Bears come back from 15 down in 4th to stun Packers in wild card

The Bears responded with a 66-yard drive capped by Williams' go-ahead toss to Moore, who was open in the end zone to finish a 25-point fourth quarter.

Sun, 11 Jan, 2026 - 09:46

Reuters

Caleb Williams hit DJ Moore with a 25-yard touchdown pass with 1:43 left in the fourth quarter as the Chicago Bears overcame a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit for an improbable 31-27 victory over the visiting Green Bay Packers in an NFC wild-card game between NFC North division rivals Saturday night.

Chicago, which trailed 21-6 entering the final quarter, pulled within 27-24 with 4:18 remaining on Williams' 8-yard touchdown pass to Olamide Zaccheaus and two-point conversion toss to Colston Loveland.

"The only option we had was to go out there and be legendary, go out there and execute, and go out there and do our part on the offensive side, defensive side and special teams," Williams said. "Have each other's back. Go win the game."

Green Bay answered with an eight-play, 43-yard drive, but Brandon McManus' 44-yard field-goal attempt was wide right.

The Bears responded with a 66-yard drive capped by Williams' go-ahead toss to Moore, who was open in the end zone to finish a 25-point fourth quarter.

"He's a great player," Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of Williams. "He's proven it time and time again. You just can't give him that many opportunities. That's collectively. That's offensively, that's on special teams, and then certainly on defense. You've got to find a way to put them away."

Green Bay then drove to the Chicago 23 with 32 seconds left, but Green Bay had to take a 10-second runoff when a lineman went down injured with the team out of timeouts. Packers quarterback Jordan Love threw an incomplete pass and the Packers were then called for a false start and another incomplete pass followed. Love's pass on the final play was incomplete in the end zone.

Second-seeded Chicago (12-6), which won the North despite ending the regular season with two losses, picked up its first playoff win since January 2011 and will host a divisional playoff game next weekend.

"We just keep plugging along," Bears coach Ben Johnson said. "We keep fighting. We've proven that this year. It's who we are, that's what we do.

"As a team, it's just resiliency and knowing that late in the fourth quarter, that's really when we're at our best as a football team," he said.

Seventh-seeded Green Bay (9-8-1) lost its final five games.

It was the third meeting in six games between the division rivals. The Packers won the first game at home 28-21 in early December. They did not win another game.

The Bears averted the regular-season sweep two weeks later with a 22-16 victory in overtime, overcoming a 10-point deficit in the final five minutes of regulation.

On Saturday, Williams completed 24 of 48 passes for 361 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. D'Andre Swift had a team-high 54 yards rushing on 13 carries with a touchdown.

Love completed 24 of 46 passes for 323 yards with four touchdowns without a pick.

"Well, obviously, this one is going to hurt for a really, really long time," LaFleur said. "You know, when you're in complete control of a football game and the script gets flipped in the second half, and it was a lot of self-inflicted things -- give credit to them. We knew they were a team that could come back and fight. I mean, they've proved it all season long. And we had opportunities to kind of put them away, and we didn't get it done."

Green Bay dominated the first half en route to a 21-3 lead at the break. But the Packers punted on their first four possessions of the second half as the Bears rallied within 21-16 on Swift's 6-yard scoring run that capped a 66-yard drive with 10:08 remaining.

Green Bay answered when Matthew Golden turned a short swing pass into a 23-yard touchdown, but McManus missed the extra point for a 27-16 lead with 6:36 left.

Chicago pulled within 21-9 to open the second half on field goals of 34 and 51 yards by Cairo Santos.

Love had touchdown passes on each of Green Bay's first three possessions for the 21-3 halftime lead.

He hit Christian Watson with a 7-yard touchdown pass with 2:06 left in the first quarter to put Green Bay in front 7-3.

Love's 18-yard scoring toss to Jayden Reed extended the lead to 14-3 midway through the second quarter. Love's 1-yard touchdown toss to Romeo Doubs made it 21-3 with 1:56 left in the half.

Chicago drove to the Green Bay 9 on the opening possession of the game before settling for Santos' 27-yard field goal.