Good afternoon, everyone. On Sunday January 5, 2025, the Green Bay Packers hosted the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. Entering this game, the Packers were looking to build some positive momentum heading into the playoffs. It would have been nice to see the Packers get the win against the Bears, but that did not happen. Let’s get into detail on how this inexcusable loss went down.
The Packers won the coin toss and elected to receive the football. The drive started at the Green Bay 15 yard line after a holding penalty by Chris Brooks on the kickoff return. The drive started well with a 7 yard pass from Jordan Love to Dontayvion Wicks and a 10 yard run by Josh Jacobs. The drive then stalled 3 plays later after an incomplete pass intended for Tucker Kraft. Daniel Whelan fumbled the snap, but recovered it and punted the ball to the Chicago 30 yard line. Thankfully, the Packers defense forced the Bears to go three and out on their first drive. Jayden Reed returned the ensuing punt 16 yards to the Green Bay 40. The drive only lasted 6 plays after Jordan Love was pressured and threw an awful pass that was incomplete on third and 6 from the Chicago 44. On the ensuing punt, the Packers were fooled by a trick by the Bears, which allowed the Bears’ return man to go 94 yards for a touchdown. The extra point by Cairo Santos was good, giving Chicago a 7-0 lead with 6:34 left in the first quarter. The Packers were able to get into scoring range during their next drive in the hopes of answering back with a touchdown of their own, but they were forced to settle for a field goal after a pass from Jordan Love to Tucker Kraft went for only 3 yards on third and 9 from the Chicago 22. The field goal was good from 37 yards out, cutting the lead to 7-3 with 2:24 left in the first quarter. After the Packers defense forced another three and out, the Packers offense got the ball back with 10 seconds left in the first quarter. On the first play of the drive, Jayden Reed took an end around for 4 yards before fumbling the ball away. The fumble was recovered by Jonathan Owens at the Green Bay 34. Owens then returned the fumble 13 yards to the 21 yard line. 3 plays later, the Bears added to their lead with a 4-yard TD run by D’Andre Swift. The extra point was good, increasing the Bears’ lead to 14-3 with 14:17 left in the first quarter. The Packers’ next rive started at the Green Bay 37 after a nice return by Keisean Nixon. On the first play, Jordan Love connected with Dontayvion Wicks for a 16-yard pass completion. During that play, Christian Watson suffered a non-contact knee injury that looked very serious. Watson was carted to the locker room shortly after that moment. 2 plays after the catch by Wicks, Josh Jacobs ran for 12 yards and a first down. Jacobs then caught a pass that went for 8 yards. However, there was a penalty on the Bears defense for too many men, which the Packers accepted. Love unfortunately had to leave the game after that pass due to hurting his hand and elbow on the play, so Malik Willis had to come in for the rest of the game. On first and 5 from the Chicago 30 yard line, Jacobs ran for 6 yards and another first down. An 11 yard pass from Willis to Tucker Kraft was called back due to an ineligible man downfield penalty. 2 plays after the penalty, Willis found Kraft for a 20-yard pass that set up first and goal from the Chicago 9 yard line. On first and goal, Josh Jacobs ran it in for a 9-yard touchdown, surpassing Paul Hornung’s franchise record for consecutive games with a rushing touchdown (Hornung had 7 straight games with a TD in 1960, Jacobs now has 8 straight games). The extra point kick by Brandon McManus was good, cutting the lead to 14-10 with 11:12 left in the second quarter. The Packers defense then forced the Bears to punt on their next drive despite allowing D’Andre Swift to run for some good yardage. On third and 6 from the Chicago 49 yard line, Keisean Nixon tackled DJ Moore for a 2-yard loss after Moore caught a screen pass from Caleb Williams. The Packers started their next drive on offense at the 20 yard line after the punt went into the end zone for a touchback. This drive had a heavy dose of run plays, with Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks each getting some carries. There was also a deep pass from Malik Willis to Jayden Reed that went for 31 yards on third and 8 from the Green Bay 33. The bummer was that the drive only resulted in a field goal after a third down pass came up short of the first down marker. The field goal by McManus was good from 30 yards out, cutting the lead to 14-13 with 1:57 left in the first half. The Baers tried to get something before halftime, but they were forced to punt after a deep pass went incomplete on third and 11 from the Green Bay 45. After the fair catch by Jayden Reed, the Packers basically did nothing with 30 seconds left and went to the locker room down by 1.
On the Bears’ first drive of the second half, they were able to get into Green Bay territory. They went for it on fourth and 5 from the Green Bay 46 and converted it with a 6-yard pass from Caleb Williams to Roschon Johnson. On the next play, the Bears tried some trickery that ended in a Keenan Allen throw that was picked off by Xavier McKinney. MnKinney returned the pick 17 yards to the Green Bay 43 before he lost the ball. Thankfully, the fumble was recovered by Edgerrin Cooper at the Green Bay 44. The Packers offense could not capitalize on the opportunity as they gave the ball back 5 plays later after Willis was sacked and lost the ball. Tremaine Edwards recovered the fumble at the Chicago 46 yard line. Thankfully, the Packers defense was able to force the Bears to punt back to Green Bay. After the fair catch by Jayden Reed, the Packers started their next drive at their own 16 yard line. The biggest play of the drive was when Chris Brooks ran for 23 yards on second and 4 from the Green Bay 33 yard line. 4 plays later, the Packers had a chance to convert a fourth and 3 from the Chicago 37 yard line. Instead of doing a normal run play, the play call was an end around intended for Jayden Reed that went for a loss of 2 yards. The Bears capitalized on the opportunity by scoring a touchdown on their next drive. On second and 6 from the Green Bay 32 yard line, DJ Moore caught a short pass and broke a tackle attempt on his way to the end zone. The Bears tried some trickery on the two point conversion attempt and failed, however, there was a penalty on Carrington Valentine that gave the Bears another chance. The Bears then took the extra point to go up by 8 with 10:02 left in the fourth quarter. After two straight drives that ended in a punt (one by each team), the Packers started their next drive at their own 49 yard line with 5:58 left in the fourth quarter needing a touchdown and two point conversion to tie the game. The drive did not start great as there was a holding penalty on Rasheed Walker and a sack of Malik Willis. However, the Packers were able to convert the long third down with a 41-yard pass from Willis to Malik Heath. On the next play, Emanuel Wilson ran it into the end zone from 21 yards out. The two-point conversion pass failed, keeping the Bears in the lead with 4:28 left in the game. The Packers defense needed to get a stop for a chance to win the game. On first and 20 from the Chicago 47 (after a holding penalty on the Bears), the defense forced a turnover when Carrington Valentine forced DJ Moore to lose the ball after he caught a pass. The fumble was recovered by Javon Bullard at the Chicago 46. Bullard then went for 3 more yards after recovering the fumble. What happened in the last minute and 49 seconds was inexcusable. For some reason, the Packers went no huddle for two straight run plays rather than taking a timeout before the third down run to collect themselves. The third down run went for a loss of 2 yards, making Brandon McManus kick the field goal from 55 yards out. What was infuriating was that the Packers took a timeout after the third down run. The field goal was good, giving the Packers a 22-21 lead with 54 seconds left in the game. After the kick return by the Bears only got to the 20 yard line (even with a lateral), the Bears started their final drive. The first play should have sealed it for the Packers defense as Caleb Williams was sacked, but Kingsley Enagbare got called for a horse collar penalty that nullified the sack. Caleb Williams then connected with Rome Odunze for a 15-yard pass play that got the Bears to midfield. The Bears then took their last timeout following a 4-yard scramble by Williams. An incomplete pass followed that, which set up a third and 6 from the Green Bay 46. Caleb Williams connected with DJ Moore for an 11-yard pass completion, but the play was called back due to an illegal shift penalty, forcing the Bears to face a third and 11 from the Chicago 49. The Packers then took their second timeout to figure out something for the defense. What they figured was basically a prevent defense that allowed the Bears to convert the third down and get into field goal range. The ball was spiked with 2 seconds left and Cairo Santos was called upon to kick the field goal from 51 yards out. It would have been crazy if the Packers were to win this game similar to Week 11 with a blocked field goal. Unfortunately, the kick was not blocked and was good, giving the Bears a 24-22 win. With the loss, the Packers’ current winning streak over the Bears is over and the Packers are stuck as the 7th seed in the playoffs.
(Here are the “lowlights” of this game, provided by the NFL’s YouTube page. Click on “Watch on YouTube” if you’re curious.)
On offense, the Packers did not have their best game to close out the regular season. It did not help that both Christian Watson and Jordan Love got injured and had to leave the game in the second quarter. Thankfully, Love did not get too banged up on Sunday. He was throwing the ball around on the sidelines even though he was not brought back into the game for safety reasons. I’m sure that he’ll be starting next week against the Eagles. For Christian Watson, I feel so awful for him. His knee injury was a non-contact injury that he suffered while running a route. After he went down, Bears CB Jaylon Johnson signaled for the Packers’ training staff to see if Watson was ok. In my opinion, Watson should have rested for the playoffs rather than risk injury on Sunday. I have a feeling that Watson could be out for some of next season with a torn ACL. If it was not for Romeo Doubs getting sick a couple of days before the game, the freak injury would not have happened. Also, the Packers suffered a couple of turnovers on Sunday, with both of those being fumbles that messed up potential scoring drives. Matt LaFleur did not have a great game in terms of calling plays. A couple of dumb decisions were the jet sweep for Jayden Reed that ended in a loss of yards and a turnover on downs and the final possession in which the Packers ran three straight times. With regards to that final possession, LaFleur should have called a timeout after the second run to plan something unique for the third play rather than going no huddle and let Emanuel Wilson get stuffed for a 2 yard loss on third down. The timeout before the field goal, which ended up being good from 55 yards out, gave the Bears some time to get into field goal range and save their timeout. It was not a good game at all for LaFleur on Sunday, and I hope that he calls a better game against the Eagles in the playoffs. At least Malik Willis did not throw a pick and the Packers ran well on Sunday.
On defense, the Packers played good at times, forcing a couple of three and outs and a couple of turnovers (2 fumbles and a pick). However, the pass rush was only able to get one sack of Caleb Williams, with another sack being nullified due to a horse collar penalty on Kingsley Enagbare. Caleb also was not responsible for the interception as that pass was thrown by Keenan Allen on a trick play. For the third time in 4 games, an interception was followed by a fumble, which was thankfully recovered by Green Bay. This time, it was Xavier McKinney who lost the ball after he snagged his 8th pick on the season. It was pathetic to see the lack of pass rush against a QB that has been sacked the most out of any QB in the NFL this season. That final drive by the defense was inexcusable, especially when they went in “prevent” mode on that third and 11 from the Chicago 49 yard line. The safeties were basically backed up towards the end zone and the Packers only had 3 players going after the QB. Caleb Williams was able to find the open guy and get the Bears into field goal range. I was just irritated when I saw that play happen when I was watching RedZone. Green Bay took a timeout before this play to figure their defense out, and they still gave up that play. There was no way Caleb Williams was going for the Hail Mary on that play since the Bears only needed a field goal to win the game. That play was the pinnacle of this phrase: “Prevent defense prevents winning.” It was definitely not a way for Jeff Hafley’s unit to end the regular season. Hopefully they come to play well against the Eagles in the playoffs.
On Special Teams, the Packers did not have a great game on Sunday against the Bears. The most infuriating moment happened when the Packers punt return unit fell for a trick pulled by the Bears. Basically, one of the Bears players acted like he was getting the ball when there was another Bear on the opposite side of the field getting the ball. That trick resulted in a 94-yard punt return TD that gave the Bears the momentum. That trick was inexcusable to allow. The players on the Packers’ return coverage unit need to watch where the ball goes after Daniel Whelan punts it away. Other than that disaster of a play, the Packers made sure no other touchdowns were scored by the Bears on punts and kickoffs. At least Brandon McManus was able to make each kick, including the 55 yard field goal that should have been both closer and with lesser time remaining in the fourth quarter. I wish that the Packers were able to block that final field goal by Cairo Santos similar to what happened in Week 11, but that did not happen. It was not a good day for the Special Teams unit at all. Hopefully they are ready for anything against the Eagles in the playoffs.
Overall, this was an inexcusable loss for the Packers to end the regular season. This was the first loss to the Bears in the Matt Lafleur era and the first home loss to the Bears in nearly 10 calendar years (Thanksgiving night in 2015). This was a Bears team that had lost 10 straight games and had fired their head coach after the Thanksgiving loss to the Lions, yet the Packers came up short of handing the Bears an 11th straight loss to end the season. I still think the Bears will be a bad team next year, but it was awful for Green Bay to give them the win at Lambeau Field the way they did. In addition to that, the Packers suffered a huge blow when Christian Watson suffered a torn ACL on a non-contact play. Now, the offense has to play without him for the playoffs. Everyone needs to be ready for their matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday January 12th at 4:30 PM ET. I’ll be back to cover that game regardless of the outcome. Have a good week, everyone. Go Pack Go.
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