The Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers rivalry has been surrounded by a lot of weirdness over the years. Games and moments that defied logic at times. These were often attributed to simple luck. From the Bears’ perspective, it might seem like most of it was bad. Green Bay does seem to get the fortunate bounces right when they need them.
No game epitomized that more than the opening day matchup in 1980 at Lambeau Field. The setup was typical. Chicago was coming off a playoff season and had high expectations for that year. A win against their arch rival would set the tone for another successful run, perhaps one that might reach towards a Super Bowl.
The game was a bitterly contested slugfest. Both teams managed just six points each in four quarters of play, going into overtime. It was there that Chicago, according to NFL.com columnist Ralph Warner, became victims of the fifth-strangest touchdown play in league history.
“Kickers get a lot of the blame and not nearly enough praise. It’s hard enough to kick football through the uprights in various weather conditions, but then you add the fact that several behemoths are trying to stop you from doing your job — the difficulty increases immensely. One of those behemoths blocked Chester Marcol’s FG attempt, but instead of giving up on the play, the Packers K scooped up the ball and ran it 25-yards for a game-winning TD. Fun fact: Marcol scored all of Green Bay’s points in the Packers’ 12-6 OT victory.”
The Chicago Bears never recovered from that loss but did get their revenge
That loss seemed to sap the Bears of their mojo right from the start. Their season became a roller coaster, winning one week and losing the next. They finished 7-9 and out of the playoffs, starting the ball rolling towards head coach Neill Armstrong being fired. Despite that, the Bears didn’t forget the loss.
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Not only did they get their revenge on the Packers later in the year, they made a statement that what happened was a fluke. It was the infamous game when the Bears stomped them 61-7, the largest margin of victory ever in the history of the rivalry. If nothing else, that made 1980 perhaps the wackiest year ever in the Bears-Packers saga, which is saying a lot.
