Trench Talk Tuesday #8
On believing in the impossible
(Photo credit: Mark Hoffman, Imagn Images)
This seems to be a bit of a running gag at this point, but—y’know—I had plans for this column.
I actually sat down this past weekend fully prepared to write about the Jake Paul–Anthony Joshua “fight,” and what I saw was more than enough to carry an entire Trench Talk Tuesday. One, because Fourth & Print, despite its punny name, has always been about more than football. And two, because as a boxing fan, I have a lot of thoughts about watching someone who is not a boxer both delude himself—and be actively deluded by others—into believing he could take punches from a man who folded MMA heavyweight legend Francis Ngannou like a cheap lawn chair.
And then I watched Bears–Packers on Saturday night.
And the whole damn plan went out the window.
I am a Chicago Bears fan. Because of that sad reality, I am contractually obligated to hate the Green Bay Packers.
Now, historically, the rivalry between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears is one of the best in sports—not just football. Not just because of repetition (we’ve played each other more than any matchup in NFL history), but because of the weight behind it.
The Packers have won more games than any team in NFL history. The Bears are second.
The Packers have won 13 NFL championships, including four Super Bowls—more than any franchise. The Bears are second, with nine championships and one Super Bowl.
The Packers have sent 36 players to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A staggering number—except for the fact that the Bears have sent 41.
All-time record? 109–97–1, in favor of Green Bay. Two playoff meetings, split evenly.
On paper, it is an impossibly tight rivalry.
Could’ve fooled me.
Since the year I was born—1993—the Packers haven’t just beaten the Bears. They’ve humiliated them. StatMuse puts the series since 1993 at 50–16 in favor of Green Bay. You could triple the number of Bears wins in that span and they still wouldn’t have beaten the Packers as often as Green Bay has beaten us.
And that would be fine (not really), if Green Bay didn’t seem to master victory as a form of sadism. Sure, we got them a few times—but the times when it mattered?
Jesus.
January 23, 2011. NFC Championship Game. Jay Cutler gets hurt in the second quarter and never returns. The Packers, led by Aaron Rodgers (ugh), rip the hearts out of the Chicago faithful at Soldier Field and go on to win the Super Bowl.
December 29, 2013. Final game of the regular season. Winner takes the NFC North. At Soldier Field—again—the Bears have the Packers facing fourth-and-8…and Aaron Rodgers finds Randall Cobb wide open for the game-winning touchdown. Packers to the playoffs. Bears go home.
I hate Randall Cobb.
November 2014. Aaron Rodgers throws six touchdown passes in the first half. Packers win 55–14. The game is over before it begins.
September 9, 2018. Rodgers leaves the game injured in the second quarter. The Bears are up 20–0 in the third. Hope appears. And then Rodgers returns like the Grim Reaper and leads Green Bay to a 24–23 win, because of course he does.
October 17, 2021. Green Bay beats Chicago at Soldier Field. Rodgers runs in a back-breaking touchdown, turns to the crowd, and screams:
“I own you. All my f—ing life, I still own you.”
He finished his Packers career against the Bears with a 25–5 record.
And I never even talked about Brett Favre.
If insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, then being a Chicago Bears fan hoping for a win over Green Bay is the definition of the word. Every year I got hopeful. Every year I thought we’d do it. And every year, I was disappointed. It didn’t help that the Packers went from one hall of fame QB in Brett Favre to an even better hall of fame QB in Aaron Rodgers to a very solid (jury’s out on long-term career arc) QB in Jordan Love.
Meanwhile, the Bears have played so many quarterbacks over that same 30+ year timespan I’m pretty sure I got a snap or two in there. It’s all a blur.
Family members felt sorry for me. Co-workers felt sorry for me. To them, I must be practicing a form of insanity.
But insanity isn’t just expecting a different result. It’s hope. And hope, as said in The Shawshank Redemption, is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane, Morgan Freeman said.
Well, Morgan Freeman might have revised his thoughts on hope if he knew hope would come in the form of a USC grad who paints his nails.
I hated Caleb Williams when he was in college. (Notre Dame grad, sorry) Watching Notre Dame beat his head in with a psalm book (metaphorically) in 2023 was the best present I got for my 30th birthday. And when the Bears drafted him, I had to pretend like I liked him all along. But I was skeptical. A few years prior, I had been thrilled when the Bears drafted Justin Fields…and he was ruined by Chicago. Another young, mobile quarterback who had a mortar of an arm? I’d seen this before.
And through the goofy, laughable slopfest that was the 2024 Chicago Bears season, I felt history repeating itself. Caleb was talented and brave, but he was sloppy, took too many sacks, and was probably doomed to failure.
But then, on the last game of the season, he led the Bears down the field at Lambeau Field and…we won on a field goal. For once, we had ripped the hearts out of them. Or at least it felt that way. Because once is a moment. It’s not momentum.
And then this season.
If the 2024 Bears could be described, it was a fiery yet sloppy team that lost games in the dumbest ways possible. If the 2025 Bears can be described, it’s as a fiery yet sloppy team that won games in the dumbest ways possible. And Caleb Williams was the man leading the charge (even if I’d like his accuracy to be a bit higher).
The Packers beat us two weeks ago…but it was close. And now, on December 20, 2025, they came to Soldier Field. The Bears were good(?) again. The Packers were always dangerous. The winner was probably gonna win the division.
And for about 57 of the 60 minutes allotted in an NFL game, the Packers looked like they were gonna do it again.
Jordan Love was hurt, but backup Malik Willis was beating up on the Bears. We couldn’t stop the run. Meanwhile, our offense was sputtering like an old car trying to start in the Chicago winter. With just under two minutes left, we were down 16-9. We had to go for the onside kick. A kick that statheads put at 8% likelihood of recovery for the kicking team.
And the Packers fumbled the kick.
Shocking, but we still had to drive down the field to tie it up. And with only a few seconds left, we had fourth and goal. Plenty of time to Bears it up. Except…
Undrafted free agent rookie Jahdae Walker snags the pass in the corner of the endzone. Cairo Santos drills the extra point. Tie game. Overtime.
And I started to believe.
The Packers got the ball first in overtime. My belief was there, but muted. I dared not hope more.
But then Malik Willis fumbled the ball and the Bears recovered.
I still couldn’t hope.
The Bears drove down the field. The crowd going crazy. I still couldn’t hope.
And then, on 1st and 10 from the Green Bay 46…Caleb Williams dropped back to pass, rolled out to his left under pressure, stepped up, and let it rip.
My dear readers, I’ve watched so many men under center for the Bears. I’ve watched Kordell Stewart and Josh McCown and Mike Glennon and Nick Foles and Andy Dalton and Mitchell Trubisky and Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton and Trevor Siemian and Nathan Peterman and Justin Fields and Chad %$#^ing Hutchinson and so many more that I could have started making names up and you’d never know…
…and I’ve never seen any of them make a throw like Caleb Williams did. Right into the waiting arms of DJ Moore. Touchdown. Walkoff. Bear Down.
Victory.
I don’t know if Caleb Williams is the answer. I don’t know if we’ll go far in the playoffs or flame out. I don’t even know if we’re gonna win this coming game. But I do know this.
Everyone remembers Morgan Freeman’s line from Shawshank that hope is a dangerous thing. But never forget Tim Robbins’ response:
“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
Bear down.
See you in the playoffs.
On to the picks!
WEEKLY FOOTBALL PICKS - NFL WEEK 17
(Winner picks are in bold.)
Thursday, December 25:
Dallas Cowboys at Washington Commanders
Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings
Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs
Saturday, December 27:
Houston Texans at Los Angeles Chargers
Baltimore Ravens at Green Bay Packers
Sunday, December 28:
Arizona Cardinals at Cincinnati Bengals
Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns
New Orleans Saints at Tennessee Titans
Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots at New York Jets
Seattle Seahawks at Carolina Panthers
New York Giants at Las Vegas Raiders
Philadelphia Eagles at Buffalo Bills
Chicago Bears at San Francisco 49ers
Monday, December 29:
Los Angeles Rams at Atlanta Falcons
Last Week’s Record: 12-4; Season Record: 59-47
Weekly Recommendations
A thing to read: Every year, Drew Magary of Defector (formerly Deadspin and other publications) writes up The Haters’ Guide to the Williams-Sonoma Catalogue. If you’ve ever been baffled at the ridiculous prices in that store, oh boy is this a read for you.
A song to listen to: It’s the holidays, and what could be better than Charlie Brown Christmas? A cover of Charlie Brown Christmas by the Foo Fighters.
A video to watch: What could better than the official video of Caleb Williams’ walk-off winner to DJ Moore against the Packers? Seeing a fan reaction.
Next week is just gonna be picks (to close out the year), as we go on holiday break. Trench Talk Tuesday will return on Tuesday, January 6, 2026. What a year it’s been! And what a year it shall be. Good tiding and blessings to you all.
Have a good week, and as always:
Stay steady, y’all.
- Mike G.W.