Whichever team wins Sunday’s game between the Packers and Bears will hold sole possession of first place for most regular-season wins in NFL history. Both franchises stand at 786 entering their Week 13 matchup at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Neither team’s fans would mind (I don’t think) passing that title off to the other’s for the time being. The Bears (3-9) host the Packers (4-8) in a game that carries far more implications for draft position than playoff standings. According to The Athletic’s Austin Mock, the Packers have a mere six percent chance to make the playoffs. The Bears have a near-zero percent chance. However, the Bears currently hold the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and the Packers No. 8.
While a loss for the Packers could vault them into position for a top-five pick come April, something they haven’t had since taking middle linebacker AJ Hawk No. 5 overall out of Ohio State in 2006, the Bears could use a loss if they want to stay in the running for the top pick.
Don’t tell any of that to Aaron Rodgers or Justin Fields, the two quarterbacks who will start Sunday despite missing part or all of their team’s last games due to injury. Fields missed the Bears’ Week 12 loss to the Jets with a left shoulder injury and Rodgers, who turned 39 on Friday, missed the fourth quarter of the Packers’ loss to the Eagles with an injury to his ribs.
It would take a lot more than banged-up ribs to keep Rodgers out of a game at Soldier Field, where last year he declared his ownership of the Bears’ franchise by screaming, “I own you! All my f—ing life! I own you! I still own you!” after sealing a 24-14 win with a fourth-quarter touchdown scramble. Rodgers and the Packers have won seven straight games against the Bears, with Rodgers throwing 18 touchdowns and no interceptions in those games. In his career, Rodgers is 23-5 against Chicago.
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(Photo: USA Today)