Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears Rivalry of the 1970s

Pro football’s longest-enduring rivalry naturally involves two of its oldest teams, the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. Their first meeting began way back in 1921. In the 1970s, the rivalry blossomed into its sixth decade.

These two natural rivals in the old NFC Central Division (now it’s the NFC North Division) met each other 20 times during the 1970s, with the Bears winning 11 of those games. I will try to take a closer look at some of the more entertaining of those 20 contests.

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Packers vs. Bears of the 1970s

Green Bay won five of the first six of its meetings with Chicago. In 1972, the Packers unveiled rookie placekicker Chester Marcol, and all he did in his first season in the NFL was lead the league in scoring. In Green Bay’s first meeting versus the Bears in 1972, Marcol lifted the Packers to a 20-17 victory on their way to an eventual 10-4 record and a division championship.

Marcol’s 37-yard boot with but 30 seconds left in the game was something new in Packerland…a kicker who could help his team win a close game over their divisional rivals with a key field goal conversion. Later that year, the Green Bay defense came through by causing and recovering a Bobby Douglass fumble to preserve a 23-17 Packers victory and a season sweep of the Bears.

That win gave Green Bay the sole possession of the lead in their division. It was a lead that they never lost, as they earned the NFC Central Division title in the 13th week of the season with a clutch 23-7 victory at Minnesota.

More Rivalry of the 70s

By the middle of the decade of the 1970s, however, the Bears would start improving, and they managed to put a halt to the Packers’ winning streak. In 1974, a very tight contest took place on Monday Night Football at Chicago’s Soldier Field.

The Bears did all of their scoring in the first quarter on a Mirro Roder field goal and a 57-yard touchdown bomb from quarterback Gary Huff to wide receiver Charley Wade. A 10-0 Chicago lead.

Then the Bears hung on for dear life. Their defense was somehow able to limit the Packers to three Chester Marcol field goals in the second half, as the Bears prevailed, 10-9. A tight game like this was going to be seen more than once during the 1970s, however.

In 1976, Chicago won another game over Green Bay, 16-10. The significance of that meeting was that the Bears – with their win — achieved their first season sweep of the Packers since 1963.

Three Bob Thomas field goals combined with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Bob Avellini to James Scott to provide the margin of victory. Chicago’s win on this day helped them to achieve a 7-7 regular season record, the first time that they broke even for a season since 1968.

Rest of the Decade

Throughout the rest of the decade, both the Bears and the Packers engaged in rather nondescript affairs, with Chicago winning five of the final six meetings between the two teams from 1977 to 1979.

Only one of those games could be considered to be a blowout. In 1977, the Bears posted a 26-0 victory over the Packers in Green Bay. Most of the games were settled by just one score between the two teams.

The highly competitive nature of these two squads was probably best seen in 1979. Both of their regular season meetings that year were decided by a total of only four points of difference. In their opening game at Soldier Field, the Bears won a battle of field goals, 6-3.

The Packers almost tied the game in the third quarter, but Chicago defensive back Virgil Livers managed to block a Chester Marcol field goal attempt.

In their second meeting, which took place in the 15th week of the 1979 season, the Bears once again prevailed by a score of 15-14 at Lambeau Field. As evidenced by the final score, that game went down to the wire. Bears linebacker Tom Hicks returned an interception 66 yards for a touchdown to give Chicago the lead late in the fourth quarter.

The Packers came back and attempted a last-second field goal, but Tom Birney’s 52-yard attempt was just short.

And thus ended the Chicago-Green Bay rivalry for the 1970s.

As we all know, the Bears-Packers rivalry is known for its historic longevity, and for its many great games of the past. The future meetings between these two teams, however, promises to add even more excitement to those many great games of the past.

Trivia Question:

What Chicago Bears quarterback had the highest team passing rating in 1979?

Host of Pro Football in the 1970s - Joe Zagorski

Throughout his days, Joe spent some time as a sportswriter and has been a member of the Pro Football Researchers Association since the mid-1980s. Joe is also a proud member of the Pro Football Writers of America.

Also, if you’re interested in picking one of Joe’s books up, all three are listed below.

Here, you can learn more about Joe and Pro Football in the 1970s.