The Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears meet this week for the 194th time in this long-standing series.  After last season's sweep by the Packers, it's knotted up at 94-94-6.  It's the second-straight year that the two teams have faced off on a Thursday night in Green Bay.  

Both teams are coming in off of thrilling home wins over an AFC opponent and what was once a ho-hum match up on paper has turned into an intriguing one.  Thursday night games have received a bad rap for their lack of quality and many complaints from players who point to the short turnaround.  This is one that could go against that grain.

Let's take a deeper look at the series between these teams.

The Past

The Packers finally tied things up in this series for the first time in decades with a walk-off win at Soldier Field late last season.  A Mason Crosby field goal sealed it after the Bears tied it with just over a minute left.  The win kept Green Bay's "table run" intact.

With nearly 100 years of history, there is so much to draw on in looking back.  The first-ever game took place on November 27, 1921 when the Bears were known as the Chicago Staleys.  Chicago won that game 20-0 and went on to win the next three.  The Packers failed to score a point in any of those games.

Green Bay got off the schneid in 1925 with a 14-10 win at City Stadium in Green Bay.  From there, each team has enjoyed long periods of success over the other with some back-and-forth sprinkled in.  

A look back at the Lombardi era shows that the Packers held an edge in this series during the legendary Packers coach's time in Green Bay with a 16-6 mark.  Chicago coach George Halas led the Bears during that time, a time when the players genuinely despised each other on (and sometimes off) the field.  Halas once famously stopped by the Packers locker room before a game between the two teams and told Lombardi, "Coach, I hope you have your team ready because we're going to kick your a--"

During an eight-game stretch between 1985 - 1989, the Bears won each time and established a dominance over the Packers that many fans still remember to this day.  Beating the Bears had an added luster and sense of frustration with each ensuing loss.

Enter 1989 when the Packers, led by quarterback Don "Majik Man" Majkowski had the ball and facing a 13-7 deficit with time for one more snap.  Majkowski famously threw a dart to Sterling Sharpe for what appeared to be the winning score.  The officials converged after the play and determined that Majkowski stepped over the line of scrimmage and ruled it was an illegal forward pass.  Newly-installed replay was used to review the play and the call was overturned.  The famous words "we have a reversal" were born in this series.

Three years later, Brett Favre arrived in Green Bay and the Packers have enjoyed lopsided success in this series over the last 25 years.  Favre became the bane of Bears fans' existence during his time with the Packers.  He won 10 straight against the Bears between 1994 and 1999.  In 2015 when the Packers honored Favre during a halftime ceremony at Lambeau Field on Thanksgiving night, the Bears bested Green Bay to get a small token revenge against the Gun Slinger.

The Bears have beaten the Packers just four times since Aaron Rodgers took over as starting quarterback in 2008.  The Packers have won the last two.

The Present

The Bears have struggled in recent seasons, finishing in last place three years in a row and haven't topped six wins during that time.  Coming into this season, the Bears were expected to begin building for the future and expect modest returns in 2017.  They moved up to draft quarterback Mitchell Trubisky in the first round of the draft after signing veteran Mike Glennon to a decent-sized free agent contract in the offseason.

After three weeks, there are already cries for Trubisky and that the future should be now.  Chicago beat themselves in the season opener against the defending-NFC champion Atlanta Falcons by dropping multiple touchdown passes that would have sealed a win.  Glennon had over 300 yards passing against his old team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in week two but the Bears mustered just seven points.

This past Sunday, the Bears hung with the Pittsburgh Steelers and took the game to overtime where the Bears ran their way to a walk-off win on four-straight rushing plays.  It was Chicago's first win of the season and gives them some momentum coming into Lambeau Field on a short week.

The Packers were in their own thriller last week, taking the Cincinnati Bengals to overtime and winning to improve to 2-1 on the season.  Green Bay's offense looked sluggish and it was the defense that stepped up in the second half and saved the day.  

Rookie Josh Jones logged 12 tackles and seems to have cemented his spot in the starting line up along with cornerback Kevin King, who has covered Julio Jones and A.J. Green in back-to-back weeks.  Both will see significant time this week with Davon House already ruled out.

The Packers are still banged up and awaiting the status of several key players.  Defensive lineman Mike Daniels, offensive tackles David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulaga along with linebacker Nick Perry have all practiced in some fashion so far this week.  However, Bakhtiari and Bulaga are listed as doubtful and not likely to see action this week. 

Add in that back up tackle Kyle Murphy was placed on injured reserve this week and the tackle spots are officially a disaster area.  Remaining tackles on the roster are Adam Pankey, Justin McCray and newly-signed Ulrick John.

On the plus side, Kentrell Brice, Nick Perry, Randall Cobb and Jake Ryan have all been full participants and should hopefully be available after missing last week.  Perry will likely play with the club cast he sported last season.  Daniels is questionable and could be a game-time decision.

The Bears have a smaller injury report with former Packers guard Josh Sitton the most notable name on it.  Sitton has been limited with a rib injury and is questionable to play.

The Future

The Packers have been in sleep mode during the first half of their games so far this season and need to get their offense going faster.  Ty Montgomery had a lot of touches last week and while his stats weren't great, he was a big part of the game plan.  The question now is whether he can sustain that much involvement on a short week.

The return of Cobb will help jump start the Packers offense while Chicago's outside cornerbacks challenge Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams on the outside.  Kyle Fuller has bounced back after a few sub par seasons and newcomer Price Amukamara helps solidify a secondary that has not been very serviceable in recent years.

Packers tight end Martellus Bennett gets a crack at his former team and could use a breakout game after disappointing over the past few weeks.  His counterpart Lance Kendricks had two big catches last week, including a touchdown and should team up with Bennett in some two tight end sets to help the short passing game.

Bears linebacker Leonard Floyd had a brilliant first half against the Packers last season and could become a huge problem with a patchwork offensive tackle group.  It's not ideal and the Packers have to somehow do a better job than last game of keeping pressure off of Rodgers.  This could single-handedly tilt this game.

Rodgers was sacked six times last week and Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is no stranger to making the quarterback's life miserable.  Expect a heavy dose of it.

While the Bears have a lot to build on after beating the Steelers, they're still a ways off from being deemed a "surprise team".  If the Packers are able to apply the same type of pressure on Glennon as they did on Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, they should keep the Chicago offense in check.

Despite the injuries along the offensive line, I'm going with the Packers in this one and they finally take the lead in this series for the first time in 88 years.