Chicago and Green Bay It’s the oldest rivalry in the National Football League NFL The Bears and Packers have been butting heads since 1921 That was only the NFL’s second season The Bears were still known as the Chicago Staleys It’s also a classic border battle These cold-weather foes are just over 200 miles 322 km apart Both play in outdoor stadiums Snow wind and bitter cold often play a role when they meet BEARS AND PACKERS CLASH IN NFL’S OLDEST RIVALRY The Bears Vic Zucco tackles Packers wide receiver Billy Howton in a 1958 game 1 4
The bad blood between these teams started early In 1924 Chicago’s Frank Hanny and Green Bay’s Tillie Voss got into a fight They became the first players ever ejected for fighting The Bears often beat the Packers in those early years In 1941 the teams finished tied atop the NFL’s West Division It was playoff time The Bears crushed the Packers 33 14 The Packers took charge in the 1960s Green Bay coach Vince Lombardi led the team to five NFL titles Among those wins were the first two Super Bowls The Packers went 15 5 against the Bears during that decade The teams met again after the 2010 season It was their first playoff meeting in almost 70 years Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers took charge The Packers surged to a 21 14 win That sent them to the Super Bowl 190 Games between the Bears and Packers through 2014 including playoffs Chicago leads the all time series 93 91 6 including playoffs The 2010 playoffs marked only the fourth time that both teams were in the postseason together The teams did not meet in 1982 A players strike shortened that NFL season 5 The Packers Clay Matthews top tackles the Bears Matt Forte in a 2014 game
The Baltimore Ravens made their NFL debut in 1996 The Pittsburgh Steelers promptly beat them 31 17 A new rivalry was born But in some ways an old rivalry was just heating up The Ravens had been the Cleveland Browns From 1950 to 1995 the Browns and Steelers were two of the NFL’s biggest rivals Then the Browns owner made a shocking decision He moved the team to RAVENS AND STEELERS BATTLE FOR THE NORTH 2 6 Steelers receiver Plaxico Burress breaks the tackle of Ravens safety Rod Woodson during their playoff game in January 2002
Baltimore That’s when the team became the Ravens The new rivalry quickly got heated Both teams often had tough defenses And both teams usually won a lot of games Their meetings often helped decide who won the American Football Conference AFC North Division After the 2001 season they faced off in the playoffs Pittsburgh’s defense dominated the game Baltimore quarterback Elvis Grbac threw three interceptions The Steelers won 27 10 For the next decade the teams remained among the NFL’s best Their biggest clash came in the AFC Championship Game following the 2008 season Pittsburgh was clinging to a 16 14 lead late in the game Baltimore was on the move That’s when Steelers safety Troy Polamalu picked off Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco Polamalu returned the interception 40 yards for the game-sealing touchdown Pittsburgh went on to win the Super Bowl RETURN OF THE BROWNS The Cleveland Browns returned to the NFL in 1999 The Browns haven’t enjoyed much success since their return But their old rivalry with the Steelers picked right back up Browns fans also haven’t forgotten that the Ravens owner moved the original Browns Luckily for fans all three teams are in the AFC North That means they play each other twice each year 4 Playoff meetings between the Ravens and Steelers through 2014 Pittsburgh won three of four The Ravens and Steelers have each won two Super Bowls in this century The Ravens won after the 2000 and 2012 seasons The Steelers won after the 2005 and 2008 seasons 7
