Inside the Bears’ wild comeback win over the Packers in OT

CHICAGO — When Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos converted a 43-yard field goal attempt into a swirling Soldier Field wind with 1:59 left in the fourth quarter on Saturday night, Green Bay Packers had a 16-9 lead and a 96.9% chance of winning the key NFC North battle.

Santos' only points to that point came on three shots for the Bears, but it was his next shot that changed the game.

It's not that his outside hit was great, it was just that it wasn't handled by the Packers' receivers. Romeo Dubsand quarterback for the Bears Josh Blackwell recovered.

At that point, the Packers' winning percentage had dropped to 86.9%, and given how stagnant the Bears' offense had been for nearly four quarters, there was no reason to believe in a miracle comeback.

But the Bears lived dangerously all season. Coming into the game, they had five wins this season after trailing in the final 2:00 of the fourth quarter, tied with the 2011 Broncos and 2016 Lions for the most such wins in a season since the 1970 merger.

“We'll never get out of this,” Blackwell said. “The guys on the sideline were saying, ‘We’re fine. We'll score right here, get hit offside, score again, and we'll win.”

And that's exactly how it went for the 11-win Bears, who were left alone with six one-point wins after an improbable 22-16 win.

That's how they did it, starting with Santos' third offside kick, which his side recovered in 20 tries.

Santos' kick traveled 12 yards to the Bears' 47, but the Dubs couldn't control it. Blackwell recovered to put the Bears on first-and-10 at their 47 with 1:56 left and two timeouts.

Bears LB D'Marco Jackson: “In my vision I just saw [Doubs] fumble it and just rush to the ball. Then I see “Black”. I see him just sliding forward and I'm just trying to cover him, get everyone away from him, just to keep him with the ball.”

Blackwell: “It more or less went through his hands and I was there to just jump on it.”

Doubts: “Damn, I missed that. It's just a game, bro. I've been repeating this shit all week and yeah bro, somebody needs to be held accountable and I'm willing to take 1000% responsibility.”

Packer safety Javon Bullard: “This is a grown man taking responsibility. Of course, we could all do something better. We could block our guys better. It wasn't ideal.”

Packers coach Matt LaFleur: “I just saw the ball, I keep my eye on the ball. Do you know how well it was blocked? I'd have to go back and watch the tape, but I thought we had an opportunity to field the ball. We just didn't put the ball out there.”

Bears DE Daniel Hardy: “I'm still a little shocked by how it all happened, but I came off the ball, did my job, which was running through someone's face. And after I did that, I saw the ball in the air, and I saw it fall into the hands of the returner, and then I saw him throw it up. So I tried to jump on the returner.”

“I think I landed on his feet or something and somebody else landed on top of his body and then the ball hit the ground. Someone, apparently “Black”, jumped on him and fought at the bottom of the stack. I didn't really see who had it at that moment, but I heard it. And obviously the referee is standing right there, so I'm going to yell, “Bearball!” crazy”.

Jackson: “The crowd got into it. For us, it was just a game changer, like, it kept us in the game, kept us alive. So, man, shout out to the Blacks for that.”

Hardy: “Cairo got every advantage in the book. So if anyone is listening, just prepare yourself. I'm not sure I have the right to share [which type of kick that was.]. Just know that this is a recovery blow. That's what we'll call it.”

Jackson: “I won’t lie. I just believe in this team. Like, it’s crazy, like, how everything works out our way and we’re just living on the right side.”

Final (OT) — Bears 22, Packers 16 📉

@ChicagoBearsHe had just a 0.5% chance of winning before he returned an offside kick at the two-minute warning (down 16-9 with two timeouts). This is the fifth most incredible victory in the NGS era (since 2016).

Powered by @awscloud pic.twitter.com/kUaWBZ4YIA

— Next Generation Statistics (@NextGenStats) December 21, 2025

Hardy: “We practice kicking every Friday. It's just that the guys pay attention to details, are obsessed and want to win more than the guys on the other side… [Richard Hightower] HT has trained us well and I think we are the best special forces unit in the country.”

Kevin Byard: “As soon as that happened, I went back to the Cincinnati game. [the Bears won on a last-second TD pass to Colston Loveland]. I just knew we would win. It was fate.”

Williams connected with Loveland on a six-yard pass and then threw two incompletions to set up a fourth-and-4 at the Packers 6 with 24 seconds left. The Packers had an 80.3 winning percentage when Williams scrambled and sent a high ball into a wide-open zone. Jade Walkerwhose second career catch was a game-saving touchdown. Santos' PAT made it 16-16. The Bears are fired Malik Willis – replacement of injured Jordan Love – 17 seconds before the end of the fourth match the game goes into overtime.

Williams: Jade is my boyfriend – when he first came here, I let him stay at my house for a while until he found a place. We entered the room [facility] and it worked. Just being able to build that connection with him in those moments. He goes on the field, plays and ends up in the right place. The ball will find him and that’s what happened in that game.”

Bears OT Darnell Wright: “​[Jahdae] this is so funny. He's one of the funniest guys. Like every day in training, he is almost like a child. He's just so happy to be there. He's just always smiling. So he gives everyone a lot of energy and he will have a big game today as well.”

Bears WR DJ Moore: “I loved it, man, you gave it to our rookie at the end of the game and sent us into overtime. I liked it. He was ready for this.”

Packers CB Nate Hobbs:”Oh yeah, it was just a misunderstanding. That's all.”

LaFleur: “Yes, it was a zero blitz. So obviously someone let their man go.”

Blackwell: “I like Jade. He's a damn good player and he loves football. I mean, we all love football, but you can see it in his face, he's a little kid on the playground during practice and he deserves it. He worked his butt off and for him to have that moment in that crowd, that moment for him was unbelievable.”

Before the Packers-Bears opener two weeks ago, team captain Byard said he sought out Harry Freud, Chicago's director of research and analysis. Byard is a coin tosser in Chicago, and after some confusing overtime coin tossing this season in the NFL, new regular season overtime rules left him wanting to learn.

Byard: “I walked up to Harry and said, ‘Hey man, can you explain everything to me about overtime, delay, or kick? He just told me, like, hey, you know, obviously in overtime there's no respite because you're basically just hitting the ball, there's no respite, there's no second half. make sure we're okay. And he said, “Yeah, man, we kick.”

Byard was surprised his team went into overtime at all on Saturday night, given his head coach's aggressive tendencies.

Byard: “Honestly, [kicking the PAT] This surprised me a little. Obviously we didn't talk about it, but we were on the sidelines, like, just talking to each other, like, if we score right here, we're going for two, we're going to win! Dude I think [Ben] I just trusted the defense that we were going to stop him. No, like I said, it was surprising because Ben is usually aggressive in these situations. But like I said, he must have known something. It definitely helped us.”

After a brief return to overtime, the Packers scored first and 10 at their own 21. One play later, Willis punted Jayden Reed for 31 yards to the Bears' 45. Then on fourth-and-1, Willis failed to snap and the Bears took over on downs.

Willis: “It’s just a misunderstanding between me and [center Sean Rhyan]. He didn't expect me to change the rhythm, but the clock was getting closer and I was just trying to hurry up and take the photo. So we're just a little behind the times, not okay. It's on me.”

Jackson: “So, you know, we had to make adjustments with the change of guard. We knew he was more athletic than Jordan. But I mean, that was a huge stop on T.J.'s part. [Edwards] to force them to go for it and then make a fourth stop to give our offense the ball and a chance to score it.”

Byard: “He took the snap and then the running back picked it up… and listen, this team is special. We’re just talking in the locker room, this doesn’t happen often. How many games can we win in the fourth quarter… so many incredible things happened tonight: the onside kick, this play, and then DJ's game-winning touchdown.

“I’m so happy and proud to be a part of the group because I just realize that this doesn’t happen very often.”

The Bears prevailed by 36 with a winning percentage of 54.6. An incompletion followed by two runs put Chicago on first-and-10 at the Packers' 46. That's when Ben Johnson called the play that the team set on Thursday. Williams fired a perfect laser hit to Moore (it went 56.9 yards, according to Next Gen Stats), who was covered by a Packers defender. Kaysin Nixon when he hauled in a pass in the end zone for a TD gain. It was Williams' league-best sixth fourth-quarter comeback kill, according to ESPN Research, and he became the only QB in Bears history to throw a pass in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter and in overtime.

Bullard: “They just made a good throw and caught it. It's all-out coverage. It's all-out blitz, man. He ran a route that was running away from him. It's just football. It's not about Kay. It's not about anyone. It's a play call, good throw and catch. Kudos to them.”

Williams: “I knew it was good. You have this belief, you have this confidence, you have this swagger on offense, you practice well, you hit these shots in practice. It was almost identical to practice, and when the play is called and it's that moment, it's time to hit, it's time to get in the game.”