The Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears on Sunday. If you've been following this NFC North rivalry for any length of time, then that result shouldn't come as a surprise to you, because from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love, the Pack has owned this matchup for around three decades.
Most of that time has been a sad time for Bears fans. While the Packers have lorded over them in the division with one Hall-of-Fame quarterback after another (Love isn't anywhere near that yet but is still a very effective and stable presence), the Bears have cycled through more signal-callers than a Madden franchise controlled by an ADHD-riddled 10-year-old.
Packers beat the Bears Sunday, but it felt different
Packers coach Matt LaFleur is now 12-1 against the Bears, with the only loss coming on the final week of last year's regular season. He had to take particular pleasure from this one, seeing as it not only allowed the Packers to leapfrog the Bears for first place in the NFC North, it also gave him the first bit of bragging rights over new Bears coach Ben Johnson, who said in his introductory press conference earlier this year that he enjoyed beating LaFleur twice a year while he was the Lions' offensive coordinator.
On the surface, this game was what football fans who have been incredulous at the Bears' success have been waiting for. Chicago has been playing with fire all season, yet time and again, they've managed to steal wins through a combination of timely forced turnovers and clutch late drives. They entered this game as the winners of five straight and nine of 10, somehow holding the 1-seed in the deep NFC despite only a +6 point differential.
The Bears have overcome a torrent of defensive injuries to keep finding ways to win. In Week 4, they blocked a field goal at the buzzer to preserve a one-point win against the Raiders. After their bye, they exacted revenge for last year's Jayden Daniels Hail Mary by recovering a fumble from the reigning Rookie of the Year and driving for a game-winning field goal with a backup kicker.
November was a month to remember for the Bears, as they began it connecting on a 58-yard touchdown in the final minute to beat the Bengals 47-42 in the wildest game of the season. They followed that by erasing a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit against the Giants, then thwarting a repeat of the Vikings' Week 1 comeback by hitting yet another walk-off field goal. Wins over the Steelers and defending Super Bowl champion Eagles were icing on the cake.
Bears have changed their reputation for the better
It's amazing how quickly sentiment can shift in the NFL. Everyone outside of Bears fandom has had the Monsters of the Midway on fraud watch all season due to their propensity to win in seemingly unsustainable ways. That shifted on Black Friday, when the Bears physically dominated the defending champs en route to a statement win.
When the Bears came out flat in the first half against Green Bay, all of the positivity from the previous month seemed to defy science and somehow evaporate in the freezing air of Lambeau Field. The offense was putrid in the first 30 minutes, with only three points scored and four punts on five possessions. Caleb Williams missed six of his first seven throws, and the depleted secondary got burned for two long touchdowns. Was this the real Bears finally showing up?
The Bears didn't win, but unlike in years past, they made this one a game. Caleb made a handful of breathtaking plays with both his arm and his legs, and the offensive line and running game began to assert themselves. Even with a hostile crowd losing their collective minds, the Bears showed the fight that has been their trademark all season as they came back to tie it up in the fourth quarter on a 17-play, 83-yard drive that lasted 8 minutes and 32 seconds.
Ben Johnson has been masterful in making halftime adjustments all season, and Caleb has shown over and over that he has the clutch gene. They proved these things again in coming back from 11 down, but this time, it wasn't enough to keep the winning streak going. After the Packers took a 28-21 lead and the Bears got the ball back for one last possession, Caleb drove them into the red zone. The clock ticked down under a minute, and it looked like if the Bears found a way to score, they were positioning themselves to go for two and the win.
Bears fans will debate everything that happened on fourth down of that drive. Needing one yard to extend the game, Johnson didn't go back to his running game, which had been stuffed the previous play. Instead he went back to the same play that finished off the Eagles last week, only this time Caleb let the ball go too late and too short, resulting in a game-ending interception.
Bears what ifs are a sign that times have changed in Chicago
If Caleb had made a better throw, the Bears would have scored. If Cole Kmet had taken his route to the corner, that could have helped, too. If somehow Caleb had stopped his throwing motion and seen DJ Moore streaking underneath, then the ostensible No. 1 receiver could have walked it in for the touchdown. Caleb might even have been able to pick up the first down with his legs.
Lots of what ifs, but in the end, the Packers got revenge for last season's rare home loss. Still, the Bears have to come out of this game feeling like they can play with anyone. They were without Rome Odunze all game and lost Kyler Gordon in pregame warmups. Tremaine Edmunds and Tyrique Stephenson were also out. Jaylon Johnson played sparingly as he dealt with an injury. And yet they had the ball with a chance to tie or win at the end against a really good team on the road.
This doesn't mean the Bears are going to make the playoffs. They have their work cut out for them, and it starts with needing to take care of business against the Browns on Sunday. If they can do that, they'll get to 10 wins for the first time since they went 12-4 in 2018, but they finish the year with a rematch at home against the Packers, a road trip to San Francisco to take on their fellow 9-4 team, the 49ers, followed by a home finale against the Lions, who trail them by a game for the final playoff spot and pulverized them by 31 in Week 2.
The Bears have come a long way since then, and as far as their long-term vision goes, they're ahead of schedule. Whatever happens these last few weeks, the future is bright for the first time in a long time.