Here’s What Bill Belichick Said About Packers-Bears Playoff Matchup

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers for stretches of the season have looked like a team equipped to win the Super Bowl.

At other times – at this time, specifically – they have looked like a dazed and confused fighter leaning on the ropes.

On Saturday night, the Packers will face the rival Chicago Bears in an NFC wild-card game.

Nobody knows more about playoff success than legendary coach Bill Belichick, who won six Super Bowls as coach of the New England Patriots.

“Green Bay’s been kind of an unpredictable, up and down type of team,” he told Jim Gray on this week’s Let’s Go podcast on SiriusXM. “It seems like when they're on, they're really tough and when they're not, they're not.

“So, it'll be interesting to see how things come together for Green Bay. But give Chicago credit, they've had a heck of a year, especially offensively. I think if Green Bay can get it going offensively and try to make Chicago play from behind that they could be in good shape, too. But going on the road in the playoffs is always tough.”

That’s a fact. Since the advent of the 14-team playoff field, meaning seven teams per conference and a first-round bye for the No. 1 seed, the home team is 35-13. In the wild-card round, the home teams are 19-5, with Green Bay’s win at Dallas in 2023 being one of the exceptions.

Neither team has a bit of momentum.

The Bears lost their last two games, down-to-the wire contests at San Francisco and at home against Detroit, but won the NFC North and earned the No. 2 seed, anyway, because the Packers lost four in a row.

One of those was Green Bay’s fall-from-ahead loss at Chicago in Week 16.

“I think that’s in the past,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said on Tuesday before his team held a walk-through to start the on-the-field prep for Saturday night. “I think there’s nothing we can do about that. We’ve just got to look to the future.”

When the game kicks off on Saturday night, it will be their third game in 34 days. Both coaches downplayed the oddity.

“There are certain things that we'd like to highlight and we'd like to attack,” Bears coach Ben Johnson told reporters on Monday. “We know them, they know us personnel-wise, scheme-wise at this point. And so, the good news is in the National Football League and, really, anywhere, there's a million different ways you can run plays and a million different types of plays that you can run.

“And so, I don't think we're going to have any shortage of ideas here this week on offense, defense, or special teams.”

The betting line at FanDuel Sportsbook is fitting for this game. The Packers are 1.5-point favorites against the Bears, even though Chicago finished with the better record, beat Green Bay at Soldier Field and has the healthier roster. Because of those factors, the Bears have a 54.4 percent chance of winning.

The teams split the regular-season matchups, with both teams likely believing it could have been a sweep. At Lambeau Field in Week 14, the Packers survived on Keisean Nixon’s game-saving, end-zone interception. In the rematch in Week 16, the Bears stunned the Packers with an onside kick, blown-coverage touchdown, fumbled snap and touchdown bomb.

This will be only the third playoff game between the teams, who’ve been playing each other for more than 100 years.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty cool deal,” LaFleur said. “I think any time you’re talking about division rivals and you’re in the playoffs with a lot at stake, I think it just heightens it a little bit.”

From 2021 through 2024, the home team in division-rival wild-card games has won six in a row. In 2020, however, the Browns won at the Steelers and the Rams won at the Seahawks.

The Packers won the 2010 NFC Championship Game at Chicago.

If the Packers beat the Bears, they will play at the No. 1-seeded Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round.

“When you look at Denver and Seattle, those are two good football teams that are very well balanced,” Belichick said. “Denver's been incredible with the number of close games they've won, but they're both very good defensive teams, which is I think’s always an advantage when you play in the playoffs and play at home, and play outside. …

“When I say ‘all,’ that's a lot easier said than done, but all Denver and Seattle have to do are win two games at home and they're in the Super Bowl. And that's doable with a week off. So, I think they're definitely the two teams to beat.”

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