A few facts that I find interesting (and I may be in the minority there) about next week’s NFC Championship game between the Bears and Packers:
- The game will be played for the George Halas trophy, named for Chicago’s legendary former head coach. The winner will go on to play for the Vince Lombardi trophy, whose namesake was a fairly decent coach in Green Bay.
- This rivalry, which began in 1921, is the NFL’s most-played series. Sunday’s matchup will be the 182nd meeting between these two squads, but only the second all-time playoff meeting. – The only previous playoff contest against each other took place in 1941, when both teams finished the season with identical 10-1 records. They had each accounted for the other’s only loss, and so a one-game playoff was required to determine the Western Division champion. The Bears won 33-14 at Wrigley Field (where I believe the teams were allowed to go both ways on the field without the risk of collision with the outfield wall)
- Sunday will be the 17th instance where two teams from the same division have met in the Conference Championship game, but the first time it has happened with squads from the NFC North. Prior to this year, the most recent meeting between divisional foes this far into the playoffs was in 2008, when Pittsburgh and Baltimore (of the AFC North) played, with the Steelers advancing to the Super Bowl courtesy of a 23-14 win.
In addition to these fun factoids, this game will include two teams who just plain don’t like each other, and promises to be a good old-fashioned smashmouth contest. As for my prediction, I find it hard to go against a Bears team that is playing at home and playing as well as they have all season, even against the Packers, who have the most momentum of any team in the playoffs right now, and who seem to be peaking at the right time.
Final Score from the Windy City: Bears 24, Packers 17.
