For Bears and Packers, wild-card game is a rare playoff matchup in NFL’s longest-running rivalry

The Packers have the NFC’s No. 7 playoff seed for the third straight year. They reached the divisional round in 2023 and lost 22-10 at Philadelphia in the wild-card round last season. … The Packers dropped their final four regular-season games. … They’re the fourth team to enter the playoffs after losing at least four straight games to end the regular season. The others were the 1986 New York Jets, 1999 Detroit Lions and 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers. The only team in that group to win a playoff game was the 1986 Jets, who beat Kansas City in the wild-card round before losing to Cleveland in overtime in the divisional round. … Packers DL Rashan Gary had 7 ½ sacks in Green Bay’s first seven games but doesn’t have any since. … Packers RB Josh Jacobs had 13 touchdown runs this season, putting him in a tie for fourth place in the league. Jacobs didn’t play against the Vikings and had just 39 yards rushing on 16 carries over his final two regular-season games as he dealt with a knee issue. … The Bears won the NFC North for the first time since 2018 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2020. They have lost three straight postseason games since the 2010 team beat Seattle in a divisional game at Soldier Field. … The Bears dropped their final two regular-season games, losing to Detroit on a last-second field goal after coming up short in a 42-38 shootout at San Francisco. They gave up 433 yards against the Lions after the 49ers went off for 496. … If Chicago beats Green Bay, Ben Johnson would become the franchise’s first coach to win a playoff game in their first season. … The Bears led the league in interceptions (23), takeaways (33) and turnover differential (plus-22) while committing a league-low 11 turnovers. … Chicago won six games after trailing in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter. … With seven interceptions, S Kevin Byard led the league for the second time in his 10 seasons.

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