(670 The Score) Aaron Rodgers told the truth with his eyes, arm and then his feet before hammering it home in his own defiant words.
With his team holding a three-point lead on first-and-goal from the Bears' 6-yard line in the fourth quarter, the Packers quarterback took the shotgun snap, faked a pass left and was flushed out right into open space, keeping his eyes in the end zone. He saw linebacker Alec Ogletree closing and then pumped his arm again to hold him off, before tucking and running to the pylon for the deciding score, perhaps his last in that uniform in Soldier Field.
"All my f-----g life, I own you," Rodgers bellowed toward the stands. "I still own you! I still own you!"
And nobody can dare say he's wrong.
The Bears' 24-14 loss on an ideal autumn Sunday along the lakefront was, in the immediate sense, a heat check. If beating the Lions and Raiders showed some resiliency and renewed buy-in to better planning and commitment to rookie quarterback Justin Fields, this outcome offered a slow-your-roll reminder that certain well-known forces still apply.
It all was so promising after a pair of well-defended Packer drives sandwiched around an eight-play, 80-yard Bears march that ended in a Khalil Herbert touchdown, but that was about the end of the optimism. An injury-compromised Packers offensive line began creasing the Bears' front, allowing for not just chunks of yards but manageable third-down distances that kept Rodgers out of the best sights of the pass rush and in a more comfortable position to manipulate defenders.
And again, the Bears offense couldn't score enough points. The fact that they fizzled on both the last drive of the first half and the first one in the second is enough to keep red flags raised. That's the whole reason for deferring after a coin toss win -- the chance to string together successful opportunities with no answer -- and instead the Bears swung the door wide open for Rodgers to do what he does -- and what he always has done.
We view these games through the prism of Fields' development too, and it was another case of seeing what you want. There were some strong throws among his 16 completions in 27 tries as well as questionable decision-making in both his reluctance to avoid sacks and how he finishes runs. He was helped by notable turns from Herbert (19 carries for 97 yards) and Cole Kmet (four catches on five targets for 49 yards). It's hard to judge incremental moments of growth, but any experience in a game like this has to be considered positive even if results remain frustratingly non-linear.
Where the Bears are now at 3-3 is itself uncertain, having not just let a defining chance be slowly pulled away from them but to be taunted about it by their cackling nemesis.
The Bears' classic white throwback uniforms are worn to remind us of their history, but it's hard to keep from thinking of merely the Rodgers era, in which he has now compiled a 22-5 record against them as a starter.
It's still an ownership issue for the Bears, one that has nothing to do with the McCaskeys.
Dan Bernstein is the co-host of the Bernstein & Rahimi Show on middays from 9 a.m. until noon on 670 The Score. You can follow him on Twitter @Dan_Bernstein.