Bear Digest

ESPN's Dan Orlovsky Called Out For Awful Bears-Packers Prediction

One Chicago Bears superfan took Dan Orlovsky to task on Thursday for this freezing cold take.
Pete Martuneac|
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Despite winning eleven games in the regular season and clinching the 2025 NFC North championship, not many analysts believed in the Chicago Bears as they prepared to face the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Even with home field advantage and a recent victory over Green Bay, many people in the media expected Chicago to collapse under the bright lights.

For about 55 minutes of that matchup, it looked like they were right to be skeptical. But they had forgotten about one thing, or, to be specific, one man: Caleb Williams. The quarterback who had earned the moniker "Iceman" for his otherworldly ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat showed up once again, delivering to Chicago a miraculous Wild Card win over the Packers.

Though their season ended the very next week in a heartbreaking Divisional round loss to the Rams, the Bears had already made their point and proven the doubters wrong. But there was one doubter in the media who watched his prediction become a freezing cold take, and that was ESPN's Dan Orlovsky.

A prediction that was almost correct before the Iceman arrived

A former Detroit Lions quarterback, Orlovsky became infamous among Bears fans when he appeared on ESPN's "First Take" show and said that the Bears had no chance against the Packers in the Wild Card. "I think the Packers win, and the Packers win handily," was his prediction for the game.

That take aged about as well as a glass of whole milk left in the sun, and Orlovsky caught plenty of flak from Bears fans on social media after that game. However, it would seem one Bears fan in particular had bided his time before pulling receipts on Orlovsky.

WWE superstar Seth Rollins appeared on ESPN's "Get Up" show on Thursday and called out Orlovsky for his Wild Card prediction, even going so far as to have him don the foam cheese grater hat made famous by DJ Moore as Rollins quoted part of Orlovsky's prediction back to him. "What do the Bears do better than the Packers?" Rollins asked mockingly. "I'll tell you what they do. They win, Dan!"

All the doubters need to get with the times and give some respect to the Chicago Bears

When he's in the ring, Rollins is a master of trolling his fellow wrestlers on the microphone, and he is just as good at it when he's on ESPN defending his Chicago Bears. Hopefully, this season has taught Orlovsky and other prominent doubters that these Bears are not the same 'ol Bears. With Ben Johnson at the helm and Caleb Williams under center, this is a Bears team not seen in Chicago for decades.

Remember, that was just Year 1 of the Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams era. They had to dig the Bears out of the mud and scrabble just to even start the season back in September. The 2025 version of this team is probably the worst that they're going to be for many years. For the rest of the NFC, that's a terrifying thought. For Bears fans, it's proof that their 40 years spent wandering in the NFL wilderness have finally come to an end.

Caleb William
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

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Pete Martuneac
PETE MARTUNEAC

A former Marine and Purdue Boilermaker, Pete has been covering the Chicago Bears since 2022 as a senior contributor on BearsTalk. He lives with his wife, two kids and loyal dog.

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