BOX SCORE
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The 211th Bears-Packers meeting seemed to be the biggest in some time. First place in the NFC North was on the line Sunday at Lambeau Field in a clash of three-loss teams.
The game was flexed into the afternoon TV window, reflecting its importance. It carried a big-game feel throughout the week, leading toward a meeting between teams that don’t seem to like each other.
It was a physical contest played in extreme cold, as these rivalry games often are. Tempers occasionally flared with the stakes so high. The game wasn’t always pretty, but it was intense.
Ultimately, though, the Packers prevailed in a nailbiter, winning 28-21 to take sole possession of first place in the division through 14 weeks.
The NFC North champion won’t be known for some time, though, and a rematch is scheduled in less than two weeks at Soldier Field.
Here’s what we learned from the first installment of this season’s two-game series:
Fourth-quarter magic runs out
Caleb Williams threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Colston Loveland, concluding a 17-play, 83-yard Bears drive that ranks high among the season’s best. That score and the ensuing extra-point kick tied the score at 21 with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Bears had trailed all day, but they finally were revived after a rough start. Their offensive line started moving Packers defenders. Their run game got hot, just in time to make a contest of it.
The fourth-quarter drama, it seemed, was on again. The Packers are no pushovers, though, and answered with a TD of their own to regain their lead.
That counter put the ball back in the Bears’ hands with 3:32 remaining. Could they come up with more magic?
It was too tall of an order.
Williams connected with Luther Burden III and Devin Duvernay on chunk plays that put Chicago just outside the red zone. The run game pushed them deep into it, as head coach Ben Johnson continued to let time run off the clock. It went all the way down to 26 seconds before a fourth-and-short play.
That’s when Williams faked a handoff and could have run for the first down. Instead, he threw a floater aimed at veteran tight end Cole Kmet in the end zone, and Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon intercepted it to end the Bears’ comeback bid.
Chicago fell to 9-4 with the loss, just behind 9-3-1 Green Bay in the division, and would be the NFC’s No. 7 playoff seed if the season ended today. But it doesn’t, and the Bears, who had won five in a row before this loss, still can regain their division perch with four regular-season games remaining, including a Dec. 20 meeting with the Packers in Chicago.
Passing game still too inconsistent
Johnson said during the week that his team was winning in spite of its passing game, not because of it. While he softened those comments the next day, his point was made.
Chicago’s passing game needed to find greater sync. And that was on everyone, not just the quarterback, to get it right.
It’s hard to say everything went right at Lambeau, especially after Williams completed 6 of 14 passes for just 32 yards in the first half. He hit on some spectacular throws in the second half, though, most notably this beauty to Kmet:
Williams followed that with a laser-beam TD pass to Olamide Zaccheaus.
Even with a handful of good plays, the Bears’ passing game still has work to do. While Green Bay’s defense played a part in those struggles, the air attack must become an efficient and reliable phase of Chicago’s offense. The Bears struggled in pass protection, especially on third downs, and Williams finished 19-of-35 passing for 186 yards and two TDs with the game-ending interception.
Packers’ explosive plays hurt
The Bears’ defense struggled to stop the Packers on a regular basis. And it wasn’t for lack of quality plays. They allowed explosive plays, which normally isn’t an issue for this group.
To make matters worse, those big plays resulted in Green Bay scores. Jordan Love connected on TD passes of 23, 45 and 41 yards — two of those on third down — with a quick-strike ability that hampered the Bears’ effort to keep the game close.
Love’s 45-yard strike to Bo Melton was the toughest to take, as the Bears couldn’t create pressure on the Packers’ QB despite a seven-man blitz. Love was able to float a pass to a wide-open receiver with under one minute left in the first half, giving the Packers a 14-3 lead.
The Bears normally make opponents earn scores, but they came a bit too easy for the Packers on this day. That’s not a glaring problem, but it’s something they must limit in the Week 16 rematch.
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