For Bears and Packers, wild-card game is a rare playoff matchup in NFL's longest-running rivalry

Green Bay (9-7-1) at Chicago (11-6)

Saturday, 8 p.m. EST, Amazon Prime Video.

BetMGM NFL odds: Packers by 1.

Against the spread: Packers 6-10-1; Bears 9-7-1.

Series record: Packers lead 109-97-6.

Last meeting: Bears beat Packers 22-16 in OT at Chicago on Dec. 20

Last week: Packers lost at Minnesota 16-3; Bears lost to Detroit 19-16.

Packers offense: overall (15), rush (15), pass (17), scoring (16)

Packers defense: overall (12), rush (18), pass (11), scoring (11)

Bears offense: overall (6), rush (3), pass (10), scoring (9)

Bears defense: overall (29), overall (27), pass (22), scoring (23)

Turnover differential: Packers plus-1; Bears plus-22.

QB Jordan Love: He hasn’t played in a game since a helmet-to-helmet hit from Chicago’s Austin Booker in the second quarter of the Dec. 20 Packers-Bears game sent him into concussion protocol. Love was cleared before Green Bay’s regular-season finale, but the Packers opted to rest him for the playoffs. Love has nine touchdown passes and only two interceptions in six games against the Bears.

QB Caleb Williams. The Bears envisioned deep playoff runs on a regular basis when they drafted Williams with the No. 1 overall pick last year. They hope this is just the start. Williams threw for a franchise-record 3,942 yards with 27 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. Though his completion percentage ranked last among qualifying leaders, he became more and more comfortable in coach Ben Johnson's system.

Chicago's running backs against Green Bay's defensive line. Though the Bears' run game emerged as one of the best this season behind a retooled line, it was hard to tell against Detroit. Chicago managed just 65 yards rushing, with D'Andre Swift held to 40 yards on 10 attempts and rookie Kyle Monangai finishing with 14 yards on six carries. With Swift running for 1,087 yards and Monangai adding 783, the Bears were the only team with two 750-yard rushers. Green Bay struggled to stop the run in recent weeks, with Devonte Wyatt (ankle) and then Micah Parsons (knee) suffering season-ending injuries. The Packers gave up 150 yards rushing to the Bears in their most recent meeting and then allowed Derrick Henry to run for 216 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-24 loss to Baltimore.

Packers: WR/CB Bo Melton (knee), CB Kamal Hadden (ankle), CB Nate Hobbs (knee), DL Jordon Riley (Achilles tendon) and S Zayne Anderson (ankle) have gone on injured reserve since the most recent Packers-Bears game. ... OT Zach Tom (knee) missed the Packers’ last three regular-season games and is questionable for Saturday. Also questionable are DL Warren Brinson (foot), S Javon Bullard (knee), LB Nick Niemann (pectoral), WR Dontayvion Wicks (concussion) and backup QB Malik Willis (shoulder/hamstring).

Bears: WR Rome Odunze (foot) expects to play after missing the final five regular-season games. ... CB Kyler Gordon (groin) is questionable as he attempts to return after being sidelined since Week 13. He has been limited to three games because of hamstring and groin injuries. ... CB C.J. Gardner-Johnson, LB Amen Ogbongbemiga and DL Joe Tryon-Shoyinka have been ruled out because of concussions. ... OL Braxton Jones (knee) is questionable.

The Packers are 30-7 against the Bears counting the playoffs since the start of the 2008 season, with the past four games coming down to the wire. In 2024, both came down to field-goal attempts by Chicago's Cairo Santos on the final play — one that got blocked and one that was successful. This season, Green Bay hung on to win 28-21 in Week 14 at Lambeau Field when Keisean Nixon intercepted Williams in the end zone with 22 seconds remaining. Chicago returned the favor two weeks later, rallying from 10 down in the final two minutes of regulation before Williams threw a 46-yard touchdown to DJ Moore in overtime. This is the third playoff game between the longtime rivals — all in Chicago. The Bears won a Western Division playoff game over the Packers 33-14 at Wrigley Field on Dec. 14, 1941. The Packers beat the Bears 21-14 in an NFC championship game at Soldier Field on Jan. 23, 2011.

The Packers have the NFC’s No. 7 playoff seed for the third straight year. They reached the divisional round in 2023 and lost 22-10 at Philadelphia in the wild-card round last season. … The Packers dropped their final four regular-season games. … They’re the fourth team to enter the playoffs after losing at least four straight games to end the regular season. The others were the 1986 New York Jets, 1999 Detroit Lions and 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers. The only team in that group to win a playoff game was the 1986 Jets, who beat Kansas City in the wild-card round before losing to Cleveland in overtime in the divisional round. … Packers DL Rashan Gary had 7 ½ sacks in Green Bay’s first seven games but doesn’t have any since. … Packers RB Josh Jacobs had 13 touchdown runs this season, putting him in a tie for fourth place in the league. Jacobs didn’t play against the Vikings and had just 39 yards rushing on 16 carries over his final two regular-season games as he dealt with a knee issue. … The Bears won the NFC North for the first time since 2018 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2020. They have lost three straight postseason games since the 2010 team beat Seattle in a divisional game at Soldier Field. ... The Bears dropped their final two regular-season games, losing to Detroit on a last-second field goal after coming up short in a 42-38 shootout at San Francisco. They gave up 433 yards against the Lions after the 49ers went off for 496. ... If Chicago beats Green Bay, Ben Johnson would become the franchise's first coach to win a playoff game in their first season. ... The Bears led the league in interceptions (23), takeaways (33) and turnover differential (plus-22) while committing a league-low 11 turnovers. ... Chicago won six games after trailing in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter. ... With seven interceptions, S Kevin Byard led the league for the second time in his 10 seasons.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) runs from Detroit Lions linebacker al-Quadin Muhammad (96) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Maxim Naumov returned to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Thursday night, the final place that his parents watched him compete, and managed to hold his emotions in check until a standing ovation carried the 24-year-old right off the ice.

Once in the kiss-and-cry area, Naumov finally allowed tears to trickle down his cheeks.

It was less than a year ago that his parents, former world champions Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, died when their plane crashed into a military helicopter on approach to Washington, D.C., and fell into the icy Potomac River. A total of 67 people were killed, including more than two dozen returning from a development camp following the U.S. championships in Wichita, Kansas.

Many were young skaters, taught by the elder Naumov and Shishkova, who looked up to their son.

“It's all about being resilient,” Naumov said later, when asked how he made it through such an emotional return to nationals. "That's the feeling and mentality I've clung to this entire season. And I find in times of really difficult emotional stress, if you can just push yourself a little bit more, and almost think, ‘What if? What if I can do it? What if, despite everything that happened to me, I can go out and do it?’

“And that,” Naumov said, “is where you find strength, and that's where you grow as a person.”

Naumov brought an old photograph with him to the kiss-and-cry area Thursday night. It showed him perhaps 3 years old, his parents by his side, stepping onto the ice in white skates for the first time at the International Skating Center of Connecticut.

“They didn't have black skates in my size at the time,” he said, "but that's OK. I was just happy to be on the ice.”

One of the last conversations Naumov had with his parents was about the Olympics, and what it would take to earn a spot on the American team next month in Italy. His short program Thursday night, which began with a quad salchow and ended with a triple-triple combination, was good enough to briefly give him the lead, and keep him in the mix heading into Saturday's free skate.

“My dad would have told me to keep fighting for that salchow,” Naumov said.

What would his mother have said?

“My mom never watched me skate. I don't think she watched past maybe 13, 14 years old,” Naumov replied, smiling. “Typically I'd be calling her in the next 5 minutes, and you know, she'd be saying, ‘OK, good job. But we’ve already forgot about it. We're thinking about the free already.' Those are her words, exactly.”

The 24-year-old Naumov was fourth at nationals a year ago, and he had returned home from Wichita on an earlier flight. His mom and dad stayed behind for the development camp and were making their own way home when the plane crash occurred.

In the days, weeks and months that followed, the younger Naumov became in some ways the face of the tragedy. He performed at a benefit in Washington that raised more than $1.2 million for the victims’ families, and he left an exhibition gala crowd during the world championships in Boston — hosted by his own Skating Club of Boston — standing in heartfelt admiration.

Naumov has even taken up leadership of the renowned club's youth academy, which was started by his parents.

“You know, even at a time like this, having the opportunity to be here, it's just another example of how capable I am in really difficult times,” Naumov said. “It's just more and more confidence built in for me, and just having a lot of mental strength.”

There have been other tributes to the victims of the crash during this year's nationals.

On the opening night, 16-year-old Sophie Joline Von Felten — another member of the Skating Club of Boston — brought two photos of her own to the kiss-and-cry area. One was of Spencer Lane and his mother, Christine Lane, who were killed in the crash, the other of Jinna Han and her mother, Jin Hee Han, who also lost their lives that night.

“I just tried to skate for them and feel them with me,” Von Felten said, “and feel like their souls were with me.”

Yet no moment was as poignant as when Naumov, dressed in a simple white shirt and black slacks, stepped off the ice Thursday night. He got a big hug from his coach, Vladimir Petrenko, and then kissed that old, faded photograph of himself and his parents.

When he talks about making the Olympic team, he refers to “we," as if his parents are still by his side.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Maxim Naumov competes during the men's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov holds a photo of his parents while he waits for his scores after competing during the men's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in St. Louis. Naumov's parents were killed in a plane crash in early 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov competes during the men's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov holds a photo of his parents while he waits for his scores after competing during the men's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in St. Louis. Naumov's parents were killed in a plane crash in early 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov competes during the men's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)