Packers-Bears Week 15 Dope Sheet

*Two years after he co-founded the Packers with Curly Lambeau, George Calhoun began writing a piece called The Dope Sheet, which served as the official press release and game program from 1921-24. *

*Honoring Calhoun, the first publicity director, the Packers are running this weekly feature as their release, which is being made available to fans exclusively on Packers.com. This is an abbreviated version of the Dope Sheet. To read the full version, download the PDF by **clicking here**. *

Here are some highlights from the Packers-Bears Week 15Dope Sheet:

GREEN BAY (9-4) AT CHICAGO (8-5)Sunday, Dec. 16 - Soldier Field - Noon CST

PACKERS HEAD TO CHICAGO FOR KEY DIVISIONAL MATCHUP

• The Packers travel to Chicago this Sunday to take on the Bears at Soldier Field. Green Bay can clinch its second striaght NFC North title with a victory over Chicago.
• The Packers (9-4) enter Sunday with a one-game lead over the Bears (8-5) and a two-game edge over the Vikings (7-6). Green Bay will be looking to capture back-to-back NFC North titles for the first time since it won three straight from 2002-04.
• Green Bay has won seven of its last eight games entering Sunday's contest, which is tied for the second-best record in the league since Week 6 behind only Denver (8-0).
• Sunday will mark game No. 186 in the NFL's oldest rivalry. The Bears hold a 92-87-6 edge in the series, which includes two playoff meetings (1-1).
• The Packers have won five straight and seven of the last eight meetings against the Bears (including playoffs). Green Bay will be aiming for its third season sweep of the Bears in the last four years (2009, 2011).
• Green Bay's current five-game winning streak against Chicago is its longest since a seven-game streak from 2000-03.
• Six of the last nine meetings between the Packers and Bears (including postseason) have been decided by seven points or less.
• This will mark the seventh time in the last nine seasons that the Packers have played at Soldier Field in the regular season in December or January.
• This is the last in a stretch of three straight NFC North games for Green Bay, the first time the Packers have had three consecutive divisional contests on the schedule since 2006 (Weeks 15-17).
• With their 27-20 win over the Lions on Sunday night at Lambeau Field, the Packers extended theirfranchise-record divisional winning streak to 11 games(previous mark was eight games). It is the longest current divisional winning streak in the NFL, two ahead of New England's nine-game winning streak against AFC East foes.
• Green Bay has a 4-0 record in NFC North games this season, assuring them of a winning record in the division for a franchise-record seventh consecutive season. New England is the only other team in the league to post a winning record in its division each season from 2006-12.
• The Packers have won four straight NFC North games away from Lambeau Field, the longest streak by the team since a five-game road divisional streak from 2006-07.
• Including playoffs, the Packers are 13-4 (.765) away from Lambeau Field over their last 17 games. Green Bay has won 10 of its last 14 regular-season road contests.
• The Packers have won 26 of their last 31 regular-season games overall (.839), the best record in the league over that span.
• Green Bay is one victory shy of their fourth straight season with double-digit wins, which would tie a team record (1929-32, 1995-98, 2001-04).

WITH THE CALL

• FOX Sports, now in its 19th season as an NFL network television partner, will broadcast the game to a regional audience.
• Play-by-play man Joe Buckand color analystTroy Aikman will have the call from the broadcast booth with Pam Oliver reporting from the sidelines.
• Milwaukee's WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since 1929, heads up the 53-station Packers Radio Network, with Wayne Larrivee(play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro BowlerLarry McCarren (color) calling the action. The duo enters its 14th season of broadcasts together across the Packers Radio Network, which covers 44 markets in six states.
• Sports USA radio will air the game across the country. Larry Kahn (play-by-play) and Ross Tucker (analyst) will call the action with Troy West reporting from the sidelines.
• The broadcast is also available on Sirius Satellite Radio (Channel 117) as part of the network's NFL Sunday Drive.
• DIRECTV subscribers can watch the game in HD on Channel 705.

 
THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT:

• Packers vs. Bears:
• All-time, regular season:86-91-6
• All-time, postseason:1-1
• All-time, at Soldier Field: 21-19-0
• Streaks:The Packers have won five straight and seven of the last eight meetings (including playoffs).
• Last meeting, regular season:Sept. 13, 2012, at Lambeau Field, Packers won, 23-10.
• Last meeting, regular season, in Chicago:Sept. 25, 2011, at Lambeau Field, Packers won, 27-17.

 
COACHES CAPSULES

• Mike McCarthy: 77-40-0, .658, (incl. 5-3 postseason); 7th NFL season
• Lovie Smith:82-65-0, .558 (incl. 3-3 postseason); 9th NFL season
• Head to Head:McCarthy 9-5
• vs. Opponent:McCarthy 9-5 vs. Bears; Smith 8-10 vs. Packers

MIKE McCARTHY…Is in seventh year as the Packers' 14th head coach.

• Joined Vince Lombardi and Mike Holmgren as the only coaches to guide the Packers to a Super Bowl title with a win over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV.
• Has led the Packers to playoff appearances in four of his six seasons as the helm, and the team's four postseason berths over the past five seasons are the most by an NFC team.
• His .658 winning percentage (including playoffs) ranks No. 4 among active NFL coaches (min. 50 games).
• One of only two coaches, along with New Orleans' Sean Payton, to have his offense ranked in the top 10 in total yardage each season from 2006-11.
• Was named Packers head coach on Jan. 12, 2006, his first head-coaching job after 13 years as an NFL assistant.
• Became the first Packers coach since Lombardi to lead the team to a championship game in his second season (2007).

 LOVIE SMITH…Is in ninth year as the Bears' 13th head coach.

• With 82 overall wins, ranks third in franchise history behind Hall of Famers Mike Ditka and George Halas.
• Has led the Bears to three division titles, two NFC Championship Game appearances and the 2006 NFC crown, the team's first Super Bowl apperance in 21 years.
• Has guided Chicago to three 11-win seasons during his tenure, including a career-high 13 victories in 2006.
• Named the AP NFL Coach of the Year in 2005 after he led a worst-to-first revival in the NFC North. The Bears' six-win improvement from the previous season was tied for the biggest in the NFL that year.
• Came to Chicago from St. Louis, where he served as defensive coordinator from 2001-03, helping the Rams return to the Super Bowl in 2001. Prior to that, coached LBs for Tampa Bay from 1996-2000. 

 THE PACKERS-BEARS SERIES

• No two teams have met on the gridiron more than the Packers and Bears. Sunday they face off for the 186th time.
• Starting in 1923, he clubs met for 59 straight years until both games in 1982 were canceled as part of a strike-shortened season.
• During the 2010 season, the teams squared off in the playoffs for just the second time in the history of the series. With a berth in Super Bowl XLV on the line, the Packers emerged victorious, 21-14, in the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field.    
• The last time Green Bay led the overall series? On the heels of its three straight NFL championships, 1932, when the Packers led 11-10-5. Two months after Babe Ruth allegedly called his shot at Wrigley Field in the 1932 World Series, the Bears stole from Green Bay a fourth straight title (which at the time was determined by league standings). Chicago barely finished atop the league standings, which unlike today did not count ties. Had the league counted ties in standings, the Packers would have won. The next year, 1933, the NFL began determining its champion with postseason games.

 NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
Packers tight ends coach Jerry Fontenot was a third-round draft choice of the Bears in 1989 and was a mainstay at C in his eight seasons (1989-96) in Chicago...Green Bay wide receivers coach Edgar Bennett finished his playing career in Chicago (1998-99)...Packers director of player development Rob Davis served as Chicago's long snapper for all 16 games in 1996...Bears head coach Lovie Smith was a University of Wisconsin assistant in 1987, while Bears linebackers coach Bob Babich spent two seasons on the Badgers' staff (1988-89)...Packers DT Ryan Pickett played in St. Louis for Smith when he served as the Rams' defensive coordinator…Bears assistant defensive backs/safeties coach Gill Byrd served as the Packers executive director/player programs and community affairs from 1999-2001...Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy was a teammate of Bears wide receivers coach Darryl Drake with the Redskins in 1979...Bears DE Julius Peppers was a key member of the Carolina defenses that Packers defensive line coach Mike Trgovac coordinated from 2003-08...Bears LB Nick Roach is a Milwaukee native who played collegiately at Northwestern...Bears T Gabe Carimi attended Monona Grove HS in Monona, Wis., and played at the University of Wisconsin...Packers secondary-safeties coach Darren Perry played at Penn State when Bears asst. special teams coach Kevin O'Dea was on the staff there…Bears running backs coach Tim Spencer played at Ohio State when Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers was on the staff there…Packers assistant offensive line coach Joel Hilgenberg's older brother, Jay, was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection (1985-91) at center for the Bears...Former college teammates include Packers G Josh Sitton and Bears WR Brandon Marshall (Central Florida), Packers TE Jermichael Finley and Bears DL Henry Melton (Texas), Packers CB Casey Hayward and Bears CB D.J. Moore (Vanderbilt), and Packers G/T Don Barclay and Bears LB J.T. Thomas (West Virginia).

 LAST MEETING, REGULAR SEASON, AT CHICAGO

• Sept. 25, 2011, at Soldier Field; Packers won, 27-17.
• QB Aaron Rodgers threw for 297 yards and three TDs on 28-of-38 passing, with all three of his TD passes going to TE Jermichael Finley.
• Finley became just the second tight end in franchise history to catch three TD passes in a game, joining Keith Jackson, who caught three TDs at Tampa Bay on Sept. 1, 1996.
• WR Greg Jennings led the team with nine receptions for 119 yards (13.2 avg.).
• S Morgan Burnett posted a career-high two interceptions, and Green Bay's defense limited the Bears to just 13 yards rushing on 12 carries (1.1 avg.).
• The Packers' 13 rushing yards allowed were the fewest in a game since Dec. 12, 1999, vs. Carolina (also 13 yards), and tied for the fourth fewest in franchise history.

STAT OF THE WEEK

• The Packers' seven-play, 59-yard drive against Detroit on Sunday night that was capped off by a 14-yard TD run from RB DuJuan Harris not only proved to be the game-winning score, but it also was unique in another way.
• All seven plays on the drive were runs, making it the first time in more than 10 years that Green Bay had a touchdown drive of seven or more plays made up strictly of runs.
• According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Packers accomplished the feat was vs. Chicago on Dec. 1, 2002. Green Bay posted a seven-play, 58-yard TD drive that featured seven runs by RB Tony Fisher.
• The Packers' TD drive on Sunday night against the Lions featured runs of 10 yards or more by three different players, with RB Alex Green recording a 10-yard run, RB Ryan Grant a 13-yarder, and Harris finishing it off with a 14-yard TD run.
• With QB Aaron Rodgers scoring on a 27-yard run in the third quarter, the Packers had four players with runs of 12 yards or more in a game for the second time in the last five games. Green, Rodgers, RB James Starks and WR Randall Cobb did so vs. Arizona in Week 9.