The chants echoed inside and outside of Soldier Field. “Green Bay sucks! Green Bay sucks!” Whether it was walking up the ramp to the seating bowl or the pedestrian walkways under bridges on the museum campus, you couldn’t avoid it.

This was before and after the game against the Dallas Cowboys. And the New York Giants. And the Pittsburgh Steelers. And every game in recent memory.

It doesn’t matter who the Bears play; fans chant away about Green Bay. It’s Chicago sports poetry. I’m not sure who and when this tradition started during random games against opponents not named Green Bay, but fans always have the Packers on their mind.

Only problem is, as much as we hate to admit it, the Packers don’t suck.

Since 2000, Green Bay’s record is 267-157-4. That’s a whopping 110 games above .500 and the third-best record in the NFL since the turn of the century. In that same span, the Bears are 204-224.

As most of us know and have witnessed, it gets worse head-to-head. In the last 50 matchups, the Bears are 13-37 against the Pack. Some rivalry.

But wait, there’s more.

In the showdowns that have really mattered, Green Bay dominates. In the past 25 years, the Bears are 2-7 head-to-head when both teams are above .500. And the two times the Bears actually won, the Packers ended our seasons later that year – 2010 in the NFC championship game and 2013 when Green Bay won the finale at Soldier Field to win the NFC North.

Don’t kill the messenger. I hate it too. How did Chicago become the little brother to Green Bay? As Ben Johnson likes to say, it took a village.

I have done more radio shows and written more columns about fresh starts and reversing the trends than I can count. We thought the tide was turning after the Bears won the division in 2018. It was a mirage. In 2019, the two teams met in the opener, and the Bears pathetically lost 10-3. We thought that after Aaron Rodgers left and Jordan Love started for the first time in 2023, things would finally shift. The Bears were booed badly at home as they lost 38-20.

But now, our futile village has a new leader. As Johnson took his shirt off in the triumphant locker room after Black Friday, we can safely say, “He’s real, and he’s spectacular.”

The win in Philly signified to the country that these Bears are different and this coach is different.

Johnson continues to walk the walk after lots of proclamations leading into the season. In the offseason, Johnson ripped the tush push because it’s not an explosive play, and he likes chunk yards. Fast forward to Black Friday, and the Bears forced a pivotal turnover against the push.

Johnson promised, heading into the bye, that he would fix the run game. In the eight games since, the Bears’ run game has produced 1,437 rushing yards or 180 per game, best in the NFL over that span. Buffalo is second with 1,096 yards. Johnson and the Bears didn’t just fix the run; they made it their identity.

At his opening press conference, Johnson bragged that he loved beating Matt LaFleur twice a year while he was the Lions’ offensive coordinator. LeFleur responded by saying, “I don’t know Ben Johnson.” I’m confident that the Packers will know Johnson soon enough.

The Bears are now at the point where this season will most likely be remembered as successful and one of the most fun in recent memory. We aren’t debating if they’re a good team anymore; they’ve proven it. A playoff appearance isn’t just a dream anymore; instead of being in the hunt, the Bears are now the hunted as the current No. 1 seed in the NFC. Johnson’s blueprint should also open a window of contention that we haven’t seen since the Ditka years. With two games against the Packers in the next three weeks, it’s FINALLY time for those Soldier Field chants to ring true and not be based on blind hope. It’s time for this to become a real rivalry again.

Last week, the Bears bullied the Eagles.

Now it’s time to bully the real bullies.

It’s time to beat Green Bay.

• Marc Silverman shares his opinions on the Bears weekly for Shaw Local. Tune in and listen to the “Waddle & Silvy” show weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. on ESPN 1000.