How did the Bears erase a 21-3 deficit against the Packers on Saturday? The Bears believed.
The belief traces to training camp, when coach Ben Johnson showed the team Super Bowl LI. That was the game that saw the Patriots down 28-3 in the third quarter. Before they turned it around and won the game.
“That was my message to the group,” Johnson told reporters after last night’s playoff win. “Was just reminding them that this has been done before. And rather than saying ‘woe is me’ and ‘oh, crap, we’re in a hole,’ it’s more of an opportunity for us to turn this thing around into a game that we’ll never forget. And that’s what they did.”
Helping to reinforce the point was the presence of a pair of players from Super Bowl LI. Former Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and former Patriots offensive lineman Joe Thuney are Bears. And they both got to enjoy the thrill of Patriots-style victory, while sending the Packers to share Atlanta’s agony of defeat.
The only thing left is for Bears fans to make T-shirts and flags showing the 21-3 score bug.
After missing two field goals and an extra point in Saturday night’s 31-27 loss to the Bears, Packers kicker Brandon McManus stood before the media and took responsibility.
“This is the biggest disappointment of my career. Just an embarrassment of a performance,” McManus said.
McManus said it was tough to face his teammates in the locker room after the game.
“It’s emotional,” McManus said. “It’s disappointing that my role on the team is to make kicks and these guys pour in thousands of plays over the course of the season, and I leave seven points on the board today. It’s the most disappointing point of my career.”
McManus said there were no issues with the wind, the snap or the hold.
“Everything was perfect,” McManus said. “Just bad kicks. Embarrassing performance by me today.”
McManus is due to make $3.7 million from the Packers in 2026, but nothing remaining in his contract is guaranteed. This embarrassing performance could be his last as a Packer.
Bears coach Ben Johnson offered only the briefest of handshakes to Packers coach Matt LaFleur after beating him Saturday night, and afterward Johnson sounded like he took the game personally.
In video posted by the Bears, Johnson screamed “Fuck the Packers! Fuck them!” in the postgame locker room.
Asked in his postgame press conference what had made him so emotional at the end of this game, Johnson said that there had been “noise” coming from the Packers that the Bears took issue with.
“There was probably a little bit more noise coming out of their building up north to start the week, which we heard loud and clear, players and coaches alike. So this one meant something to us,” Johnson said.
Johnson didn’t say what kind of comments the Packers were taking that drew his ire, but Johnson was excited to get the best of the Bears’ longtime rival, in his biggest win yet as a head coach.
Questions swirled about the future of Packers coach Matt LaFleur in the days preceding the wild-card opener. Before the game, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media said the Packers plan to discuss an extension with LaFleur after the season ends.
Then, the season ended in a 30-minute thud. The Packers blew a 21-3 halftime lead to the Bears, falling in Chicago, 31-27.
After the game, LaFleur was asked about his future with the team, given that his contract expires after 2026.
“Yeah, with all due respect to your question,” LaFleur said, “now’s not the time for that. I mean, I’m just hurting for these guys. You know, I can only think about just what just happened, and there will be time for that.”
The topic came up again later in the post-game press conference.
“I’m not gonna get into that right now,” LaFleur said. “Definitely, now’s not the time. I mean, whatever.”
LaFleur made it clear he wants to stay. Asked what being the coach of the Packers means to him, LaFleur said, “It means everything to me. This is the greatest organization in the world, in my opinion.”
He also acknowledged that Saturday night’s loss “is gonna hurt for a really, really long time.” That applies regardless of whatever happens next for him.
The Bears did it again, this time ending Green Bay’s season with their comeback.
Chicago pulled off its biggest postseason comeback in team history, rallying from a 21-3 halftime deficit to win 31-27 in a wild-card playoff game at Soldier Field. The Bears trailed 21-6 in the fourth quarter.
They became just the third team in NFL history to score 25 or more points in the fourth quarter of a playoff game, joining the 1934 Giants and the 1992 Eagles, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.
In Week 16, Chicago scored 10 points in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, forcing overtime and winning in overtime on DJ Moore’s 46-yard touchdown catch. Moore did it again on Saturday, with his 25-yard touchdown catch with 1:43 remaining for the game-winner.
The Packers reached the Bears 23 with 18 seconds remaining, but Jordan Love threw three incompletions, two of which came after a false start, as time expired on their comeback attempt.
The Bears outscored the Packers 28-6 in the second half to win Ben Johnson’s first playoff game as a head coach.
Packers kicker Brandon McManus cost his team with a missed extra point with 6:36 remaining and a 44-yard field goal with 2:51 left. He also missed a 55-yarder on the final play of the first half that might have been the dagger.
The Bears won despite going 2-for-6 on fourth down and 2-for-5 in the red zone. On their next-to-last possession, though, Caleb Williams hit Rome Odunze for a 27-yard gain on fourth-and-8. It set up Williams’ 8-yard touchdown pass to Olamide Zaccheaus with 4:18 remaining to get the Bears within 27-24.
Williams finished 24-of-48 for 361 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Rookie tight end Colston Loveland caught eight passes for 137 yards and had a reception on a 2-point play, and Moore caught six passes for 64 yards.
D’Andre Swift had 13 carries for 54 yards and a touchdown.
The Bears ended up outgaining the Packers 445 to 421 after being outgained 231 to 122 in the first half.
Love went 24-of-46 for 323 yards and four touchdowns, with Romeo Doubs catching eight for 124 yards and a touchdown. Matthew Golden had four catches for 84 yards and a touchdown in his best game of his rookie season. Jayden Reed and Christian Watson each scored a touchdown.
