Sunday Six: Rodgers’ Ownership of Bears ‘Does Mean a Lot to Me’

Here’s a look at the Green Bay Packers’ mastery of the Chicago Bears, plus some of the best things we heard this week.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Almost exactly 11 months ago, Aaron Rodgers fired off a four-word shot heard ‘round Chicago and the NFL world.

“I still own you!”

The Green Bay Packers’ MVP quarterback will try to continue his mastery of the Chicago Bears on Sunday night. Rodgers is an unfathomable 22-5 all-time against the Bears. Under coach Matt LaFleur, he’s 6-0. He’s won his last six starts at home. Eliminate the 2013 loss in which he suffered a broken collarbone on the opening series, Rodgers has walked off the field triumphantly in 20 of his last 22 games against Chicago.

In his 27 career starts from 2008 through 2021, Rodgers has thrown 61 touchdowns vs. 10 interceptions and fashioned a 109.2 passer rating. He had 14 games of 100-plus passer ratings, including 10 games of 128-plus. He had 12 games of three-plus touchdown passes, including seven with four, and just one game of two interceptions.

In 28 matchups over that same span, all the Bears’ quarterbacks have thrown 32 touchdowns vs. 42 interceptions and compiled a 71.1 passer rating. They had two games of 100-plus passer ratings, and none higher than 120.4. They had one game of three touchdown passes and six with zero; 15 times, Bears quarterbacks chucked at least two interceptions.

It’s been a quarterbacking master class vs. quarterbacking ineptitude, and it’s a major reason why the Packers have flipped this ancient series on its head.

On Oct. 25, 1992, the Bears rolled into Lambeau Field and clobbered Brett Favre and the Packers 30-10. At that point, Chicago led the series 80-57-6.

About a month later, Favre and the Packers won at Soldier Field 17-3. Starting with that game, the Packers have been the Harlem Globetrotters and the Bears have been the Washington Generals, with Green Bay an overwhelming 45-14 in the series.

Entering Sunday night, Green Bay leads the all-time series 102-94-6 (103-95-6, including a split of two playoff games). While Favre helped turn the series, Rodgers has turned it into a runaway. If you put Rodgers’ career touchdowns vs. Chicago onto the Bears’ all-time list, he’d rank eighth in franchise history. He’d trail Mitchell Trubisky for fifth place by just three and Billy Wade for third place by only seven.

“I love this history of this game,” Rodgers said. “When I got to this squad, Chicago was beating us on the all-time record and now we’re up by eight. So, that does mean a lot to me.”

That was a great line. Here are five more from this week.

Alexander on Rivalry Dominance

Cornerback Jaire Alexander, on the Packers-Bears rivalry.

“It’s fun. It’s exciting. I always say, ‘Things could be a lot worse. I could be a Bears fan.’ This has always been fun playing against them because it’s always a good game.”

Sign of the Times

Defensive backs coach Jerry Gray on the whole man-vs.-zone conversation following the Week 1 loss to Justin Jefferson and the Vikings.

“That’s why the biggest sign in our room says, ‘Team First.’ This is about the Green Bay Packers and we’re trying to make sure that we do the right thing for the Green Bay Packers and win a championship. Jaire (Alexander) is a very competitive guy and we want competitive guys, we want everybody to be competitive. You look in that room and you say, ‘OK, Rasul Douglas, he led our team in interceptions last year.’ And so Rasul Douglas is able to be on Jefferson. Eric Stokes led the team in PBUs last year. Is he able to be on Jefferson? So, when you look at that, we’ve got three really good corners and our job is to make sure we put the Green Bay Packers in the best position to win the football game.”

Home Cooking (and Drinking)

The Packers went 8-0 at Lambeau Field last season and, in regular-season play, have won 13 straight at home. They’ve also won nine consecutive home openers. Here’s Jaire Alexander, on the excitement to face the Bears in the home opener.

“It’s going to be lit. I just hope everybody’s drinking all day so, come gametime, it’s just super loud and amazing. I always like home games at Lambeau, especially the season opener, and I hope they do the defensive intros so I can come out the tunnel and feel the energy.”

Aaron Rodgers on Frustration and Communication

How does Aaron Rodgers handle the type of frustration that comes from the growing pains offense?

“I need to have an outlet. I spend a lot of time off the field with probably five or six guys, so having an outlet to talk through any frustration is important. But the most important thing is to communicate with them and figure out what style works best for them. Direct communication always cuts through the uneasiness and the anxiety and any of the gray area in the things that we do.

“But there’s a standard I’m going to hold these guys to because I believe in them, but also there’s a patience that comes with the inexperience. I think I’ve learned how to balance that, but the direct conversations are the best way. These are good kids. They really are. They want to please, they want to do the right thing, they care about it, but I’m going to figure out a way to continue to get on the same frequency with them but at the core of it is just communication — making sure that I’m saying the same thing that Vrable’s saying, that Steno’s saying, that Matt’s saying. At the end of the day, that’s how that trust is built, through that direct communication.”

Luke Getsy and Aaron Rodgers

Chicago’s offensive coordinator is Luke Getsy, the former Packers quarterbacks coach. Here’s Getsy on Rodgers’ “I still own you” moment from last year.

“That’s him being him. That’s his swag, right? That’s his swag. That’s the way he plays the game. A competitor. That’s what gets his juice. That’s him, man.”

How did Rodgers shape Getsy as a coach?

“He challenges you every day to be on it, right? Your details, there’s no, ‘Maybe, kind of, sortas.’ You’ve got to bring it. You’ve got to know it. And the dude’s intelligence level is really high, so you better bring it. At the same time, he loves to have fun, and so do I. So, that was refreshing. Here’s the best in the business who likes to have fun and can always come back and be centered and focused and stuff. That was really cool as a young coach getting up there early on in my career being able to know you can do this and still have a lot of success. The good teammate that he was and all that stuff, I relate to that a lot.”