3 Bears winners from regular season finale victory over the Packers

Well Bears fans, we did it. It may have taken almost three months, but we finally got to watch our favorite team win another football game as the Chicago Bears beat the Green Bay Packers on a last-second field goal.

Unlike when these two teams last met in Week 11, nobody on the Packers was able to get a hand up to cause Cairo Santos' kick to fall helplessly to the turf below. Whether winning a Week 18 game to improve to 5-12 can actually give a team any momentum heading into next season is up for debate (especially one without a head coach), but Bears fans will take what we can get after weeks of agony.

Even though one win can't redeem a season's worth of bad memories, this game was all about redemption, especially for certain players who came through when it mattered most. Here are three that deserve special recognition.

Caleb Williams

This season unofficially began when the Bears selected Caleb Williams with the first overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, so it feels fitting to start with him.

Caleb has put up with a lot this season, but he's always risen above it. His offensive line has been in tatters all season, yet he took personal responsibility for being sacked so many times. He's had some of the worst coaching and playcalling in the league, but he's never thrown anyone under the bus. He's been open and honest and real through all the sacks and all the losing, and the truth is that his play and his leadership have been two of the bright spots of the season.

Caleb wasn't given much of a chance to shine on Sunday. It seemed every first down call was a run, and on the few occasions he was allowed to pass, it seemed that Thomas Brown's breakfast had been an entire box of "Oops, All Screens." Almost nothing was downfield.

The Bears stayed in the game with a trick punt return touchdown that brought every fan back to 2011 when Devin Hester and Johnny Knox pulled the same move only to watch it be called back by a dubious holding call. This time though, Josh Blackwell's 96-yard touchdown return stood.

The offense didn't do much for most of the game, and when the Packers took the lead with under a minute left on a 55-yard Brandon McManus field goal, it looked like all hope was once again lost. The Bears have been in most games this season, but over and over they've found increasingly horrific ways to lose. Blocked field goals, clock management issues, botched Hail Marys—it's going to take a lot of Goose Island beer for Bears fans to forget everything that transpired this season.

One aspect of Caleb's rookie season that's been overlooked is that he's come through in clutch situations more than any rookie could be expected to. He led a game-winning touchdown drive against the Commanders in Week 8, only to watch as Matt Eberflus and Tyrique Stevenson allowed Washington to complete an impossible Hail Mary. He gave Santos a chance to beat the Pack in Week 11, but Karl Brooks blocked it.

Caleb erased an 11-point lead in the final minute against the Vikings one week later, but the Bears lost in overtime. On Thanksgiving, he overcame a 16-0 halftime deficit against the NFC-leading Lions, then time ran out on what should have been at least a game-tying field goal attempt, which turned out to be the last mistake Matt Eberflus ever made as Bears coach.

All of the good that Caleb has done has gone unrewarded, which is why it felt so good to see him finally get to enjoy his work. On that final drive, Caleb was horse-collared by Kingsley Enagbare, then he bounced back to hit Rome Odunze on the sideline for 15 yards. With 15 seconds left and no timeouts, he found DJ Moore over the middle for 15 yards, then got the offense to the line to spike the ball with three seconds left. He deserved to celebrate this win more than anybody.

Cairo Santos

Caleb has now played the Packers twice, and both times he's led his team to a game-winning field goal opportunity. In truth, he had nothing to redeem, because he's come through both times in this historic rivalry. Cairo Santos though, had to have been exhilarated to get a chance to erase what happened in Week 11, and his joyful celebration after drilling a walk-off 51-yarder showed how much it meant to him.

Most kickers around the league today make 50-yard field goals look like extra points. It seems that 60 has become the new 50, but Santos, accurate though he may be, can't compete when it comes to distance. His blocked kick in Week 11 was way too low, and Bears fans would be lying if they said they felt confident when he stepped up to attempt a 51-yarder at the end of this game.

At the moment Santos stepped up for his pressure-filled kick, the season could have ended in familiar despair, or on an uplifting note. The Bears, and their fans, really needed this, and everyone will always remember that Santos came through and made that feeling possible, even if his attempted Lambeau Leap afterwards wasn't as successful as his kick.

Tyrique Stevenson

Matt Eberflus and Shane Waldron have been gone for weeks. With them out of the picture, Tyrique Stevenson is the Bear at the top of most fans' you-know-what list.

Stevenson has had a rough year from a coverage standpoint, falling well short of the standard he set in the second half of his rookie season. People can quibble with Pro Football Focus and its grading methods, but the site having Stevenson 143rd out of 219 cornerbacks feels about right.

The former Miami Hurricane has also had a difficult season from a mental standpoint. His Hail Mary gaffe in Washington was horrible no matter which way you cut it, as it was the start of the Bears' death spiral. It was only the most noticeable of his issues, though.

Stevenson was called for three pass interference penalties and one unnecessary roughness penalty this season, but he's also been the instigator in several scuffles. I compared him recently to a modern Cortland Finnegan because he seems to have embraced the role of being a professional pest, and it wasn't something I meant as a compliment.

Stevenson needs to screw his head on straight going into what is going to be a pivotal third season, and he got nice jump on it by playing a great game against the Packers. He had one misstep—a long pass from Malik Willis to Malik Heath that he wasn't aggressive enough on—but other than that, he may have been the best defensive player on the field.

Stevenson had back-to-back plays in the first quarter that showed what he could do. First he blew up Bo Melton on an end-around, then on the next play he broke up a pass to Heath. The defense rallied around him and held Green Bay to a field goal.

Stevenson ended the day with eight tackles while helping Chicago's pass defense hold Jordan Love and Malik Willis to just over 200 yards through the air, even though Pro Bowler Jaylon Johnson had to leave the game for good with a quad injury in the second half.

One good game doesn't erase a disaster of a season from Stevenson, but it gives Bears fans hope that he can be the player this secondary needs him to be next season.