Aaron Rodgers has turned over a new leaf.
Late in a 2021 win over the rival Bears, Rodgers rushed for a touchdown to extend the Packers lead to 24–14, which proved to be the final score. The then 37-year-old, fired up by the touchdown, let the home fans hear about it, shouting “I still own you” after doing his signature championship belt celebration. It was an appropriate moment amid Rodgers’s own late-career heel turn over his final few seasons with Green Bay.
Four years and two teams later, Rodgers doesn’t have the same animosity he once had for Chicago and its fans.
Ahead of Sunday’s game between his new team, the Steelers, and the Bears, Rodgers said he no longer has the desire to be the “villain” to Chicago, saying he hopes “we can let bygones be bygones” now that he’s no longer with the Packers.
You can’t simply put over a decade of domination toothpaste back into the tube, however. Bears fans may not like it, but Rodgers owned Chicago throughout his career, tormenting his rival twice a year during his Hall of Fame stint in Green Bay.
“I still own you” has gone down in Rodgers and Packers lore, even as his career has extended beyond Green Bay. Looking back, it’s clear he was correct—if a bit braggadocios about it. Rodgers absolutely dominated the Bears for the entirety of his 16-year starting tenure with their archrivals.
As we prepare for the first non-Packers Rodgers outing against the Bears (assuming he’s able to play after suffering a hand injury), we take a look at six more times when he truly did “own” his former rivals in the Windy City.
2010: Aaron Rodgers and Packers punch their ticket to the Super Bowl at Soldier Field
The box score from January 23, 2011 certainly doesn’t depict a game to remember for Rodgers, and the Bears clearly had their backs against the wall, with Jay Cutler going out due to injury and Caleb Hanie having to step in under center. Even so, excuses go out the window in the NFC championship—especially for the home team.
The Packers overcame two Rodgers interceptions to win 21–14, leaning on James Starks (74 yards, one touchdown) to outlast Chicago. Rodgers did throw for 244 yards and added 39 yards and a score on the ground in the win. It was the third consecutive road win for the Packers in the playoffs, and set up Rodgers’s Super Bowl XLV MVP performance in a 31–25 win over the Steelers.
2011: How the Grinch stole Christmas
Rodgers saved a vintage performance for a Christmas Day game against the Bears, a week after a loss to the Chiefs ended the Packers’ bid for an undefeated season.
He was clinical throughout the game, tossing for 283 yards and connecting with James Jones and Jordy Nelson two times each in the end zone, with a fifth touchdown going to Jermichael Finley. Chicago actually outgained Green Bay 441 yards to 363 at Lambeau Field, but it was all for naught … or at most, some coal in their stockings. The Packers moved to 14–1 with the victory.
2013: Win-and-in for the NFC North title in Week 17
The Bears entered the final week of the 2013 season with a slight edge on the Packers, sitting at 8–7 while Green Bay was 7-7-1. Of course, that meant the winner of that season finale would go on to win the NFC North, making the playoffs out of the down division, while the other team would be sent home packing.
Eight games earlier, Rodgers went down with a broken collarbone in a loss to Chicago. Green Bay went just 2-5-1 in his absence, but with just one game remaining to make the playoffs, Rodgers returned. After a rough start in which Rodgers tossed interceptions on his first two drives, he settled down to lead Green Bay to a 13–7 halftime lead. The Bears would respond with three consecutive touchdowns to open the second half, but Rodgers took over in the fourth quarter, throwing a dramatic 48-yard touchdown to Randall Cobb with under a minute left to take the lead for good and seal the division.
2014: Six. First Half. Touchdowns.
The biggest blowout win of Rodgers’s career against the Bears came on Nov. 9, 2014 at Lambeau Field. Rodgers tied a career high with six touchdown passes on the afternoon, with Jordy Nelson hauling in two scores and the other four going to Randall Cobb, Eddie Lacy, Andrew Quarless and Brian Bostick—all of which came before halftime. That tied a single-half NFL record, previously set by Oakland Raiders signal caller Daryle Lamonica.
The beatdown was so thorough that Rodgers’s final pass attempt of the game came with 10:36 left in the third quarter.
2016: Rodgers and Jordy Nelson break Bears hearts with a 60-yard bomb
Putting the lopsided score from the 2014 game above aside, rivalry games are never easy. That much was clear for the Packers as they found themselves tied at 27 in the final moments of a 2016 game at Soldier Field with a 3–10 Bears squad.
There may be no better thrower of the deep ball in NFL history, and on a frigid Dec. 18 day, Rodgers didn’t quite need one of his staple Hail Marys, but he got something close. On third-and-11 from Green Bay’s 26-yard line, Rodgers let one fly, hitting his favorite target, Jordy Nelson, in stride for a 60-yard gain. Rodgers would hustle to the line to spike the ball, and Mason Crosby converted on a 32-yard chip-shot to win the game, 30–27.
2018: Rodgers’s stunning comeback
Rodgers was an all-time great for the Packers, but unlike his predecessor Brett Favre, he wasn’t quite invincible. During the second quarter of the 2018 season opener at Lambeau Field, Chicago defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris sacked Rodgers, leading to a scary scene for the cheeseheads in attendance, as Rodgers was carted off the field.
The Bears would build a 20–0 lead with Rodgers out, but when the Packers took the ball for their first drive of the second half, it was Rodgers, and not backup DeShone Kizer, under center. He would throw for 286 yards and three second-half touchdowns, leading Green Bay all the way back to win 24–23—tied for the fourth-biggest comeback in franchise history.
Aaron Rodgers’s career record, stats against the Bears
In 29 career regular season games against the Bears, all of which took place with the Packers between 2008 and 2022, Rodgers was a robust 24–5 all-time. Add in the 2011 NFC championship game, his only playoff game against Chicago, and his record goes to 25–5.
Rodgers’s career stats vs. the Bears.
Completion %
Pass Yards
YPA
Pass TDs
INTs
Rush Yards
Rush TDs
67.3%
6,965
7.7
64
10
313
2
Rodgers’s highest single-game passing mark against the Bears came on Dec. 12, 2021, when he tossed for 341 yards and four touchdowns in a 45–30 win. It was one of seven four-plus touchdown performances for Rodgers in the rivalry. His highest total came on the Nov. 9, 2014 game, when he threw for six touchdowns in the 55–14 win. According to passer rating, his best overall game was on Sept. 28, 2014, when Rodgers was 22-for-28 for 302 yards and four touchdowns in a 38–17 victory.
