Referees Separate Amped Packers, Bears Before Wild-Card Game Kickoff

Let the battle begin.

The Packers and Bears acted like the NFL’s oldest rivals pregame Saturday. / Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Packers and Bears are the NFL’s oldest rivals, having played each other for the first time way back in 1921. On Saturday, they acted like it.

Officials had to separate Green Bay and Chicago before the game kicked off Saturday. Check out this 14-second video from Matt Schneidman of The Athletic, which shows a significant degree of jawing from both squads.

Ultimately, the exchange never escalated beyond talking, and the game amicably kicked off at 7:00 local time—well, maybe “amicably” is the wrong word.

Certainly nothing approached past scrums between the teams and their fans—such as this 2014 throwdown in a bowling alley in Beaver Dam, Wisc.

Saturday’s game marked the third meeting between the teams in a five-week span. The Packers won the first game 28-21, while the Bears took the second 22-16 in overtime. Green Bay leads the all-time series 109-97-6, and has won 10 of 12 matchups in the 2020s.

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