Three and out: How the Bears rallied to stun the Packers
The Bears hosted Green Bay in a wild-card weekend playoff game Saturday night at Soldier Field. The Bears trailed most of the game, but like they have done numerous times this season, they rallied and won 31-27 for their seventh fourth-quarter comeback win of the season. Here are three moments that mattered, what worked and what didn’t.
Three moments that mattered
1. Clutch Caleb: Bears QB Caleb Williams isn’t always pretty and wasn’t again Saturday night, completing only 50% of his 48 passes, but once again he rallied the Bears in the fourth quarter. After his touchdown pass to Olamide Zaccheaus from 8 yards out with 4:18 left cut the Bears’ margin to 27-24, he floated a 25-yard TD pass to D.J. Moore with 1:08 to go. It gave the Bears their first lead since they kicked a field goal on the first series of the game.
2. Show no love for Love: All Packers QB Jordan Love did was throw for 323 yards and four TDs, while not throwing an interception. The game, in typical Bears fashion this season, came down to the final play, and Kyler Gordon’s pass breakup in the end zone ended it, giving the Bears a stunning victory against their archrival.
3. Fourth-down follies: Trailing 14-3 late in the first half, the Bears faced fourth-and-5 from their own 32 and kept the offense on the field. Williams bobbled a high snap out of shotgun formation and then threw a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage and fell incomplete. The Packers took over, converted a fourth-and-1 play thanks to a 22-yard completion from Love to Christian Watson to the 1. The Packers then scored on fourth-and-goal when Love lobbed a pass to a wide-open Romeo Doubs, making the score 21-3 late in the first half.
Three things that worked
1. Here come the Cardiac Bears: Bears fans learned this season to never leave a game early. Even down 18 points at halftime and being clearly outplayed, the Bears made the game interesting in the second half, pulling to within 21-16 with 10:08 left in the fourth quarter. And they kept coming. While Williams revved up his game, so did the defense, resulting in a seventh fourth-quarter comeback this season.
2. Shutdown defense: The Packers didn’t punt in the first half. The Bears defense finally settled in after halftime, holding the Packers to back-to-back three-and-outs to start the second half. Love threw three incompletions on the Packers’ first two second-half possessions. The Packers eventually punted again on their third possession of the second half. The defense even forced Love into two intentional-grounding penalties.
3. Opening drive: The Bears did everything right on the game’s first series except score a touchdown. They marched from their own 32 to the Green Bay 9, before settling for Cairo Santos’ 27-yard field goal. The drive, which included four third-down conversions in five attempts, ate up seven minutes and 58 seconds and kept the Packers’ vaunted offense off the field.
Three things that didn’t
1. Imperfect offense: The Bears offense needed to be perfect because of their bend-and-break defense. After a promising start — a field goal on their first possession — they failed to move the ball and were far from perfect in the first half, while the Packers scored three consecutive TDs to go into halftime up 21-3. Williams was ineffective and so was the running game. Williams, in particular, changed the narrative in the second half.
2. Too much Love: Love sat out the Packers’ past two games after suffering a concussion in the first half against the Bears on Dec. 20. If the Bears defense hoped to rattle Love early and make a statement, it failed. Love showed no rust and was barely touched, outside of a 1-yard sack by Austin Booker. His two TD passes helped the Packers build a 14-3 lead in the first half.
3. Run game early: The Bears had one of the best running games in the NFL during the regular season. The Packers defensive front set the tone early, however. The Bears mustered only 33 rushing yards on their first two series, averaging 2.8 yards a carry. The Bears’ running game was a key to keeping the Packers offense off the field, and it didn’t deliver.
What’s next?
The Bears won’t know their next opponent until Sunday night, following the 49ers and Eagles game. If the Eagles win, they will play the Bears. If the 49ers win, the Bears will face the Rams, who beat the Panthers Saturday. Either way, the game will be in Chicago.