Aaron Rodgers called Chicago his ‘second home,’ but the Bears are the team trending up

Aaron Rodgers has dominated the Chicago Bears throughout his Hall of Fame career, and the only thing he loves more than beating them is mocking the organization once it’s over. After scoring a touchdown in a win at Soldier Field last season, Rodgers famously told Bears fans “All my f***ing life, I own you. I still own you.” He isn’t wrong. The Bears have defeated Rodgers at Soldier Field only twice since 2010.

It looked like the Bears could have added another victory to that total in Week 13 on Sunday, but Rodgers again led a comeback to rip Chicago’s heart out. The Packers beat the Bears, 28-19, to prove that even in a lost season for Green Bay, they can always count on a win in Chicago. Rodgers now has a 24-5 record overall against the Bears in his career, with 66 touchdowns to 10 interceptions thrown.

As the Packers erased Chicago’s lead in the second half, Rodgers gave Bears fans a salute.

Rodgers took more shots at the Bears in his post-game interview. He always goes out of his way to complement Chicago sports fans, then he twists the knife. It happened again.

“It has truly been a second home for me,” Rodgers said of playing in Chicago. “It’s fun to come back here, get a win, and let the fans know I’m still here.”

Rodgers has had a lot of objectively stupid quotes over the last two years, but you have to hand it to him on this one. In an era when most athletes feel like they are afraid to speak ill of their competition, Rodgers absolutely relishes being the villain in Chicago. It’s like he’s cutting promos as a heel in the WWE, and he knows he can talk all the smack he wants because his record backs up the fact that, yes, he has indeed ‘owned’ the Bears.

At the same time, the Packers are only 5-8 after entering the year as one of the favorites to win the NFC. Every game is a playoff game for Green Bay the rest of the way if they want to make the postseason. There are many reasons for the team’s decline — most notably their decision to trade Davante Adams — but Rodgers’ regression is one of the biggest culprits. After winning back-to-back MVPs, Rodgers’ numbers have dropped across the board. He has not played like one of the best quarterbacks in football this season.

Now 39 years old, Rodgers’ best years are behind him. His massive contract kills Green Bay’s future flexibility, and his constant flirtation with retirement was reportedly one reason why Adams rejected the Packers’ final contract offer. Rodgers could most likely keep playing at a good but not MVP level into his 40s, but given the team building constrictions his contract places on Green Bay, it’s hard to see the Packers building a championship level team around him if he’s not at his absolute best.

Meanwhile, the Bears are building. The loss to Green Bay puts Chicago No. 2 overall in the current 2023 NFL Draft order. If the Bears end up there, they will have tantalizing options: they could select the best defensive player in the class — either Georgia’s Jalen Carter or Alabama’s Will Anderson — or trade down for a boatload of picks with two elite quarterbacks at the top of the board in Bryce Young and CJ Stroud.

The Bears don’t need to draft a quarterback because they already have one. Justin Fields has proven to be an electric playmaker in his second NFL season, and he gives the Bears the franchise QB they’ve been looking for since Sid Luckman retired in 1950. Fields put his immense talent on full display again against the Packers with a few game-breaking plays. First, he busted this run 56 yards to the end zone to give Chicago an early lead:

Then Fields hit Equanimeous St. Brown on a 56-yard deep ball:

Then Fields hit a 49-yard pass to N’Keal Harry:

Of course, Fields also threw two fourth quarter interceptions. He’s not perfect, but the Bears have to feel thrilled with the progress he’s shown this year.

The Bears finally have an answer at the most important position in sports. They also have more cap space than any team in the league this offseason, with $115 million available. While they traded their own second rounder to Pittsburgh for Chase Claypool — the jury is very much still out on that one — they do have Baltimore’s second rounder and an additional fourth rounder from the Eagles.

The Bears have every opportunity to run the NFC North for the foreseeable future with the Packers trending down, the Vikings still having big questions at QB despite their gaudy record, and the Lions being the Lions. Of course there is no guarantee Chicago’s new GM Ryan Poles and new head coach Matt Eberflus will pull this off, and the Claypool trade — while too early to judge right now — may indeed go down as a big miss.

Regardless, the Bears have to feel great right now. They have a star at quarterback. They have a ton of cap space, surplus draft picks, and would own the No. 2 overall pick if the season ended today. No one will expect the Bears to win the Super Bowl next year, but they could go make a playoff run and lay the groundwork for sustained success in the future. Having Fields on a rookie contract for two more years gives them so many possibilities.

The Packers have owned the Bears for a long time at this point — that’s what happens when you have three decades of elite QB play from Brett Favre and now Rodgers. The tide may be changing, though. Rodgers is very clearly on the way down, while Fields is ascending. If the Bears can get Fields some real help at receiver, on the offensive line, and by building a defense, there’s no ceiling on where this rebuild can go.

Rodgers might as well enjoy this win at Soldier Field. It won’t be so easy to keep racking up the Ws in the future.