D’Andre Swift (4) and the Chicago Bears ended an 11-game losing streak against Green Bay Sunday.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
The Streak is over.
The Green Bay Packers had won 11 straight games against arch-rival Chicago — the longest streak by one team in a series that began in 1921. The Bears last win in the rivalry was Dec. 16, 2018.
Chicago put an end to the Packers’ dominance on Sunday, though, coming to Lambeau Field and downing Green Bay, 24-22. Bears kicker Cairo Santos drilled a 51-yard field goal as time expired to lift Chicago to the win and end Green Bay’s dominance in this series.
Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur had been 11-0 vs. the Bears before Sunday’s loss. The Packers entered the game as a 10-point favorite.
“For us, it’s like, just sick. Sick,” Packers right guard Sean Rhyan said. “Losing to these (expletive) guys right before the playoffs, it’s a kick in the gut. We’ve got to flush it. That’s all we can do.”
Green Bay lost its second straight game, finished the regular season 11-6 and is the No. 7 seed in the NFC. The Packers now head to second-seeded Philadelphia (14-3) for a wild card game Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
Green Bay also finished 1-5 in the NFC North, its worst divisional mark since 2005.
Here’s the good, bad and ugly — beginning with the ugly — from the Packers’ loss.
THE UGLY
LATE GAME BLUNDERS: Packers coach Matt LaFleur had a critical clock management error in the final minute. Then defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley played prevent defense at the worst possible time.
The two plays set up Chicago’s last-second win.
First, LaFleur couldn’t decide whether to kick a field or go for it on fourth-and-4 from the Bears 37-yard line. So he took a timeout with 58 seconds left.
LaFleur eventually opted for the field goal, and Brandon McManus drilled a 55-yarder that gave Green Bay a brief 22-21 lead. Had LaFleur not used a timeout, though, the clock would have gone inside 25 seconds.
“At the end of the game, that’s squarely on me,” LaFleur said. “Just got caught in a situation where we were planning on going for it. They felt like Brandon could make that field goal. Hindsight’s 20/20, and I wish I wouldn’t have taken the timeout because it gave them obviously way too much time to go down and operate. Like I told the team, that’s on me, that can’t happen.”
Green Bay still seemed in good shape, as the Bears were out of timeouts and faced a third-and-11 from their own 49 with 15 seconds left. Hafley played soft, though, and D.J. Moore hauled in an 18-yard pass in front of Carrington Valentine.
The Bears raced to the line of scrimmage, quarterback Caleb Williams spiked the ball with 2 seconds left, then Santos hit the game-winning kick as time expired.
“It sucks, but it’s not just that one play,” Valentine said. “It’s a string of things that happened throughout the game. Looking from the outside, it looks like it’s just that one play. But if you go back and watch the game, it will be a string of things.”
TRICKY BUSINESS: The Bears got a 94-yard punt return from Josh Blackwell for their first touchdown thanks to a bit of trickery.
Chicago’s D.J. Moore faked as if he was about to catch the punt and several Packers went in his direction. Instead, Blackwell fielded the ball in the right corner, picked up a convoy and went virtually untouched down the sideline.
“Sometimes it doesn’t work out the way you want,” Green Bay punter Daniel Whelan said. “So, I feel like we have to have better communication between me and everybody else.
“I mean, I call it before the punt and hit it to where I call it. And they did a good job on disguising it. Everybody went to the returner and the guy on the left side bleeded out and he was wide open.”
Amazingly, the Bears ran a similar play against the Packers 14 seasons ago that Johnny Knox returned for a touchdown. That play was nullified by a penalty, though.
“I’ve got to do a better job to yell or something, or just hit it middle,” Whelan said. “I put the blame on me.”
INJURY WOES: Quarterback Jordan Love (elbow) and wideout Christian Watson (knee) were lost to second quarter injuries and didn’t return.
Love injured his elbow when he fell awkwardly to the ground.
“I landed on it, on the ground, I think and just lost pretty much all feeling in my hand,” Love said. “It pretty much just went numb. Same thing after halftime. I came back, was trying to get some throws and same thing. Kind of outside of my hand and pinkie, couldn’t feel it, was pretty numb. We just made the decision to hold me back.”
Love said he was told the numbness should go away. And when asked if he liked his chances to play against Philadelphia, he said, “Yes.”
The prognosis on Watson wasn’t as positive.
Watson ran a stutter step near midfield, his knee gave out without being touched, then he collapsed to the Lambeau Field turf. Watson was carted to the locker room and it seems unlikely he’ll play against the Eagles next week.
“I’m not super confident about that right now,” LaFleur said when asked about the severity of Watson’s knee injury.
WHY REED?: Jayden Reed has been the Packers’ No. 1 wide receiver the last two seasons. Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur loves using Reed in the run game, too, though, and it cost him Sunday.
Reed fumbled after a 4-yard gain late in the first quarter and former Packer safety Jonathan Owens recovered at Green Bay’s 21. Three plays later, the Bears were in the endzone and took a 14-3 lead.
The Packers have a bevy of gifted running backs, and their wide receiver group is banged up. So using Reed as a running back seems like a questionable decision, at best.
“I would just say like for me personally I gotta be better overall,” Reed said. “I haven’t been playing good ball lately. If we want progress in the playoffs that’s not how we gotta play. We gotta play better than we did today.
“Just pounding in on the details, protecting the ball that’s protecting the team, first and foremost, that’s on me. I gotta be better. If I want to be a leader and good player in this league, I gotta be able to do that.”
THE BAD
SNAP TO IT: Packers long snapper Matt Orzech sent a snap over punter Daniel Whelan’s head after Green Bay’s first drive. Whelan jumped and nearly corralled the snap before it fell to the ground.
Whelan quickly recovered and got off a 35-yard punt that wasn’t returned, allowing Green Bay to escape a potentially disastrous sequence.
HEADS UP: The Packers trailed, 14-13, midway through the third quarter when they were driving to take their first lead of the game. Chicago blitzed safety Kevin Byard and quarterback Malik Willis never saw him coming.
Byard blew Willis up, the ball popped loose and Chicago linebacker T.J. Edwards recovered.
THE GOOD
BRANDON MCMANUS: The Packers’ kicker has been a godsend.
McManus made field goals of 37 and 30 yards, before hitting a 55-yarder with 54 seconds left to give the Packers a brief 22-21 lead.
McManus is now 20-of-21 on field goals this year (95.2%). That’s the second-best percentage in team history and moved McManus up to the third-best mark in the NFL.
After Green Bay tried surviving the 2023 season with Anders Carlson and the start of 2024 with Brayden Narveson handling kicking duties, McManus has been the gift that keeps on giving.
“I’m glad he’s here,” Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said recently. “He’s making us all better all the time, and I believe he’s got a lot of football left to him.”
VALENTINE’S DAY: Packers second-year safety Carrington Valentine continues to make big plays.
Valentine had interceptions in two of Green Bay’s last three games. Then Valentine forced a fumble from Chicago’s D.J. Moore with 1:49 left that set up a McManus field goal that gave Green Bay a 22-21 lead.
Valentine flew in after a short pass to D.J. Moore, got his helmet on the football and knocked it loose. Green Bay safety Javon Bullard then recovered on Chicago’s 43-yard line.
“You put your helmet on the football,” Valentine said. “It’s cold outside, so you put your helmet on the football, hit somebody’s hand. I think that’s a recipe for dropping the ball.”
JOSH MY GOSH: Packers running back Josh Jacobs had a 9-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter, setting a new franchise record with a rushing TD in eight straight games. Paul Hornung was the previous record holder, rushing for a touchdown in seven straight games in 1960.
Jacobs became just the fourth player in team history to clear the 1,300-yard rushing mark (Ahman Green, 2001 and 2003; Jim Taylor, 1961 and 1962; Dorsey Levens, 1997). His 1,329 yards on the season rank No. 5 in single-season team history.
Jacobs also finished the season with 15 rushing TDs (tied for No. 3 in team history), 16 total TDs (tied for No. 7) and 1,671 yards from scrimmage (No. 6).
“For me, it’s been fun,” Jacobs said. “I’ve enjoyed my time and I try to leave my mark and my legacy here. I’m gonna continue to keep trying to do that.”
X MARKS THE SPOT: Safety Xavier McKinney notched his eighth interception of the year when the Bears ran a double reverse and wideout Keenan Allen threw a pass right to McKinney.
McKinney moved into second place in the NFL in interceptions, behind only Detroit safety Kerby Joseph (nine). McKinney’s eight INT’s are also the most by a Packer since Charles Woodson had eight in 2009.
“The cool part is I’m just telling ya, he’s getting better and better, and he’s young,” Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said of McKinney. “I don’t even think we’ve seen what’s ahead for him and I mean that. Just as a leader, he’s grown. As a teammate, he’s grown. As a person, he’s grown. It’s hard Year 1 in a new place and a new scheme, embracing new coaching.
“I’m so glad that he’s here. I just think the best is yet ahead for this guy.”
HEATH BAR: Malik Heath made a tremendous 41-yard reception on a third-and-21 play with 5 minutes left. Heath hauled in his circus grab at the Bears’ 21-yard line, and one play later, Emanuel Wilson ripped off a 21-yard touchdown run that pulled the Packers within 21-19.
Green Bay’s 2-point conversion failed, though.
“That’s something we work on every day,” Heath said. “It’s something that I work on every day. I feel like if he’s throwing me the ball, I gotta come down with everything. That’s just my mindset. That’s how my dad taught me when I was young.”
WILLIS SHINES: Packers No. 2 quarterback Malik Willis has excelled all season, leading the Packers to wins over Indianapolis, Tennessee and Jacksonville. Willis relieved Jordan Love in the second quarter and was extremely solid again.
Willis completed 10-of-13 passes for 136 yards. He didn’t have a touchdown or interception, but finished with a 109.8 passer rating.
“I thought Malik went in there and I thought he played tough and I thought he did a lot of good things,” LaFleur said. “He gave guys an opportunity.”
THIS AND THAT: Green Bay finished the season with 2,496 rushing yards, the second most in a season in team history (2,558 in 2003). … Packers coach Matt LaFleur won his first challenge of the year — a 19-yard completion to tight end Luke Musgrave that was initially ruled incomplete. LaFleur is now 1-6 on challenges this season. … T.J. Slaton blew up Bears center Coleman Shelton and dumped running back Roschon Johnson for a 4-yard loss late in the first quarter. … Keisean Nixon dropped running back D’Andre Swift for a 3-yard loss early in the fourth quarter. … Running back Emanuel Wilson led the team with a career-high 73 rushing yards, while Chris Brooks posted a season-high 59 rushing yards.
