Bears’ miracle finish beats Packers in overtime

In a season full of unlikely endings, the Bears saved their most improbable finish for the game that mattered the most.

Quarterback Caleb Williams hit wide receiver DJ Moore for a 46-yard touchdown on a play-action pass in overtime to beat the rival Packers 22-16 on Saturday night at Soldier Field. Moore hauled in the pass in the north end zone with Keisean Nixon, who intercepted Williams to seal the first matchup between the rivals, draped on his back.

“When the play gets called and the moment comes up like that, it’s time to go hit it,” Williams said.

Cornerback Jaylon Johnson still couldn’t believe it a half-hour after the game ended.

“I ain’t never been a part of something like this,” he said. “I’ve been on the other side of it.”

The Bears needed a miracle to get to overtime.

Cairo Santos made a 43-yard field goal with 1:59 to play to cut the Packers’ lead to seven.

Santos then sent a baby-bouncer toward Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs, playing on the hands team. Rather than charge the kick, Doubs waited for it — and the Bears’ phalanx of special-teamers — to reach him. He muffed the ball, and cornerback Josh Blackwell recovered the ball at the Bears’ 47.

The Bears moved down the field, all on Williams passes.

On fourth-and-four from the 6 with 28 seconds to play, the Packers brought a blitz, which left wide receiver Jahdae Walker uncovered as he ran across the back line of the right-hand corner of the end zone. Williams backpedaled and heaved the ball. Walker, who earlier in the game made the first catch of his career, caught the ball, toe-tapped and tumbled out of bounds. Santos made the extra point to tie the score, and Montez Sweat’s sack of Malik Willis left the Packers to settle for overtime.

“We’re a team that’s going to fight till the end,” Williams said. “There was too much time on the clock.”

The Bears won the coin toss and chose to take the ball second. On third-and-one from the Bears’ 36, Willis, playing only because starter Jordan Love was concussed in the second quarter, scrambled for no gain. The Packers decided to go for it on fourth-and-one, only for Willis to fumble the snap.

The Bears took possession and had converted third-and-three on an 11-yard Kyle Monangai run when coach Ben Johnson called in the play-action shot. Williams and Johnson had drawn up the play in the coach’s office this week.

When Moore fell to the ground with the ball in his hands, Soldier Field shook with jubilation. The 11-4 Bears retained first place in the NFC North and are one Lions loss Sunday from clinching their first playoff berth in five years.

Until the final two minutes of regulation, Williams was outplayed not only by Love but by Willis. The Bears had managed only three field goals until Walker’s catch. Williams completed seven of his last 10 passes for 99 yards and two touchdowns, though, and finished the game 19-for-34 for 250 yards and a 98.9 passer rating.

This was the Bears’ most anticipated game since 2018, when they won the NFC North by beating the Packers at home.

The rolling boil of enthusiasm seemed too much for the Bears to handle at first. D’Marco Jackson, the reigning NFC Defensive Player of the Week, was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the opening kickoff. Three plays later, Booker was flagged for the first of his two roughing-the-passer penalties in the first half.

Both plays sparked the Packers’ first drive, which moved quickly down the field. On fourth-and-one from the Bears’ 8, the Packers called a timeout, then a pass play — an out route to Christian Watson near the front right pylon. With cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson in coverage, the ball fell incomplete.

The Bears took over and marched down the field, also with little resistance — until the end. The Bears drove 88 yards on seven plays before having their own fourth-and-one, this time at the Packers’ 4. That’s when things went sideways.

With Williams lined up as the receiver along the left sideline, tight end Cole Kmet went in motion and settled under the center as if he was about to take a snap and plunge forward. Center Drew Dalman hiked the ball through Kmet’s legs — on purpose — toward tailback Kyle Monangai, who was in the backfield behind him. The ball flew over Monangai’s head, though, and he fell on it for a loss of 18 — and a turnover on downs.

Johnson’s too-cute-by-half attempt to seize control of the game in a raucous Soldier Field fell flat. The Bears trailed 6-0 at halftime. After Love was injured, Willis drove the Packers to a 22-yard Brandon McManus field goal to take the six-point lead. McManus had a 26-yarder earlier in the second quarter, the first points of the game for either team.

The Bears wouldn’t score until Santos made a 46-yard field goal about three minutes into the second half.

With five minutes left in regulaton and trailing by 10, the Bears inherited the ball. Their drive was kept alive only when Williams’ face mask was grabbed on third-and-20 to give the Bears a first down.

Then came the most impossible 1:59 — plus overtime — of the Bears’ season.

“I’m happy for our guys; I’m happy for Chicago; I’m happy for this moment,” Williams said.