(Photo: © William Glasheen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images, 247Sports)
GREEN BAY, WI., — For the first time since Thanksgiving night in 2015, the Chicago Bears finally beat the Green Bay Packers. And in a season that started off with so much promise after the organization draft Caleb Williamswith the No. 1 overall pick, the Bears started 4-2 but ended the season 5-12, including a 10-game losing streak.
After some trickery from special teams coordinator Richard Hightower in the first quarter and a peanut punch by Jaylon Johnson, the Bears jumped out to a 14-3 lead. From there, it wasn’t pretty and the offense made mistakes but the Bears managed to stick together, and set kicker Cairo Santos up for a game-winning field goal.
And the Bears finally got the job done, snapping a 10-game skid in the process while giving Williams his first career win against an NFC North opponent and the Packers at Lambeau Field.
“You couldn’t ask for a better way to end the season through all of what’s going on, through all of coaches being fired, not playing well myself and us losing many, many games in a row,” said Williams. “Being able to put Cairo in that same situation that we put him last game, him being able to relive that moment and not just relive it but obviously put it through the uprights. Being able to have that moment was great. Being able to have the first win in 2025, being able to have the first win since 2015 in Lambeau, being able to have the first win vs. Green Bay in 10 games and so it’s the first of a lot.”
For a team that struggled to find any sort of consistency throughout the season, the Bears went into week 18 with nothing to play before. But the locker room wanted to change the narrative and ensure that the season ended with a win.
After a week 11 loss to the Packers that ended with Cairo Santos’ field goal being blocked to end the game, a similar sequence repeated itself. Only this time, the results were different as Santos drilled a field goal as time expired, ending the Bears season on a high note.
“We all believed in Cairo when it got blocked and this time he came through and the line held up and nobody blocked the ball,” said wide receiver DJ Moore. “The first game where they blocked the field goal, that’s kind of a bummer but to come back and win off a field goal is amazing.”
Looking ahead to 2025
As Chicago heads into the offseason, there will be questions about the direction the franchise chooses. Hiring a new head coach is the first priority but Williams is the future of a franchise that appears to finally have a quarterback who can be the reason the Bears win games.
“Really excited about this offseason, being able to grow for myself, the moves and people that we’ll get to be able to grow and make a monumental jump for next year and to be able to start next season off right,” said Williams.
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