They say to ignore the hype and block out the noise.
Nonsense.
The insanity surrounding the Bears’ season opener is the best thing they’ve got going for them Thursday, and the Packers are walking into terrifying territory. Aaron Rodgers and friends might be more comfortable in an actual bear den than what awaits them at Soldier Field.
It’s going to be wild, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The Bears are all about authenticity and embracing this moment, so it’d be absurd to pretend this is just another game. The NFL is advertising it as “The Biggest Kickoff Ever,” and it’s the grandest stage this side of the playoffs.
“You always love prime-time games,” all-pro safety Eddie Jackson said. “You’ve got all the eyes on you. That’s a good thing. You go out there and want to do your best.
“It’s Green Bay, so we ready.”
It’s going to be a blowout.
That’s rare for the Bears in this century-long rivalry and they’ve pulled it off just once since 1980, but everything sets up in their favor. This is a nightmare scenario for the Packers or any other opponent.
Other than Rodgers, Green Bay looks like it’s rebuilding. They brought in new coach Matt LaFleur to fix an offense that didn’t seem to need fixing and they’re as shaky as ever on the other side of the ball.
“You’re probably not going to know something until the middle of the season,” Packers general manager Brian Guntekunst said recently. “These things take time.”
They don’t have any, and the Bears aren’t in a patient mood.
Just imagine what Matt Nagy has saved up for this one after the most boring preseason in recorded human history. The bitter memory of how last season ended has been biting them all offseason and, as Khalil Mack put it, they are “so [expletive] ready.”
The Bears have a Countdown to Kickoff video board at the entrance to their locker room at Halas Hall that tracks the remaining time, down to the second. Right guard Kyle Long grew so tired of seeing how far away the game was that he stopped checking it.
The Bears didn’t put that clock up until recently, but they might as well have installed it Jan. 7, the day after the Eagles knocked them out of the playoffs. The energy has been building since then — among the players and the fan base — with no place to go until now.
That’ll come out in a roar on the field and in the seats. The more boisterous the better, for the Bears.
“I use the excitement,” said new kicker Eddy Pineiro, who played in front of 90,000 when he was a Florida Gator. “A big crowd is always fun, and I use that to make kicks.
“You get more juice when you play in a game like this one coming up. You probably get a couple more yards than other games.”
If things seem crazy leading up to the opener, wait for the surge that comes next if the Bears hit Green Bay with the Hammer of Thor. It takes so little for this city to lose its mind over the Bears, and a romp against the Packers would propel those hopes to new heights.
The Super Bowl conversation will get louder with a major statement Thursday, and that’s nothing to run from. The Bears have been talking about and training for heavyweight fights all summer. They can handle the hype.
