As a new Bear, John Tait was getting to know his way around town last spring when he ran into some Bears fans.
“They’d say, `Glad you’re here and beat the Packers,'” Tait recalled.
That sounded familiar to Tait and all the other new Bears, and well it should. On the day he was hired as their coach, Lovie Smith put beating the Packers right up there with winning the Super Bowl on his to-do list. It may have something to do with his long-term survival.
Beating Green Bay was high on Dick Jauron’s to-do list, but he was 2-8 against the Packers, losing the last seven.
At first, Dave Wannstedt didn’t see the Packers as a special opponent, and he went 1-11 against Green Bay, losing his last 10.
Wannstedt and Jauron had to deal with Brett Favre for their entire stays, something Smith may avoid. But Favre will be at Lambeau Field in all his glory Sunday when Smith takes a Bears team to Green Bay for the first time.
“It so happens it’s a rivalry too, so I’m saying the same thing: We have to be able to beat teams who have been at the top,” Smith said. “That’s where Green Bay has been and that’s what our goal still is.”
It’s only the second game of Smith’s tenure, and given the Bears’ loss to the Lions in the season opener and the Packers’ relatively easy victory over defending NFC champion Carolina on Monday night, it might not be wise to invest too much in one game against one opponent.
Even if it is the Packers.
“I don’t think he meant to take it literally,” cornerback Charles Tillman said. “I think he said that because we have the biggest rivalry in the NFL. At the same time, reading between the lines, we know to take it one game at a time.”
Can the hype be overdone?
“It can only be overdone if you get to the point where you’re focusing on that and overshoot the mark,” Tait said. “You can’t be too uptight. It is another game, but it means more than that. Fans get into it more. They’re really good for sports.”
Guard Ruben Brown will be playing in his first Bears-Packers game, but he recalls many a Dolphins-Bills game and likes rivalry games.
“You can never make too much of it,” Brown said. “When the fans get into it and cheer for it, it makes for a great experience.”
First-year defensive coordinator Ron Rivera was a Bears linebacker in the 1980s, when the blood feud between Bears coach Mike Ditka and Packers coach Forrest Gregg boiled over.
In the 1985 game in Green Bay, Mark Lee was called for a personal foul for running Walter Payton out of bounds and over a bench (the Packers said Payton pulled Lee over), and again when safety Ken Stills blindsided Bears fullback Matt Suhey a few seconds after a play ended.
Rivera got his first dose of Bears-Packers as a rookie in 1984. At the end of the first half of an exhibition game in Milwaukee, Ditka yelled at Gregg after Gregg called a timeout late in the first half.
“Both teams were on the same sideline and there was a white line separating the teams. Cross it and you’re going to get fined,” Rivera said. “[Ditka and Gregg] stood there toe-to-toe with the white line between them and cussed each other. I thought, `Holy smokes, those two hate each other.’
“Coach Ditka talked about it the week of the Packers game. He told me, `I don’t like him. I hated him as a player and I hate him now as a coach.'”
Now, a new Bears coaching staff enters the rivalry.
“It’s the greatest rivalry in football, period,” Rivera said. “You have to approach it with the attitude that it is more than a football game. It’s a social event, a community event. So much rides on it and not just football.
“[It’s] just because of the history of the Packers and Bears. At one point George Halas helped save the Packers (by lobbying voters for a new stadium in the 1950s), Virginia McCaskey handed the George Halas NFC championship trophy to the Packers when they won it in the 1990s, and she got a standing ovation from the crowd.
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“There really is a love-hate relationship up there. It’s like two brothers, it really is.”
And so you can’t make too much of it?
“No,” Rivera said. “It’s a big game. Second game of the year, it helps establish us as a football team and establish us as a defense with an identity.
“I hope [we] get way up for this one.”
Smith coached against the Green Bay offense twice as the St. Louis Rams’ defensive coordinator, winning both games, 34-24 last season and 45-17 in the 2001 season playoffs, both wins coming in the dome in St. Louis.
In last year’s game, the Packers ran for 116 yards on 26 carries, but 74 of them came on a Najeh Davenport run with 1 minute 48 seconds left, which only made the game look closer than it was.
The Bears are using that history to buoy the players’ hopes.
“I was thinking about that when we were watching film [of the loss to Detroit] and coach was saying, `Forget about this game and let’s move on to Green Bay,'” linebacker Lance Briggs said. “I was thinking about last year’s Rams doing a good job against the Packers. Hopefully, it carries over. We’re anticipating it will carry over. They shut down the run.”
For an underdog in a rivalry game, every little thing helps.
“That proves to us that [Smith] has a scheme to make it work, so we can believe in the system,” defensive end Michael Haynes said.
Added Brown: “That gives [Smith] some credibility of knowing what to do against Green Bay’s offense since he has experienced it.”
Concluded Smith: “We’re just anxious to play somebody right now, and what better team to play right now than them?”
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Lovie Smith against the Packers
In his three seasons as the Rams’ defensive coordinator, Lovie Smith faced Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers twice, both indoors at St. Louis. The Rams won both games. A look at how Smith’s defense fared against Favre and the Packers in key areas.
Oct. 19, 2003: Rams 34, Packers 24
Turnovers: Rams recovered three Green Bay fumbles and intercepted Favre once.
Third-down conversions: Packers converted 36 percent (4 of 11).
Points: Packers scored 24, but last touchdown came on a 76-yard run by Najeh Davenport with 1:48 left after Rams had built a 34-17 lead.
Favre’s day: He completed 23 of 32 for 268 yards with two TD passes and one interception.
Jan. 20, 2002 (NFC divisional playoff): Rams 45, Packers 17
Turnovers: Rams intercepted Favre six times and recovered two Green Bay fumbles. Rams tied NFL postseason record by returning three interceptions for TDs.
Third-down conversions: Packers converted 42 percent (5 of 12).
Points: Packers scored 17, but last TD came with 5:45 left, after the outcome had been determined.
Favre’s day: He completed 26 of 44 for 281 yards, two TD passes and six interceptions.