CHICAGO -- As the Chicago Bears clawed back from a 21-3 deficit against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night, Soldier Field shook.
The 60,338 in attendance stood throughout the fourth quarter and jumped from their seats as Chicago put together another late rally to survive and advance to the divisional playoffs after pulling out a 31-27 win.
The Bears are the 4th team in NFL history to win a playoff game after trailing by 15+ entering the 4th quarter.
The Bears' only points of the first half came off a field goal. They trailed by 18 going into the locker room, marking their largest halftime deficit ever in a home playoff game. But Ben Johnson told Prime Video's broadcast that he kept his foot on the gas despite unsuccessful fourth down attempts because he knew what the Packers were capable of on offense.
He also knew what his team has done to establish an identity with multiple last-second victories.
In familiar fashion, the Bears did most of their damage in the final moments. It was enough to capture the lead with 1:48 to play when Caleb Williams connected with DJ Moore for a 25-yard touchdown, and a defense that struggled in the first half, held to secure the win.
Chicago Bears
Most surprising performance: The Bears led the league in takeaways but were -2 in turnovers Saturday. Chicago's red zone defense had been its only saving grace as of late (Green Bay was 0-for-5 in Week 16, Detroit was 1-for-4 in Week 18) but got torched in the first half when Love threw three touchdowns outside the numbers inside the 20-yard line. The Bears played too much man coverage and saw brutal results because of it. But the defense came alive in the second half by forcing the Packers to punt on four straight possessions.
What to make of QB performance: Williams turned his deep ball passing around in the second half. In the first half, Williams completed only 2-of-5 passes for 40 yards and an interception on throws 15 or more air yards downfield. In the second half, Williams took more shots downfield, completing 7-of-13 passes for 166 yards and a TD. The 166 such passing yards are Williams' most in a half in his career. He finished 24 of 48 for 361 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Williams now has seven game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or OT this season, tied with Bo Nix for the most in the NFL and the most in a season by a Bears QB since the 1970 merger (his six entering were already the most).
Stat to know: Chicago is the first team this century to go for it on fourth down four times in the first half of a playoff game (1-for-4). Four failed fourth down conversions tie the most by any team in playoff games this century. -- Courtney Cronin
Next game: TBD
Green Bay Packers
What to make of the QB performance: Rust? What rust? After missing the last 2 games of the regular season, Jordan Love couldn't have been much sharper to start the game. He threw touchdowns passes on the first three drives of the game to become just the second player in Packers history with three touchdown passes in the first half of a playoff game. (Lynn Dickey, in a 1983 wild-card game vs. the Rams, was the other). ADD LOVE'S FINAL STATS
Most surprising performance: Last week, Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich didn't offer much hope that rookie receiver Matthew Golden would have an impact in the playoffs. His exact words: "Right now, just with the room, the way it is, he's not going to be in that premier role when the playoffs come around." The first-round pick apparently wasn't listening. He scored his first career touchdown on a 23-yard catch and run that put the Packers up by nine with 6:36 left in the game. Earlier in the game, Golden caught a 36-yard reception.
Stat to know: In their Week 16 overtime loss to the Bears, the Packers didn't score a single touchdown on their five drives that reached the red zone. This time, they found the end zone on their first three red zone trips.
Turning point: Take your pick on which fourth-down stop was bigger by Jeff Hafley's defense, but it might have been Ty'Ron Hopper's interception on fourth-and-1 from the Packers' 6-yard line after Karl Brooks pressured Caleb Williams. It came with 3:11 left in the third quarter with Green Bay leading 21-6. A touchdown there could have changed the game. In all, the Packers stopped the Bears on 4-of-5 fourth downs. -- Rob Demovsky
