Soldier Field (Chicago) — Sandwiched between two huge divisional showdowns with the Packers, Sunday’s easy win for the Bears over the Browns almost felt like an intermission, and minutes after, Caleb Williams was already looking forward to the sequel set for Saturday (8:20 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).
“I’m definitely excited. I’m excited for the moment,” Williams said from the podium at Soldier Field, comfortable indoors after three hours playing in chilly eight-degree weather. “They’re coming here, and it’s another game for us. But I’m excited.”
The Bears (10-4) now sit a half-game ahead of the Packers (9-4-1) atop the NFC North standings. Chicago was the NFC’s No. 1 seed entering the first meeting in Green Bay two weeks ago, then dropped to the No. 7 seed after a 28-21 loss. Now, with Chicago’s win over Cleveland and Green Bay’s close loss to Denver, the Bears are back ahead and somewhat tenuously in control of their future.
That first meeting two weeks ago saw the Bears down 14-3 early and down 21-11 in the second half, but Chicago rallied to tie the game in the fourth quarter, only to see Jordan Love and Josh Jacobs drive the Packers 65 yards for a go-ahead touchdown with 3:32 left. Williams got the Bears to the Green Bay 14, seeking another tying score, but his fourth-down throw to tight end Cole Kmet with 22 seconds left was picked off by the Packers to seal their win.
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“Ended up obviously throwing the pick, as everybody knows, in those last moments, and kind of let that off the hook throwing such a bad ball to Cole,” Williams said Sunday afternoon.
So much is on the line that the Bears won’t be looking past the Packers on Sunday, but it’s a daunting road ahead. After Green Bay, they go to San Francisco to take on the 49ers, who have all but clinched a playoff spot, and then back home to finish against a Lions team that beat them 52-21 in September and could be battling for its playoff lives in that game.
“We’re definitely a better football team than we were that first month of the season, and probably these three opponents we’re playing coming up, they’re all going to say the same thing,” first-year coach Ben Johnson said Sunday. “At this point, I know we’re a good football team. I know we’re a good football team, and I’m looking forward to seeing this competition over the next three weeks, as they are. I think our players are excited to be in this spot they’ve put themselves in.
“We’re 10-4 and we’ve got a lot to play for here over the next three weeks. Really, in this league, you can’t ask for a lot more than that.”
The NFL has three first-year coaches already with 10 wins this season in Johnson, Mike Vrabel of the Patriots and Liam Coen of the Jaguars. All three have divisional challengers within one game of their first-place teams with three weeks left. The Bears have made huge leaps in two areas in Johnson’s first season that could help them against the Packers: their run game on offense and getting takeaways on defense.
Chicago ranked 25th in rushing offense last season, but after making it a priority to upgrade the offensive line this spring, the Bears rank second in the NFL at 152 rushing yards per game. They’ve got a strong 1-2 punch in veteran D’Andre Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai, combining for 1,616 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Packers have a top-10 run defense, but in the last three weeks, they’ve lost defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt and edge rusher Micah Parsons to season-ending injuries, so their depth up front will be tested.
D’Andre Swift (left) and Kyle Monangai (right) have been vital to the Bears’ surgence this season as they’re the only team in the league with two players in the top 25 in rushing. (Photo credits: Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images, Terence Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Bears’ number of takeaways has been remarkable. The Bears have 30 this season, six more than any other NFL team, and are on pace for the most by any team since the Steelers had 38 in 2019. Both offenses Sunday have been careful to avoid turnovers, as the Bears and Packers have just 10 each all season, with only the Lions (8) having fewer. Williams has gone 28 consecutive games without a multi-interception game, a streak twice as long as any other active NFL starter. That streak began in the first month of Williams’ NFL career. Love had two in Sunday’s loss to the Broncos, ending a personal 23-game stretch without more than one.
If there’s one area where the two quarterbacks might have the closest duel Sunday, it’s on third downs. Green Bay has the best third-down offense in the NFL, converting 50 percent of the time, but Chicago isn’t far behind at fifth. Love has passed for 1,066 yards on third-down plays, most in the NFL, while Williams has nine touchdown passes, second only to Detroit’s Jared Goff. In the first meeting two weeks ago, the Packers went 8 of 12 on third downs, while the Bears went 8 of 16. So, it’s a challenge for both defenses.
Caleb Williams has played clean football this season, and he’s also been one of the NFL’s best third-down passers. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
As close as the Bears and Packers are in the divisional standings, the difference is huge in playoff seeding. As it stands, Chicago is the No. 2 seed, Green Bay is No. 7, and that would essentially flip with a Packers win on Saturday. It’s possible the two teams would meet a third time in the wild-card round of the playoffs, and Saturday’s game could go a long way to determining where that rematch is played. Chicago is 5-1 at home this season. Green Bay 5-2 at Lambeau Field.
Suffice it to say, it’s a pivotal game for both teams.
“I think we’re ready,” Williams said Sunday. “We’ve played teams that have a bunch of wins. We’ve played teams that don’t. We’ve played close games. We’ve played games where we’ve beaten teams by a lot. We’ve played teams where we had to win with special teams, offense, defense, running the ball, whatever the case. I feel that we’re ready for just about anything, hot weather, cold weather, whatever the case may be.
“We’re going to go out there and fight. I do know that. I like our chances, us versus anybody.”
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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