Bears win yet another thriller. After spending the week talking about the importance of starting fast, the Bears did the opposite. Chicago’s opening drive, a 16-play march, ended in just three points. The Bears’ first drive of the second half went similarly, leaving them with just six points late in the third. Following a first half in which they appeared more like a sieve than a resistance unit, Chicago’s defense clamped down, got multiple stops and repeatedly helped position the Bears in advantageous spots. Chicago’s offense consistently failed to capitalize, though, throwing a fourth-down interception in Green Bay’s red zone in the third quarter and settling for a field goal on their next visit. Fortunately for the Bears, Green Bay afforded Chicago enough time to continue to chip away at their lead and Caleb Williams eventually found the same clutch gene that has powered the Bears to a collection of heart-stopping wins in the 2025 season. This comeback required contributions from nearly everyone: Devin Duvernay returned a punt to the Packers’ 35 to help the Bears eventually score a quick three points, Colston Loveland powered a touchdown drive that D’Andre Swift finished with two hard runs (including a 6-yard score), Williams made a miraculous, physics-defying throw to Rome Odunze on a must-have fourth down to keep their hopes alive late in the fourth quarter and DJ Moore hauled in the game’s most important touchdown to put the Bears ahead for good. Dennis Allen’s defense had to stand tall throughout the second half just to buy their offense time to figure things out, too, and by the time the clock hit triple zeroes, the Bears had a team victory that meant more to the franchise than any other over the last 15 years. It’s only fitting that they did it in thrilling fashion.Matt LaFleur supervises heartbreaking collapse. While he’s familiar with this feeling after losing to Chicago in similarly painful fashion in the regular season, it’s going to be very difficult for the Packers head coach to move on from this one. While owning a 21-6 lead that was only reduced to 21-9 after Jeff Hafley’s defense stood tall in their own red zone again early in the fourth quarter, LaFleur refused to commit to shortening the game and increasing the difficulty of a potential comeback for the Bears. The Packers ran the ball just three times in the third quarter, went three-and-out on three of their first four possessions in the second half and held the ball for just 5:22 despite having three possessions in the third quarter alone. It was almost as if LaFleur saw the success Love enjoyed through the air in the first half (especially on third down) and couldn’t resist keeping his foot on the accelerator. In short, LaFleur pulled off his greatest Kyle Shanahan in Super Bowl LI impression, failing to focus on draining clock while owning a multi-score lead and providing the opponent with additional chances to mount a comeback. Chicago capitalized and finished the job with a touchdown scored with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter and a defensive stand through the final play of the game, sending the Packers into the offseason on the losing end of a torturous disintegration that could have significant ramifications on the franchise’s future. When Green Bay lost in Week 16, LaFleur accurately claimed he felt his team controlled the game outside of the final three minutes. He failed to exert such control over a winnable (and much more significant) contest Saturday night.Chicago earns a win despite zero takeaways. The Bears defense has hung their hat on forcing turnovers in 2025, leading the NFL in takeaways and turnover differential while posting a perfect 9-0 record when forcing two or more takeaways (and 2-6 when only logging one or fewer). They finished Saturday night’s memorable victory without one. The Bears certainly had their chances, such as when they forced eligible tackle Darian Kinnard to fumble but failed to land on the loose ball. In that moment, it seemed as if it just might not be the Bears’ night. But what they lacked in takeaways they made up for in execution in the second half, shutting down a seemingly unstoppable Packers offense that had proven nearly impossible to force off the field in the first two quarters. When the game got close late, Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen dialed up pressure repeatedly, asking his defensive backs to handle man coverage duties with little (if any) help over the top. They consistently did what they were asked to do all the way through the final whistle, interrupting Jordan Love‘s pass to Christian Watson along the goal line before breaking up Love’s desperate heave to the end zone. Chicago clearly has a winning formula, but proved to itself that it isn’t the only way to win Saturday night.Packers waste impressive outing from Jordan Love. The final stat line doesn’t suggest it, but those who watched will recognize how good Love was throughout most of Saturday’s contest. He was the engineer of a well-oiled operation in the first half, converting 4 of 6 third downs and appearing unflappable even when his initial reads weren’t open, such as when he found Romeo Doubs for a 1-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal from Chicago’s 1-yard line. Love was dialed in until it became clear his offense needed more balance in order to maintain their success and composure, and when he was asked to throw them into prolonged possessions while owning a healthy lead, Love unfortunately came up short. That doesn’t diminish what he did throughout the game, though, because Love delivered some excellent passes in the fourth quarter, leading a touchdown drive that put the Packers ahead by 11 with only 6:36 left to play and moving the Packers into field goal range again late before Brandon McManus missed his second attempt of the night. Love also fired a bullet on a must-have fourth-and-7 to Matthew Golden to keep their final drive alive, then lofted a perfect pass to a crossing Jayden Reed later in the drive, but Reed dropped the pass that could have given the Packers a legitimate chance to win in the final seconds. Instead, his last throw will stand as the lasting (and painful) image of the end of Green Bay’s season, an unfair reality for a quarterback who did almost everything possible to lead his team to victory.Ben Johnson gets away with overly aggressive approach. One of the many beautiful realities of football is that it is a four-quarter sport. For Johnson and the Bears, it’s a good thing that is the case because Johnson did everything in his power to bury his team in the first half. Understandably trusting and believing in his team, Johnson elected to go for it on fourth down four times in the first half and converted just one of them. Two of the three failures went against analytical recommendations, according to Next Gen Stats, and one of those two gave the Packers an easy scoring opportunity (which they cashed in for a touchdown to go up 21-3). Johnson largely followed the book from there, and the earlier decisions ultimately didn’t matter, but it’s worth noting and continuing to track in the Bears’ next postseason game. With the backing of the home fans, will Johnson be as aggressive in their Divisional Round contest at Soldier Field? Or might he come back closer toward the center?
Next Gen Stats Insight from Packers-Bears (via NFL Pro): From 6:51 in the second quarter to 2:59 in the fourth, the Bears’ win probability never exceeded 25%, reaching a minimum of 3.0%. The Bears have recorded two of the eight most unlikely comebacks of the season against their division rivals (Week 16 and tonight).
NFL Research: Caleb Williams has seven fourth-quarter comebacks this season, including playoffs, the most in a season by any QB under the age of 25 in NFL history. Williams also finished with the most passing yards in a playoff debut (361) since Matthew Stafford in the 2011 Wild Card at New Orleans (380).