As an avid Chicago Bears fan, I have learned to approach preseason optimism carefully. Every August, somebody looks great in practice, a rookie becomes the next Walter Payton after six carries, and Bears fans begin pricing Super Bowl tickets before the regular season starts.

This year, however, the excitement feels more legitimate.

The Bears are coming off an 11–6 season, an NFC North championship and, most importantly, a playoff victory over the Green Bay Packers. That comeback win was more than another postseason victory. It may have marked the moment when the balance of power in this rivalry finally began shifting toward Chicago.

For years, Packers fans enjoyed two enormous advantages: Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. Bears fans spent decades watching Green Bay move almost effortlessly from one Hall of Fame quarterback to another. Meanwhile, Chicago’s search for a franchise quarterback sometimes resembled a witness-protection program. New name, new identity and, before long, another disappointing ending.

Now the Bears have Caleb Williams, and the Packers no longer appear invincible.

Williams threw for a Bears-record 3,942 yards in 2025 and demonstrated something Chicago quarterbacks have not consistently shown: the ability to deliver when the game is on the line. His 361-yard performance in the playoff comeback against Green Bay gave Bears fans a glimpse of what this rivalry could look like in the years ahead. He did not simply survive the pressure. He embraced it.

Head coach Ben Johnson may be the other major reason this season feels different. In his first year, Johnson helped transform a 5–12 team into a division champion. He developed an offense around Williams, established confidence throughout the organization and proved that the Bears could win close games.

That last point matters. For years, the Packers entered games expecting to beat the Bears, while Chicago sometimes appeared to be waiting for something to go wrong. Under Johnson, the Bears are developing a different attitude. They expect to compete, respond and finish.

Of course, realism is necessary. The Bears face a considerably more difficult schedule in 2026, and some analysts believe last season’s success was helped by turnovers and victories in close games. The Lions remain talented, the Vikings cannot be dismissed and the Packers are not going to surrender just because Bears fans have declared the rivalry officially fixed.

Green Bay still has good players, strong coaching and enough experience to make anyone uncomfortable. Packers fans will also remind us that one division title and one playoff victory do not erase decades of frustration.

Unfortunately for them, they are correct. Fortunately for us, we do not have to enjoy admitting it.

What makes this a potential turning point is not simply what happened last season. It is the foundation Chicago appears to be building. Williams is entering only his third NFL season. Johnson is entering his second year as head coach. Young players now have experience in meaningful December and January games, including the pressure of defeating Green Bay in the playoffs.

If the Bears continue developing Williams, protect him properly and strengthen the defense, they could be positioned to contend for the division for several years. Meanwhile, the Packers must prove they can respond after a disappointing finish and a painful playoff loss to their oldest rival.

The 2026 schedule will test whether the Bears are truly becoming an elite team or simply enjoyed one exciting season. Division champions receive tougher opponents and everyone’s best effort. That is the price of becoming relevant again.

I am not predicting that Chicago will sweep Green Bay every season for the next decade, although I am hopeful that happens so we can say, “We own you”, like some other QB I remember. I have been a Bears fan far too long to tempt fate that aggressively. I am simply suggesting that the days of Bears fans automatically marking two Packers games as losses may finally be over.

Experts may disagree about the final NFC North standings, but I am willing to join those predicting Chicago first and Green Bay last. Is that prediction influenced by decades of Bears fandom? Absolutely. But if Packers fans were reasonable, objective people, they would not be Packers fans.

This could be the season when Chicago proves that 2025 was not an exception. It could be the beginning of a stretch in which Green Bay enters the rivalry looking up at the Bears instead of the other way around.

After all the Favre years, the Rodgers years and the endless jokes from Wisconsin, Bears fans have earned the right to enjoy this possibility.

The rivalry is changing. The Bears are improving. The Packers look vulnerable.

And if Chicago can dominate Green Bay for the next several years, I promise to handle it with maturity, humility and respect, immediately after reminding every Packers fan I know about it.

Bear Down!