Not that Bears fans needed a reminder, but Sunday’s 28-21 loss to the Packers served as an admonition that the team still has a ways to go to catch up to its chief rival.
Oh, sure, the Bears made it a close game, down to the wire, but it’s obvious that there’s a talent deficiency between the more established Packers and this first year outfit under Bears head coach Ben Johnson.
Sunday’s contest was a chaotic afternoon defined by a sluggish start, a furious second-half rally, and a gut-wrenching turnover in the game’s dying seconds.
The loss snaps the Bears’ five-game winning streak and, more importantly, drops them out of first place in the NFC North and finds them tumbling all the way down the NFC playoff picture from the first seed to the seventh.
Let’s recap what we witnessed in Sunday’s divisional battle.
The Offense: A Tale of Two Halves
Something was amiss from the get go.
This did not look like the same Bears team who appeared to dominate the Eagles just a week prior. They were disjointed, committed several penalties, and looked outclassed — an all-too familiar occurrence with these Packers.
Caleb Williams struggled to find a rhythm early, managing just 32 passing yards in a first half where the Bears could only muster a single field goal. The lack of sustained drives kept the defense on the field and dug the team an early hole.
For as maddening as the first half was, watching the revolutionary change from the first half to the second was incredible to see. And it speaks volumes to how good this Johnson coaching staff really is.
Adjustments in the passing game sparked a resurgence, as the offense engineered three consecutive scoring drives to erase an 11-point deficit.
Perhaps the most impressive thing of all in the second half was an astounding, 17-play drive for 83 yards which chewed up 8:32 of game clock and tied the game at 21.
It was at this point when you really started to believe the team had a chance at pulling off the upset.
But, alas, the defense had other plans.
The Defense: Burned by the Big Play
The Bears defense really had no answer for the Packers’ passing attack in this one.
After losing Kyler Gordon to yet another injury during pregame warmups, the Bears were really hurting in the secondary. And given the team’s anemic pass rush, Packer quarterback Jordan Love was comfortable in the pocket all night long.
The story of the night for the defense was the big play. The Packers kept taking their shots and the Bears struggled to come up with answers.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Packers struck first with a 23-yard strike from Love to Christian Watson.
Later in the first half, after a Cairo Santos kickoff fell short of the landing zone and brought the ball out to the 40-yard line, Love found Bo Melton on a 45-yard bomb on broken coverage that looked like Jaylon Johnson — yes, him — failed to drop back and help in deep coverage. Jaquan Brisker was late coming over to help and Melton and the Packers took a 14-4 lead into halftime.
The third big strike would come in the third quarter when Love hit Watson on a short, quick slant, which the speedy receiver took to the house for 41 yards.
The Packers offense scored one more time, this time not on a big play but on a long, sustained drive that was a backbreaker for the team.
Perhaps the most maddening event on that drive is when the Bears had about four defenders encircling Packers running back Josh Jacobs on third and short. All it would take is a little gang tackling to bring him down and maybe hold the Packers to a field goal. Instead, none of the defenders even made much of an attempt to tackle Jacobs and he ripped off a 21-yard gain for the first down.
Caleb Williams: Growth Mixed with Frustrating Mistakes
As much as it pains me to say, Caleb Williams still has a ways to go. And as it stands now, he’s behind Jordan Love, which is maddening for long suffering Bears fans.
In fairness, Love is in Year 6, Caleb in Year 2 — Year 1 when you consider it’s a new offense with Ben Johnson. Still, there was a lot of good, bad and ugly out there against the Packers.
The Good: The mental toughness. After an abysmal first half, Williams didn’t fold. He hung in the pocket, made big throws to Olamide Zaccheaus and Loveland, and willed the team back into the game when they looked dead in the water.
The Bad: The inconsistency. Early errant throws prevented the offense from building any early momentum.
The Ugly: The final play.
Facing a 4th-and-1 at the Packers’ 14-yard line with 22 seconds left, the Bears needed one yard to keep hope alive. Williams rolled left and badly underthrew Cole Kmet in the end zone, where it was undercut and intercepted by Keisean Nixon. It was the same play that he connected with his tight end on last week for a touchdown against the Eagles.
The interception was the absolute worst way for the Bears to lose this game. If they’re going to lose, you’d like it to be for any reason except the quarterback.
It was a “rookie” mistake in a big spot—a reminder that while Williams is special, he is still learning how to close out games against elite competition.
The Big Picture: What This Means for the NFC North
The consequences of this loss are like a gut punch. The Packers now sit atop the NFC North at 9-3-1, controlling their own destiny. While the Bears still only sit one game behind the Packers, the Pack have the tiebreaker.
The Bears, while still firmly in the playoff mix at 9-4, now face a harder road to a home playoff game. While a victory over Cleveland next week and a Packers loss on the road against the Broncos would put the Bears back in first place, they still have to face Green Bay again in two weeks.
In a very competitive NFC this year, 10 wins might not be good enough. And I’ve even seen a scenario where the Bears win 11 but due to tiebreakers they miss the postseason. The odds on that are very low, though.
Still, it’s quite possible the Bears will need to reach 11 wins to earn a playoff berth, making this week’s game against the Browns a must-win, given the caliber of their other three remaining opponents: the Packers, on the road against the 49ers, and at home against the Lions, who pounded them in Week 2.
That was a much different Bears team back then and they’ve grown considerably since then. But they need to take care of business one week at a time.
