Game 41 - Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers @ Soldier Field in Chicago, IL (9/28/2014)

Wow, games on back-to-back weekends.  This time it was a quick trip down to Chicago to meet up with some colleagues in the printing industry.  You can't say no to a Bears / Packers game, particularly when the weather is perfect.  Before the game, we had a great time tailgating....some of these people are really into it as evidenced by the picture of the van (on the left) from one of the guys in our group.  For these rivalry games, the crowds are always energized.  I have witnessed a few of these division rivalries in the past - Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh & Philadelphia vs. NY Giants.  The other thing you will notice at these types of games are that the home team fans far out-number the visitors.  You would think that is obvious, but see my post regarding the Rams game.  Unlike last week's game in St. Louis, this crowd was dominated by the home team.  We live in Wisconsin now so I do cheer for the Packers most of the time.  For this game in particular, I tried to stay impartial out of respect for the Bear's fans that made this trip possible. 

View from our seats.

If you like offense, this was a game to watch.....defensively, these teams are awful - 854 yards of total offense for the two teams combined.  The game started out so promising for the Bears as they took the opening kick-off and drove down the field for a TD.  The Packers answered with a TD of their own when they got the ball.  Back and forth they went for much of the 1st half with the Packers taking a 21-17 half-time lead.  However, poor clock management cost the Bears points right before half-time when their tight-end caught the ball over the middle and was stopped at the 1-inch line as time expired.  The 3rd quarter was much of the same with both teams moving the ball up and down the field.  However, it was two costly interceptions by the Bears that stopped drives and allowed the Packers to expand their lead to 31-17.  When it was over, the Packers took home a 38-17 victory.  Rarely do you see a team put up nearly 500 yards of offense and still lose by 21 points, but the Bears did.  In terms of other big numbers, Aaron Rodgers threw 4 TDs; the Packers had two receivers (Nelson and Cobb) over 100 yards and 2 TDs each.  Matt Forte for the Bears ran for 122 yards and eclipsed 10,000 total yards for his career.  In addition, we got to witness a little history - this was only the 2nd time in NFL history in which there were zero punts.  The win was the 700th in Packer history - joining the Bears (732) as the only two franchises with more than 700 regular season wins.

I bet many people didn't know that Soldier Field was built 47 years before the Bears played their first game there in the early 1970's.  Even then it was old and outdated.  In 2003, it was renovated, but honestly, it looks like they just stuck a futuristic glass bowl on top of the stadiums well-known and historic columns.  It is still one of the smallest stadiums in the league, seating just over 60,000.

What I will say about this stadium is that the location is one of my favorites.  Signs around the stadium label it "The Stadium in a Park," which it truly is.  Granted it was late September and the weather was still in the 70's, but the location is terrific.  I parked in a lot down-town about a mile away and walked through the park and past the Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum and Navy Pier to get there.  Spectacular.  Those that attend in the middle of winter probably have a much different perspective, but for me it was a great experience.  On a side note, Soldier Field has the best cell phone / data service I have experienced at any of the other 40 venues I have visited.  

A special thanks to Mike Carfagnini for the opportunity to see Da Bears.

Another high-scoring game, which means that I will donate another $55 to the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research.  I encourage you to donate. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/christopher-apel/christopherapel

See more photos on my Facebook page.