Bears rally for win in Green Bay, Packers lose Love, Watson to injuries
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Caleb Williams drove Chicago to Cairo Santos' 51-yard field goal as time expired and the Bears snapped a 10-game skid with a 24-22 victory over the playoff-bound Green Bay Packers, who lost quarterback Jordan Love and wide receiver Christian Watson to injuries on Sunday.
The Bears (5-12) beat the Packers for the first time since 2018 and ended an 11-game losing streak in this rivalry. It was redemption for Santos, who had a 46-yard field goal blocked by Karl Brooks on the final play of a 20-19 loss to the Packers on Nov. 17.
Brandon McManus had put Green Bay ahead by making a 55-yard field goal with 54 seconds left. Williams got the Bears into field-goal range by throwing an 18-yard completion to DJ Moore, whose fumble had set up the McManus kick.
Green Bay (11-6) is the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs and will play at Philadelphia in the wild-card round.
Now the Packers wait on the status of Watson and Love. Watson was carted off the field with a knee injury in the second quarter and Love departed with an elbow issue later in that same series.
The Packers had opted to play their starters rather than rest them for the postseason even though they already had clinched a playoff berth with their Dec. 23 victory over New Orleans. Sunday’s results still could have impacted their seeding.
That plan proved costly when Watson and Love both got hurt in the same second-quarter series with the Packers trailing 14-3.
Watson, who missed a loss at Minnesota last weekend with a hurt left knee, clutched his right knee after going down while running a pattern in a non-contact injury. Watson walked to the sideline and later was carted into the locker room.
Later in that series, Love flipped a pass to Josh Jacobs while facing heavy pressure, then started to shake his throwing hand. Love eventually left with an elbow injury as Malik Willis took over for the rest of the drive, which ended with a Jacobs 8-yard touchdown run.
Willis ended up going 10 of 13 for 136 yards with a fumble.
Chicago took an early lead because of its defense and special teams. Williams was 21 of 29 for 148 yards with a touchdown pass to Moore, who had nine catches for 86 yards.
The Bears took their first lead since the opening quarter of a 30-27 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 24 by utilizing some trickery on a punt return.
As Moore acted as though he was preparing to catch a punt near Green Bay’s sideline, Josh Blackwell actually got the ball while his back was toward the line of scrimmage way over near Chicago’s sideline.
Most of the Packers in coverage converged on Moore and other Bears, creating a clear lane for Blackwell. He made it into the end zone untouched for a 94-yard touchdown.
That play enabled Chicago to end the first quarter ahead 7-3 despite getting outgained 87-(minus-4). It was the first time since Sept. 4, 1994, that a team led a game after the first quarter despite having less than zero total yards.
A fumble by Jayden Reed led to a D’Andre Swift 4-yard run that put Chicago ahead 14-3 early in the second quarter.
Injuries
Along with the injuries to Watson and Love, Bears S Jaylon Johnson hurt his quadriceps. Packers WR Romeo Doubs missed the game due to an illness.
Up next
Bears: Decide on a coach as they begin the offseason.
Packers: Open the playoffs as
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl