Following a furious 18-point rally in the second half of their Wild Card Round playoff game against the Green Bay Packers, the Chicago Bears are the subject of a question as old as late-game comebacks themselves: did the Bears win it, or did the Packers lose it?
According to Green Bay safety Javon Bullard, the answer is obvious.
“No disrespect to them, but it ain’t [expletive] that they did. It’s us,” Bullard said following the game. “We gotta finish. You know we whoopin’ they [expletive] the whole game, but that’s us. We gotta finish.”
The Bears handed the Packers their fifth consecutive loss to end the campaign, as Green Bay dropped four games in a row heading into the playoffs. One of those losses came in Week 16 at Soldier Field, during which Chicago erased a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter and captured the victory in overtime.
Caleb Williams Called Out Packers After 4th-Quarter Heroics
GettyChicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams wasn’t shy about his take on the game and its eventual outcome, particularly in the contest of what several Packers players indicated leading up to the game about kicking off the postseason in Chicago.
“They wanted us. That’s what I heard,” Williams said after the win. “They wanted it, and they got it.”
Packers wide receiver Christian Watson made a remark to that effect earlier in the week.
“Definitely wanted to play the Bears, yeah,” Watson said. “If I had my pick for any team to face, it would definitely have been the Bears. I want my get-back for sure. We get a chance to put the Bears’ season to bed. It means a lot to us, for sure.”
Running back Josh Jacobs offered similar comments leading up to Wild Card Weekend, speaking specifically about a hit that Bears defensive end Austin Booker landed on Packers quarterback Jordan Love in the second half of the teams’ Week 16 matchup, which knocked Love out with a concussion.
“A lot of guys took that hit that [Love] took a little personal,” Jacobs said. “I’m not saying we’re going to go out there and play dirty or anything like that, but we definitely … defend our brothers.”
Caleb Williams Led 2 Late TD Drives in Bears’ Victory Over Packers
GettyChicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.
Chicago entered the second half of Saturday night’s game down by a score of 21-3 and kicking the football to Green Bay’s offense.
The Bears trailed by 15 points heading into the fourth quarter and were down by 11 points following a Love touchdown pass to wideout Matthew Golden with 6:36 left to play in the game.
Williams led two scoring drives over the remainder of regulations, capping each with a TD pass of his own — the first to receiver Olamide Zaccheaus and the second to wideout DJ Moore. The Bears defense stood the Packers up twice late in the fourth quarter, which allowed Chicago to hold onto a 31-27 victory.
Williams finished the game 24-of-48 passing for 361 yards, two TDs and two INTs. He also rushed the football four times for 20 yards.
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