With the Bears main by 10 and about three minutes left on Dec. 16, 2018, inside linebacker Roquan Smith tipped an Aaron Rodgers move, sending the ball into the arms of security Eddie Jackson, who was standing on the left leg of the letter “A” in BEARS in Soldier Field’s south finish zone.
With that, the Packers have been eradicated from playoff rivalry, and the Bears clinched the NFC North, placing a uncommon current blow within the sport’s biggest rivalry collection.
Jackson’s feelings have been sophisticated by the truth that his interception return resulted in a excessive ankle sprain that price him the remainder of the season. But he remembers, within the second, pondering of the whole lot the group had been by way of the season earlier than — a 5-11 file that acquired coach John Fox fired.
Sitting at his locker this week, he settled on an outline.
“It’s like your child being born,” he mentioned. “It’s one of those moments you won’t ever forget.”
Circumstances made it sweeter. In the 2018 opener, Matt Nagy’s first sport as a head coach, the Bears blew a 20-point result in a super-human Rodgers at Lambeau Field. The loss motivated the Bears all through the season on their approach to a 12-Four file.
“That’s a memory we’ll always have,” Nagy mentioned.
On Sunday, the Packers is likely to be saying the identical. This time, they’ll attempt to finish the Bears’ season.
“It felt good, but it’s a new year,” Jackson mentioned. “Different things are at stake. Where we’re at in the season is a lot different.”
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There’s poetic symmetry between this yr and final.
Like Nagy, Matt LaFleur’s first sport as a head coach got here within the season opener at his rival’s residence. Like Nagy, he can clinch a postseason berth and knock his rival out of playoff rivalry by profitable at residence in Week 15. A victorious Packers workforce would wish assist to drive that finality — the Rams should lose for the Packers to clinch a playoff spot, and the Vikings or Rams should win to knock out the Bears — however there’s no doubting the stakes.
“There’s those type of opportunities just about every year we play each other,” Rodgers mentioned. “You’re usually always playing for something when you play division opponents, but especially Chicago. Because last year I think it was kind of us getting our season officially ended down there in Week 15. It’s part of the rivalry.”
Sunday will mark the 200th assembly within the NFL’s oldest — and, given the circumstances, closet — collection. The Packers lead 98-95-6 after profitable 14 of the final 17 regular-season conferences. They additionally lead in scoring, however solely by 45 factors, 3,409-3,364.
Sunday may mark the fourth time this decade one workforce has ended the opposite’s season. The Packers beat the Bears within the NFC Championship Game in January 2011. Aaron Rodgers’ 48-yard landing move to Randall Cobb with 38 seconds left within the 2013 season finale saved Marc Trestman’s first workforce out of the playoffs. And then the Bears eradicated the Packers final yr.
“Since I’ve been here, they’ve been pretty big, in the sense that we’ve both had good, contending football teams,” mentioned receiver Allen Robinson, in his second season with the Bears. “This game right here, I wouldn’t say that it’s a measuring stick, but it’s meaningful for us. And meaningful for them, too.”
For totally different causes.
“Our last couple games have been all must-wins,” cornerback Prince Amukamara mentioned. “The Packers game is always huge for everybody. We know what it is going into this weekend.”
The Packers need to bury their rivals the way in which the Bears did final yr.
“You talk about within the division, the Bears as defending NFC North champions — I think both of us got a lot to play for right now,” LaFleur mentioned. “I know it’s going to have that playoff feel to it.”
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LaFleur had coached at Soldier Field as an assistant, however he didn’t really feel it crackle till Week 1.
“It was electric,” he mentioned.
The Bears and Packers opened the NFL’s 100th…