It's no secret that the longtime rivalry between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears has been extremely one-sided in recent years.
Aaron Rodgers famously "owned" the Monsters of the Midway, going 25-5 as a starter against Chicago before being dealt to the New York Jets.
And Jordan Love continued the dominance upon taking over under center, going 3-0 in his first three starts before the Bears finally snapped an 11-game losing streak to Green Bay this past January, taking a last-second 24-22 win at Lambeau Field in the regular-season finale.
Love only threw 12 passes that day, and Josh Jacobs only ran the ball six times, as the Packers already had a playoff spot locked up, but we'll go ahead and let that slide. That 11-game winning streak by Green Bay is the longest by either team over 100-plus years of playing one another, by the way. Just saying.
Now, to their credit, the Bears are on the rise. Bringing in Ben Johnson was a brilliant move, and the Chicago front office has been busy this offseason in getting its new head coach just about anything he wants to improve this team enough to be able to genuinely compete with the Packers, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions in the NFC North.
So, this Packers-Bears rivalry may soon be a lot closer than it's been. And make no mistake. This is still a rivalry, even with the one-sided nature of it recently.
Johnson ruffled some feathers in Green Bay during his introductory press conference by saying how much he enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year when he served as the Lions' offensive coordinator.
And LaFleur playfully fired back recently, praising the Bears for what they've done during the offseason, specifically saying how well they've done "adding to their roster and you get a good football coach, as he said himself, in Ben Johnson."
Now, Johnson has made a LaFleur-like draft pick, as the Bears' second-round selection, wideout Luther Burden, reminds us a lot of Jayden Reed.
New Bears wideout Luther Burden is very similar to Packers WR Jayden Reed
One night after the Packers ended their 23-year streak of not taking a wide receiver in the first round, taking Matthew Golden at No. 23 overall in Round 1, the Bears lucked out and locked up Burden in Round 2, as the Mizzou star somehow fell to No. 39.
This is a strong addition for Chicago, which already has D.J. Moore and 2024 first-rounder Rome Odunze as wideout weapons for Caleb Williams and now also has a strong tight end combo in Cole Kmet and first-round pick Colston Loveland.
With Burden, the Bears are effectively getting their own version of Jayden Reed, who led the Packers in receiving yards each of the last two seasons.
Reed is fantastic after the catch, and Burden has that strength as well. Both can be perimeter threats, but Reed particularly excels in the slot, and one would assume that's where Johnson will utilize Burden when the 2025 campaign gets underway.
As Reed was also a second-round selection two years ago, perhaps Johnson wants to see if he his new second-rounder can outplay LaFleur's. This rivalry's about to get good, folks.