided the Packers to top-10 finishes in scoring in eight straight seasons (2007-14), joining the Patriots as the only other team to accomplish the feat over that time; Packers finished first overall in scoring in 2014.
His .652 winning percentage during the regular season (107-57-1) ranks No. 3 among active NFL head coaches (min. 50 games).
Had 104 regular-season wins in his first 10 seasons as a head coach, ranking No. 3 in NFL history.
JOHN FOX…Is in his second year as the Bears’ 15th head coach.
Inherited the 30th-ranked defense and improved the Bears to the No. 14 ranking in the NFL after one season.
Led the Broncos to four division titles, joining Chuck Knox (L.A. Rams) as the only coaches in NFL history to lead their respective team to four division titles in their first four years with the franchise.
Between Carolina and Denver, made seven trips to the postseason, captured six division titles and made three conference championship appearances and two Super Bowl appearances.
One of six coaches in NFL history to lead two different teams to Super Bowl appearances (Carolina in 2003 and Denver in 2013).
Ranks fourth among active NFL head coaches with 134 career wins.
THE PACKERS-BEARS SERIES
No two teams have met on the gridiron more than the Packers and Bears, as Thursday marks the 193rd matchup.
Starting in 1923, the clubs met for 59 straight years until both games in 1982 were canceled as part of a strike-shortened season.
During the 2010 season, the teams squared off in the playoffs for just the second time in the history of the series. With a berth in Super Bowl XLV on the line, the Packers emerged victorious, 21-14, in the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field.
The last time Green Bay led the overall series? On the heels of its three straight NFL championships, 1932, when the Packers led 11-10-5.
Green Bay is 13-4 against Chicago under QB Aaron Rodgers.
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
Packers LB Julius Peppers played for the Bears from 2010-13...Green Bay offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett played running back in Chicago from 1998-99...Packers president & chief executive officer Mark Murphy was the athletic director at Northwestern from 2003-07...Green Bay special teams coordinator Ron Zook was the head coach at Illinois from 2005-11...Packers TBryan Bulaga played at Marian Central Catholic High in Woodstock, Ill. ...Chicago secondary coach Ed Donatell was the defensive coordinator for the Packers from 2000-03...Packers DE Dean Lowry is from Rockford, Ill., and attended Northwestern...Bears tight ends coach Frank Smith is from Milwaukee, Wis. ...Chicago running backs coach Stan Drayton was Green Bay’s offensive quality control/special teams coach from 2001-03...Green Bay defensive front assistant Jerry Montgomery played for the Chicago Rush...Packers director of player engagement Rob Davis served as Chicago’s long snapper for all 16 games in 1996...Peppers played for Bears head coach John Fox in Carolina for his first eight seasons (2002-09)...Packers defensive line coach Mike Trgovac coached with Fox (2002-08) and Bears offensive line coach Dave Magazu (2003-08) in Carolina...Packers head coach Mike McCarthy and Bears special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers coached in San Francisco in 2005...Chicago quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone played quarterback for the Houston Texans from 2003-05 when Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers was the head coach...Capers coached with Chicago defensive coordinator Vic Fangio with the Baltimore Stars (USFL) in 1984, New Orleans (1986-91) and Houston (2002-05)...Bears linebackers coach Glenn Pires was colleagues with Capers in Miami (2006-07)...Fox was the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Raiders in 1994 when Packers associate head coach/linebackers Winston Moss played linebacker...Green Bay tight ends coach Brian Angelichio spent 2014 in Cleveland with Chicago offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains and assistant special teams coach Richard Hightower...Loggains coached Packers TE Jared Cook in Tennesee for four seasons (2009-12)...Cook and Bears OL Eric Kush were Rams teammates in 2015...Donatell was the defensive backs coach in Denver while Packers strength and conditioning assistant Chris Gizzi was on the team as an undrafted free agent in 1998...During the time that Bears general manager Ryan Pace was with the Saints from 2001-14, Packers vice president of football administration/player finance Russ Ball, McCarthy, Moss and Zook were all on staff...Angelichio and Bears offensive assistant Ben McDaniels coached in Tampa Bay from 2012-13...Fangio (2011-14), Donatell (2011-14) and Hightower (2015) coached in San Francisco with Packers defensive quality control coach Ejiro Evero...Trgovac and Magazu coached at Navy (1989) and Ball State (1986) together...Fox was an assistant under Zook when Zook was Kansas’ defensive coordinator in 1983...Green Bay LS Brett Goode was teammates with Loggains at Arkansas from 2003-04 when Loggains played quarterback for the Razorbacks...Bears RB Jordan Howard and Packers T Jason Spriggs were teammates at Indiana from 2013-15...Green Bay WR Randall Cobb played at Kentucky with Chicago LB Danny Trevathan from 2008-10...Packers DE/LB Datone Jones was teammates with Bears TE Logan Paulsen from 2008-09...Bears DB Deon Bush (2012-14) and P Pat O’Donnell (2013) were Miami teammates with Packers CB LaDarius Gunter .
LAST MEETING, REGULAR SEASON
Nov. 26, 2015, Lambeau Field, Bears won, 17-13
The soggy Thanksgiving night was highlighted by a halftime ceremony recognizing QB Brett Favre’s induction into the Packers Hall of Fame.
RB Eddie Lacy led all runners with 105 yards on 17 carries (6.2 avg.) and found the end zone on one of his four catches (34 yds., 8.5 avg.) from QB Aaron Rodgers.
Bears WR Alshon Jeffery hauled in seven receptions for 90 yards (12.9 avg.) from QB Jay Cutler.
