While the Green Bay Packers reached the playoffs in the 2025 NFL season, they unfortunately had to watch while the Chicago Bears won the NFC North and beat them in the wild card round of the playoffs. It was a lot more enjoyable when the Bears were bad at football and the fanbase certainly seems to be under the impression that they'll be running the division moving forward.
Well, not all Bears fans are delusional at least. Former Bears offensive guard Kyle Long said something that Packers fans will nod along in agreement with but Bears fans will probably not enjoy. Long was discussing how it was nice to see the Bears hold their own in the rivalry for once but still admitted that the Bears have a long way to go before surpassing the Packers completely.
"Well, I think it's also important to take a step back and understand the context of what was happening in the NFC North this year. J.J. McCarthy in and out health-wise and when he was in, it was kind of a no-show. The Packers, in my opinion... They still are the team to beat in the NFC North next year," Long said. "I know I'm a Bear and I love Caleb [Williams] and Ben Johnson, but we are still the underdogs. I want you to understand that because Tucker Kraft will be back... Micah Parsons will be back. That's the team that I see."
Even Kyle Long knows Packers are still team to beat in NFC North
We saw a glimpse of what this past year's Packers team could look like early in the season but, unfortunately, injuries eventually took their toll and it showed.
As Long noted, Kraft missed some time with injury and he had been absolutely crushing it before he went down for the year. Parsons is also going to return and that was arguably the biggest loss of the year for Green Bay, as the defense was on an entirely different level when Parsons was out there.
READ MORE: A new team with Packers connections has entered the Malik Willis conversation
While it wasn't fun to watch the Bears win the division and knock the Packers out of the playoffs, having Chicago be more competitive does make the rivalry more fun. Better yet, it makes it an actual rivalry for Packers fans. Green Bay dominated the Bears for many years and now that's not the case anymore.
If the Packers want to get back on top of the NFC North in 2026, they're going to have their work cut out for them. That just makes it more fun though.