Bears' late rally stuns Packers, raises questions about Matt LaFleur's future in Green Bay
Like many of his teammates, Packers safety Evan Williams was shaken after the Bears rallied with 25 fourth-quarter points for a 31-27 victory in their wild-card playoff game Saturday night at Soldier Field. Shaken but not necessarily surprised. Even the Packers know by now, this is what the Bears do. Ben Johnson’s Bears, anyway.
“We came in at halftime, we know they’ve made a season out of comeback victories,” Williams said. “We were just talking about upholding the standard — there cannot be any falloff from first to second half.
“We put a good foot forward in the third quarter. We’ve just to to find a way to finish. ... [Credit] to those guys for finding a way.”
The Packers have had a voodoo curse on the Bears through most of the Aaron Rodgers era and into the Jordan Love era. But this time, it was the Bears and Caleb Williams who willed themselves to an unlikely victory and left the Packers lamenting a frustrating loss, wondering what went wrong and rationalizing the fickleness of football — with their coach answering postgame questions about his future.
The Packers knew what might be coming if they gave the Bears a chance, and still couldn’t avoid it.
“Frustrated,” defensive end Rashan Gary said. “We had them where we wanted. Just got to find a way to finish.”
In the latest chapter of the NFL's oldest rivalry, the Bears have turned up the temperature on a Packers coach whose seat is suddenly hot entering the offseason.
“Obviously this one is gonna hurt for a really, really long time,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “When you’re in complete control of the game and the script gets flipped in the second half [like that]. And it was self-inflicted pains."
LaFleur's contract ends after next season and he is supposed to discuss an extension this offseason. NFL Network reported Saturday afternoon that the outcome of the Packers-Bears game wouldn't necessarily affect those talks.
But nobody expected such a disastrous display by the Packers, who self-destructed in the second half.
"Give credit to them," LaFleur said. "We knew they were a team that could come back and fight. They’ve proven it all season long. We had opportunities to put them away and we didn’t get it done.”
LaFleur, who is 76-40-1 (the fourth-highest winning percentage among active NFL coaches) with six playoff appearances and two NFC championship game losses, sidestepped questions about his future.
"Yeah, with all due respect to your question, now's not the time for that," he said. "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."
This isn’t the first Packers team to get lulled to sleep by a listless Bears offense and porous Bears defense to open a game. But most of those other teams have let up and gotten away with it. This one paid a dear price — playoff elimination and a dreary offseason of regret — because the Bears not only have fight, they have a quarterback who can be like Rodgers even if he isn’t Rodgers.
Caleb Williams was out of sync throughout the first half and still struggling to find a groove into the third quarter when the Packers gave him one chance too many. Williams had a 41.7 passer rating (177 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions) through three quarters, as the Bears trailed 21-6. He completed 10 of 21 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns — eight yards to Olamide Zaccheaus and 25 yards to DJ Moore for a 31-27 lead with 1:43 left to play.
“He’s a great player. He’s proven it time and time again,” LaFleur said. “You just can’t give him that many opportunities. That’s collectively — offense, special teams and on defense. You’ve got to find a way to put him away.”
The fourth-quarter rally seemed to sneak up on the Packers. They punted on all three possessions in the third quarter, yet the Bears managed only a 51-yard field goal by Cairo Santos to cut the lead to 21-9 with 13:29 left.
But after a fourth consecutive second-half punt, the Bears responded with a touchdown to cut the lead to 21-16 with 10:08 left — and that’s the spark Williams needed.
His will to win was never more evident than on fourth-and-eight from the Bears' 43 with 5:37 left and the Packers leading 27-16. Williams, whose trademark elusiveness had been contained for much of the game, was flushed from the pocket, chased by a defender and forced to desperately throw downfield. He somehow connected with Rome Odunze for a 27-yard gain. Five plays later, Williams threw the eight-yard touchdown pass to Zaccheaus, and the comeback was fully fueled.
“He’s a hell of a player,” Gary said of Williams. “And as you see, the team goes as he goes. So you’ve got to stop that engine, which is him.”
LaFleur's take on the fourth-and-eight escape?
“He’s a guy that’s tough to contain,” LaFleur said. “The whole plan was to try to especially eliminate his ability to go right — that’s what he likes to do. But he made a heck of a play. A heck of a throw.”