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Caleb Williams came through in his playoff debut, throwing a go-ahead, 25-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore with 1:43 remaining, and the Chicago Bears rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat the rival Green Bay Packers 31-27 in a wildcard playoff game on Saturday night.
The NFC North champion Bears (12-6) extended their resurgent first season under coach Ben Johnson with their seventh fourth-quarter comeback victory. They split two down-to-the-wire games with Green Bay in the regular season, and this one turned out to be a thriller when it looked like it would be a breeze for the Packers (9-8-1).
Chicago trailed 21-3 at halftime and 21-6 through three quarters, only to outscore Green Bay 25-6 in the fourth on the way to their first playoff win in 15 years.
Williams found a wide-open Moore along the left sideline to give Chicago a 31-27 lead with 1:43 remaining.
Jordan Love then led Green Bay into Chicago territory. But on third down at the 28, Jaquan Brisker broke up a pass in the end zone as time expired, setting off a wild celebration – and a curt handshake between Johnson and Packers coach Matt LaFleur.
The Bears will host a divisional-round game next weekend.
Chicago pulled within 21-16 on D’Andre Swift’s 5-yard run early in the fourth quarter. The Packers responded, with rookie Matthew Golden breaking three tackles and leapfrogging a fourth defender on a 23-yard catch-and-run for his first career touchdown, making it 27-16. Brandon McManus missed the extra point wide left.
The Bears then went 76 yards, with Williams throwing an eight-yard touchdown pass to Olamide Zaccheaus and hitting rookie Colston Loveland for the two-point conversion to make it 27-24 with 4:18 remaining.
The Packers then drove to the Chicago 21, only to come away with nothing when McManus missed wide right on a 44-yard field goal attempt. The Bears responded with the go-ahead touchdown drive and hung on for their first playoff win since the 2010 team beat Seattle in the divisional round at Soldier Field. They had lost three straight in the postseason, starting with a loss to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in the NFC championship game that season.
Green Bay dominated Chicago for years. But the momentum in the NFL’s longest-running rivalry seems to be turning, with the Bears beating the Packers for the third time in the past five games.
The Bears envisioned nights like this when they drafted Williams No 1 overall last year, and when they hired Johnson in the offseason. Williams delivered after a shaky start, throwing for 361 yards and the two late touchdowns. He completed 24 of 48 passes and was intercepted twice.
Loveland caught eight passes for 137 yards for the Bears, who had closed the regular season with tight losses to San Francisco and Detroit.
The Packers finished a season that began with Super Bowl hopes by dropping five in a row.
Love threw for 323 and four touchdowns after missing the final two regular-season games. He hadn’t played since a helmet-to-helmet hit from Chicago’s Austin Booker in the second quarter of a Week 16 loss at Soldier Field.
Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson and Jayden Reed each had TD catches in the first half. Ty’Ron Hopper stopped a threat in the third quarter when he intercepted a backpedaling Williams near the goal line.
