Against all odds, the Chicago Bears somehow prevailed.
In a season defined by Chicago being underestimated, with rookie head coach Ben Johnson and a maligned franchise quarterback in Caleb Williams, they’ve continually found ways to win no matter the circumstances.
On Saturday night, it looked as if the fun, scrappy Bears would finally be embarrassed with the bright lights on them when the No. 7 Green Bay Packers jumped all over Chicago in the first half. From failed fourth-down tries to cute trick plays Johnson is renowned for getting shut down like they were a junior varsity team, the Bears limped into halftime down 18 points.
Yet, somehow, someway, through cosmic force or voodoo or pure cinematic magic, the Bears kept finding a way to hang around. They halted the Packers’ offense in the second half and began chipping away at the total.
What at first appeared to be nothing more than a rogue stat going sideways for Green Bay with a missed extra point turned out to be the ultimate dagger, as they needed a touchdown rather than a field goal at the end of regulation.
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Williams made several incredible individual plays late in the game to keep the Bears alive on the run, throwing moon shots while a defensive end lunged at him to be somehow caught by one of his receivers.
His final ball of the night to DJ Moore was a personification of the team’s never-give-up attitude, as Moore had dropped a gimme catch only seconds earlier before scoring the game-winning touchdown streaking down the sideline.
What felt like a historic night turned out to be historic.
The Bears, in their long franchise history, had never come back from double digits in the playoffs. Saturday’s win rocketed this team into the record books and pulled off not only their greatest comeback win in postseason history but also their third-greatest reverse win in the franchise’s century-plus legacy.
The Bears will now await to defend Soldier Field once more next weekend as the NFC semifinals begin. Chicago will play the Philadelphia Eagles if the reigning champions win tomorrow, or the Los Angeles Rams if the San Francisco 49ers pull off the upset on the road.
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