Heartbreaker: Bears lose to Packers on last-second blocked field goal |
CHICAGO—If you want to talk about the Gut punch of all Gut punches, look no further than what happened to the Chicago Bears (4-6) on Sunday as they faced off with their biggest rival, the Green Bay Packers (7-3). In front of a packed and energetic Soldier Field crowd, the Bears were trying to do something they haven't done in 2163 days: beat the Packers.
After under going one of the more difficult weeks under the Matt Eberflus regime, the Bears came out with a different mindset and looked like a completely different team in this one. Some might even say this was the best game the Bears have played all season apart from their win against Jacksonville in London which was their last win of the current season. Trailing by one point and with less than three minutes to go, the Bears had the ball with a chance for Caleb Williams to play hero. For the first time all season, Williams looked comfortable under center as his ability to run the ball and complete clutch passes had the Bears in a position to win as Cairo Santos trotted out for a game-winning 46-yard field goal. Santos has been one of the most accurate kickers in the NFL over the past four seasons, and with the ball on the left hash, you liked his chances to send the Bears home with a win. Instead, the Bears find new ways to lose as Santos saw his field goal blocked as time expired, leading to a 20-19 Packers victory to send Matt LaFleur to 11-0 all-time against the Bears and improving Jordan Love to 3-0. Given how poorly both the offense and defense have looked for the Bears lately, watching the Packers drive right down the field to begin the game had to give the fans an uneasy feeling as Josh Jacobs and the Packers ground game picked up three first downs on the opening drive. You also saw Love and the passing game get involved as Romeo Doubs had an early first down before Love found an open Jayden Reed over the middle for a 15-yard TD and a 7-0 lead. Those were the only points of the first half for the Packers, as the Bears defense held on for most of the game. After firing Shane Waldron on Tuesday and appointing Thomas Brown the OC, everyone was curious to see how the offense would respond. For the most part, things went about as good as possible as the Bears responed with a 53-yard Santos field goal on their opening possession to pull Chicago within 7-3. Apparantly all the Bears needed to get the offense back on track was a change in play callers as the Bears offense looked sharp in the opening quarter only to have some untimely penalties prevent further scoring. Looking to extend their lead in the second quarter, Love and the Packers offense came out firing as Christian Watson pulled in one of his four catches for a career high 150 yards. Following a costly offsides on fourth down to keep the Packers drive alive, Love found Josh Jacobs for another first down as the Packers entered field goal range. At that moment, the Bears defense came up with a big play as Love went for the home run ball only to have Terell Smith come down with a massive interception at the one to give the ball back to Chicago. With the Bears offense struggling as much as it has over the past month, anytime you can take points off the board from Green Bay, you need to capitalize and the Bears were looking to do just that. Whether it be the screen game to DJ Moore or three first-down runs from Williams, the Bears offense was threatening as they had the ball inside the Packers five. Three plays later, Roschon Johnson capped off the drive from one yard out as the Bears scored their first touchdown in 25 possessions to take a 10-7 lead into the half. As if that wasn't good enough, the Bears got the ball first to open the second half and continued to find space against the Packers defense with D'Andre Swift opening the drive with a first down before Williams hooked up with Cole Kmet for one of his biggest completions of the day (25 yards). Williams continued to make the plays he needed as he converted a fourth and short to Keenan Allen, but Chicago had to settle for 27 27-yard Santos field goal to extend their lead to 13-7. Despite wanting a touchdown on their previous possession, the Bears did get points, which is all you can ask for with a struggling offense. It didn't take long for the Packers' offense to respond, with Jacobs picking up a 21-yard first down to open the drive and Watson hauling in a 25-yard pass inside the Bears' 10. One play later, Jacobs put the Packers back in front, as his seven-yard touchdown made this a 14-13 lead. Not only have points been tough to come by for the Bears since September, but so have extended drives. Neither was the case for Chicago, as they had three drives of at least 10 plays or more. That included their first two possessions of the second half as they answered a 10-play drive with an 11-play drive on their next possession. Williams continued to use his legs early in the drive to move the chains before finding his fellow rookie Rome Odunze for another first down near midfield. Johnson was also involved in this drive, as he played a massive role in Sunday's game after only having one touch last week. None of that mattered, as Swift broke loose for a 39-yard TD to put Chicago back in front 19-14. Chicago would go for two on the play and came up empty, which proved costly later in the game. Two of the biggest reasons the Packers were able to stay in this game were Jacobs continuing to do what he has done on the ground and Watson starting to look like the Player the Packers have been waiting for. His 48-yard reception put the ball back inside the Bears' 10. That drive would eventually stall as Love was stopped short of the goal line on fourth down, resulting in a turnover on downs. All was not lost for the Packers on that play, as the Bears were pinned deep in their own territory and ultimately had to punt the ball back to the Packers offense with less than five minutes to go. Knowing how things have gone in this rivalry of late, you never want to give the Packers more chances than you have to, and with one laser over the middle, it was Watson coming down with an incredible diving catch before getting up and racing 60 yards to the Bears 14-yard line. Love took care of the rest from there as his 13-yard scramble set the ball up at the one before he used his legs for the go-ahead and game-winning score. Green Bay also went for two on the play to make things a three-point game, but it was the Bears defense coming away with a massive stop as they would get the ball back down by one and a chance to win with a field goal. No one would argue when discussing the Bears' season thus far, but if Williams was able to maneuver a game-winning drive against Green Bay, all would be forgotten. After back-to-back sacks to start the drive, things were looking bleak. That is when Odunze took over, as back-to-back completions to the rookie resulted in 37 yards as the Bears were approaching field goal range. Odunze has quietly emerged as Williams favorite target as he finished with six catches for 65 yards, while Moore had seven catches for 62 yards. One play later saw Allen haul in his fourth reception of the game as his 12 yard gain set the Bears offense up for the game winning field goal try from 46 yards out. Considering his track record in Chicago, you had to like the Bears chances to win this game, but this was just a par for the course as Santos watched his field goal attempt get blocked as the Packers escaped with a 20-19 win. Williams didn't throw for a touchdown, but at 23-31, with 231 yards passing and 70 yards rushing, this is the way the Bears hope he can play the rest of the season. Swift got off to a slow start but finished with 71 yards on 14 carries, as the Bears' offense showed signs of life in this one. “For that to be the outcome, you know, it stings. It definitely stings.” Caleb Williams uses advice Lincoln Riley gave him his freshman year of college: “Keep going.” pic.twitter.com/IeFvAqoAz8
Rome Odunze on today’s loss. pic.twitter.com/ev3ZOlVKEG
