FULL SCORE
- Williams returns. Chicago has compiled an 11-4 record by winning many games in exciting fashion. The Bears have been a team overflowing with fourth-quarter juice, and even on a night when it simply didn’t seem to have it, a successful onside kick seemed to burst the dam, giving Soldier Field new hope and a tidal wave of energy that the Bears rode on a wild game-tying touchdown drive, complete with a stunning fourth-down heave to the rookie’s corner. Jahdae Walker for the most important goal of the night. Just as he did in so many other crisis situations in 2025, Caleb Williams came through in the clutch, rocketed downfield, fumbled and avoided complete mistakes when there weren’t any, and it was only right that he used his cannon of an arm to deliver the perfect shot DJ Moorewho made a great run to give the Bears a touchdown and an incredible win. Sometimes in the NFL some teams just have a magical feel to them. The Bears have it in spades, thanks in large part to the rising signal-caller.
- Packers waste winning performance. For the majority of Saturday night’s contest, Green Bay was one step ahead of Chicago and controlled the game for the most part. When the Packers took a 10-point lead late in the third with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Malik Willis — who did remarkably well as a sudden substitute after Jordan Love had a concussion — to Romeo Doubsseemed like it might be enough of a difference to win. It was the same when they pushed the lead back to 10 with 5:03 left in the fourth. Green Bay’s defense had bottled up Chicago’s offense and held the Bears to 1-of-10 third down in regulation before a sequence of events (eerily familiar to Packers fans who remember the 2014 NFC Championship Game loss in Seattle) turned the game in the Bears’ favor. Jeff Hafley’s defense suddenly couldn’t stop Williams and the Bears, and even when the Packers looked poised to clinch overtime, a fourth down ended their last promising chance. Matt LaFleur and the rest of his staff must be amazed at how they let this game – a game that would have moved them one step closer to winning the NFC North – slip away. It’s better to have it happen now than after the season, but only if LaFleur and the Packers make sure they don’t repeat the same mistakes.
- pull away Cairo Santos. A terribly windy night in the Windy City made air travel a treacherous endeavor for football. Love and Williams each received passes in unintended directions, and each kick had to be adjusted for gusts of wind that happily pushed the ball off its intended path. This is where Santos proved indispensable. He properly kicked field goals into the wind, fading his right-to-left and between-the-upright attempts on three separate occasions, converting from 43, 46 and 51 yards to keep the Bears’ hopes alive. Even his extra point in the game proved challenging, but Santos delivered. It felt right to watch the Bears — a team that once lost a playoff game on Cody Parkey’s double play — enjoy expert-level kicking in a huge game. Although he is not a quarterback, Santos became a hero in Chicago on Saturday night.
Next Gen Stats Insights from Packers-Bears (via NFL Pro): The Bears’ odds were as low as 0.5% before recovering an onside kick coming out of the two-minute warning in their overtime comeback win over the Packers, which became the fifth-most unlikely win in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016).
NFL Research: NFL teams had lost 501 games in a row prior to Saturday night’s Bears-Packers game when they trailed by 10-plus points with under 2:00 left (the last win was the Jets vs. Browns in Week 2, 2022).