World’s Best Preview: Debuts and dominance

Turning the big 1-0-0: The NFL couldn’t have found a better way to open its 100th season than with the league’s oldest rivalry.

“I think it’s special,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said in a conference call. “This is one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports, and for both teams to be a part of this, to go back, you just think of Coach Halas and Coach Lombardi back in the day, how cool is that? Here we are 100 years later, and just to kick off the NFL season is really rare. No one else is going to get a chance to do this again. I think for us, it’s important that our players realize that and understand that and respect that. I know that ours do, for sure.”

This will be the teams’ 199th meeting, including playoffs. Green Bay leads 97-95-6, thanks to the dominance of Aaron Rodgers (keep reading). The first matchup was in 1921, when the Chicago Staleys beat the Packers 20-0. George Halas caught a touchdown pass to cap the scoring. In fact, Chicago was 7-1-3 in the first 11 matchups, with the Packers’ lone win being a 14-10 triumph in Green Bay in 1925.

Opening day: The Packers are 8-7 when opening the season against the Bears. Green Bay, of course, beat Chicago in last year’s opener, 24-23, at Lambeau Field. Rodgers returned from a knee injury to lead the Packers back from a 20-0 deficit, with his 75-yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb with 2:13 remaining being the game-winner. That game is recognized in the murals that lead from the locker room to the field.

“I think a belief. A belief we could do that,” said Rodgers, who was 20-of-30 for 286 yards and three touchdowns with a 130.7 rating in the game. “When I came back on the field after halftime, I think everybody kind of started to believe a little bit. The ovation was loud, and although we were down 17-0 and then 20-0 when I took the field, I think everybody had that belief. And on the other side, up 17-0 going into half, kind of feeling like, ‘We can coast, maybe, to the finish here …’ We just chipped away, we got a field goal, then we got a touchdown early in the fourth, put together another drive, our defense stopped them there on their long drive, held them to a field goal and then I hit Cobby and he had a great catch-and-run for a touchdown and we held them. So that was an exciting game, one that ranks up there for me in all-time games and best experiences on the field.”

Bear killer: Rodgers’ success against the Bears has been outlandish. Including the 2010 NFC Championship Game, Rodgers is a staggering 17-5 against the Bears. In going 16-5 in the regular season, Rodgers has completed 67.2 percent of his passes, with 45 touchdowns vs. 10 interceptions, and a 105.9 passer rating.

Among the 70 quarterbacks with at least 125 career passing attempts against the Bears, Rodgers’ passer rating trails only Tom Brady’s 109.2. Only Brett Favre (8,606 yards in 36 starts) and Fran Tarkenton (5,452 yards in 28 starts) have more passing yards than Rodgers (5,156 yards in 21 starts). Only Favre (60) has more touchdown passes than Rodgers.

“I have a lot of respect for the city of Chicago and their fan,” Rodgers said. “I grew up a fan of Michael Jordan, and one of the channels we had on our 10-channel TV was WGN, so we got the Cubs games, as well. So, I grew up watching some Chicago sports. I was a fan of Brett Favre and had an appreciation for the rivalry. Obviously playing in it, it takes on a whole life of its own because you realize how special it is. Not just the players, but even more to the fans who have seen years and decades and decades of this rivalry. And there is a hatred on both sides between the fans. … I have a lot of respect for their fans. They know when to cheer. They’re loud. It’s a tough environment. They have a lot of really good trash talk on the sideline. But we’ve also won in that place before and you take that confidence with you.”

Coaching history: Tip of the hat to WBAY-TV’s Chris Roth, who dug into this while visiting the office that ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky is kind enough to share with me. With Matt LaFleur about to make his debut, here are the coaching debuts for recent Packers coaches: Mike McCarthy lost to Chicago 26-0 in 2006; Mike Sherman lost to the Jets 20-16 in 2000; Ray Rhodes beat Oakland 28-24 in 1999; Mike Holmgren lost to Minnesota 23-20 in 1992 and Lindy Infante lost to the Rams 34-7 in 1988.

That’s five coaching debuts over the last 30 years and the only one to win was Rhodes, who was one-and-done after an 8-8 season. McCarthy, who started 1-4, and Holmgren, who started 2-5, are two of the best coaches in franchise history. Sherman started 2-4. Even Vince Lombardi dropped five in a row after a 3-0 start in 1959. In other words, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.