Packers vs. Bears highlights, analysis: Green Bay blocks field goal to win 20-19 thriller

The Bears seemed poised to beat their rivals from Green Bay for the first time since 2018, but the Packers got just enough to block Cairo Santos' 46-yard attempt to hold onto the victory — and stay alive in the NFC wild-card race.

Auman: The Bears had a field goal to win as time expired, but the Packers blocked the Cairo Santos kick, holding on for a 20-19 win over Chicago to improve to 11-0 against the Bears under coach Matt LaFleur. Caleb Williams had three passes to set up the final kick, but Santos' try was blocked, and it's another loss for Chicago and Matt Eberflus.

Packers defensive end Karl Brooks was credited with the block on the Santos kick — it's a tough break for Caleb Williams, who had done everything he needed to set up a signature rivalry win against the Packers on his home field. "It's absolutely heartbreaking for the Bears, exhilarating for the Packers," Tom Brady said on the FOX broadcast.

Auman: After holding up so well the entire game, Chicago's offensive line gave up sacks to Caleb Williams on back-to-back plays, setting up a third-and-19 on a would-be game-winning drive. But wow, Williams converts with a 16-yard throw to Rome Odunze and a fourth-down 21-yard pass, again to Odunze. They're still alive, and working their way to field-goal range in the final two minutes.

Not a great time for the Bears offense to look like they have in recent weeks, as Caleb Williams took back-to-back sacks to start this drive.

Auman: Another review and another huge play for Green Bay's offense — Jordan Love scrambles to his right and makes a dive for the pylon. Initially ruled out at the 1-yard line, the Packers challenged the ruling but the call was upheld. On the next play, first-and-goal from the 1, Love went in for the go-ahead touchdown. Green Bay now has a 20-19 lead after a failed two-point conversion with 3:12 left — plenty of time for Caleb Williams to make one last drive to end the Bears' losing streak against the Packers.

An incredible diving catch and run from Christian Watson, upheld after a Bears challenge gave him 150 receiving yards on the game and put the Packers right back in the red zone.

Auman: After a review, the call stands and it's a 60-yard catch and run for Christian Watson, who made a leaping grab of a Jordan Love pass, got up and ran all the way to the Chicago 14-yard line with 3:40 to play. It will come down to Green Bay's red-zone offense, which has struggled today against the Bears.

Auman: Tough call for Matt Eberflus — fourth-and-3 at the Packers 49, 4:27 left, only up by five points. Do you go for it and try to run off more clock, or punt and trust your defense to be able to not give up the touchdown? They took a delay penalty and are punting it away — Jordan Love and Green Bay will get a chance here, but they'll need a touchdown in the final four minutes to win.

Auman: Make that 9-for-14 for Bears on third down today against the Packers and the No. 6 third-down defense in the NFL. Bears have been able to run off six minutes of the fourth quarter on this current drive, clinging to a five-point lead at home.

The Bears' red zone defense made a crucial difference again, forcing Jordan Love to scramble out of the pocket on fourth-and-goal and stopping him just short of the goal line for another huge turnover backed up against their own end zone.

Auman: We said earlier that red-zone offense was a weak spot for the Packers, and sure enough, a long pass got them to the 8, but the Packers couldn't get in the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown. They went for it on fourth-and-goal from the 6, but Jordan Love was stopped short and the Bears take over on downs. There's still 11 minutes left, but that's two red-zone turnovers for Green Bay today. 

The two Bears takeaways in the red zone were in almost identical spots on the field — Terell Smith's interception of Love was very close to where Love was dropped on fourth-and-goal to thwart another drive. Take the field goals both times, Packers are leading.

Auman: The Bears and Packers are just trading haymakers in the second half. Green Bay answers a 39-yard D'Andre Swift touchdown with a Jordan Love deep ball for 48 yards to Christian Watson. That set up a first-and-goal for Green Bay, and the Packers now have a chance to retake the lead, trailing 19-14 in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. 

Auman: Chicago has already rushed 28 times for 164 yards against the Packers, getting 70 from quarterback Caleb Williams and 68 from D'Andre Swift. The Bears already have their second-best total this season with a full quarter still left — their only game better was 202 rushing yards in the loss to Washington.

Auman: D'Andre Swift has the Bears back ahead — 39 yards through the Green Bay defense, and the Bears are back ahead 19-14 in the final minute of the third quarter. Caleb Williams got a big conversion on another gutsy fourth-down call, and the Bears are being bold in their upset bid today. "This is what the Windy City needs," Tom Brady said of the blocking on Swift's touchdown run.

Tom Brady is FIRED UP by Braxton Jones' block to set up Bears RB D'Andre Swift for a TD | NFL Highlights

Chicago failed to convert the ensuing two-point try, keeping the score within five points.

Auman: Green Bay has answered in a big way. The Packers marched down the field on their first drive of the second half, with Josh Jacobs getting the final 7 yards for a touchdown — the 50th rushing score of his career — to retake the lead at 14-13 on the Bears. Jacobs is up to 57 yards on 14 carries, taking some of the load off Jordan Love — he has 50 receiving yards as well.

Josh Jacobs rushes for a 7-yard TD, giving Packers the lead over Bears | NFL Highlights

Why is it significant that the Packers answered a Bears field goal with a touchdown? One of Green Bay's biggest vulnerabilities is its red-zone offense — the Packers ranked 29th out of 32 teams entering today's games, getting touchdowns just 47 percent of the time they're inside the opposing 20. So a long pass to Christian Watson and then a finishing run by Josh Jacobs is why Green Bay is now ahead — Chicago had to settle for a field goal on its drive to open the second half.

Auman: Second half is underway in Chicago — Bears leading Packers 10-7 and have the ball to open the second half. Can Chicago's offensive resurrection continue, or will the Packers find themselves and continue their dominance of the Bears under Matt LaFleur?

The Bears offense is ... clicking? Rookie Caleb Williams has started the second half where he left off — a 25-yard throw to tight end Cole Kmet put them in Green Bay territory, and Chicago is poised to build on a 10-7 lead on the Packers. As Tom Brady points out on the broadcast, Chicago needs its traditional running game to step up in the second half after letting Williams lead the way on the ground in the first half. A fourth-down checkdown to Roschon Johnson to get a crucial first down in the red zone helps too.

The Bears then boldly went for it on fourth-and-2 at the Green Bay 23 and converted, but their drive stalled inside the 10 and Chicago settled for a field goal for what is now a 13-7 lead on the Packers early in the third quarter. Every point helps, but the Bears will likely need more than field goals to keep the lead and pull off the upset win against Green Bay today.

Auman: It's halftime in Chicago, and rookie Caleb Williams has the Bears up 10-7 on the Packers. Williams has rushed six times for 60 yards, and he's an efficient 9-for-12 for 85 yards passing. Chicago has a 156-148 edge in yardage, and the difference in the game has been Terell Smith's red-zone interception of Jordan Love as a key takeaway in the Bears' favor.

Auman: The Bears offense has found the end zone. After 25 straight drives without a touchdown, Chicago ended their drought on a 1-yard touchdown run by Roschon Johnson, good for a 10-7 lead on the Packers just before halftime. Matt Eberflus ran the clock down to 10 seconds before calling time out, making sure Green Bay could not answer before the half.

"The Bears are finally in," Kevin Burkhardt says on the FOX call of Johnson's 1-yard touchdown. The Bears offense — after 9 points per game in the last three losses — has 10 points at halftime and Chicago is up 10-7 on the Packers. Burkhardt pointed out that Johnson had the Bears' last offensive touchdown way back in Week 8 as well.
 

Auman: Chicago's first three drives have all crossed midfield, but can they show up on the scoreboard? The first yielded a field goal, the second just a punt, but the Bears are now inside the Packers' 20 inside the two-minute warning. A score — especially a touchdown to end that drought of 25 straight drives without one — would be a big momentum shift going into halftime in Chicago.

Great line from Tom Brady, describing D.J. Moore's weaving 12-yard gain on a tunnel screen through the Packers defense to the 5-yard line. "He looked like a Plinko chip," Brady said, making a quality "The Price is Right" reference.

Auman: Chicago does have the best red-zone defense in the NFL — opponents were only getting touchdowns on 37 percent of their trips inside the 20 coming into today's game. The Bears stepped up again, getting a stop after the Packers got inside the 10-yard line. Not just holding them to a field goal, but to zero points, as Jordan Love's pass on third down was intercepted by Chicago's Terell Smith. As the FOX broadcast pointed out earlier, the Packers had committed only three turnovers in their 10-0 run against the Bears under Matt LaFleur.

Auman: Today's Bears-Packers game features two of the NFL's best third-down defenses — Green Bay came into the day ranked sixth and Chicago seventh, both holding opponents to under 35 percent conversions. Green Bay's offense is 1-for-3 early on and Chicago's is 2-for-4 — getting a third-down stop doesn't do much, however, if you commit a penalty on fourth down, as the Bears did with a neutral zone infraction flag on Byron Cowart. That gave Green Bay a first down in Bears territory, and Jordan Love and Josh Jacobs marched the Packers further down into the red zone.

Auman: Penalties are hurting the Bears offense — first an illegal shift negated a short gain from D'Andre Swift, and now an illegal motion penalty wiped out a 13-yard gain on a throw to D.J. Moore. Fortunately, the flags are flying both ways — the Bears got out of a second-and-13 situation with a late hit flagged on the Packers when Xavier McKinney shoved Caleb Williams as he was already out of bounds on a scramble. The Bears are again in Packers territory in what's been a promising start for their offense under Thomas Brown.

Auman: Chicago's defense has gotten a stop — Green Bay opted to punt on its second drive after it stalled near midfield. Great situational punting had Green Bay downing the punt at the 5-yard line, so Caleb Williams and the Bears offense, trailing 7-3 late in the first quarter, have a long field ahead of them.

Auman: The Bears offense has yielded points! Cairo Santos was good on a 53-yard field goal, and the first drive under new offensive coordinator Thomas Brown has them on the scoreboard, trailing the Packers 7-3 in the first quarter. Rookie Caleb Williams was 1-for-3 for 16 yards passing, but also had a 16-yard scramble for a third-down conversion. Baby steps, people, and the offense should have a little confidence next time they're on the field. Can Chicago's defense — ranking 24th against the run coming in — stop Josh Jacobs and Green Bay on their second drive?

Auman: Bears fans are at the "applauding first downs" level of offensive expectations, but rookie Caleb Williams had a nice scramble to convert a third-and-8 and avoid a three-and-out on the Bears' opening drive. Williams followed that with a quick screen to D.J. Moore and Chicago is across midfield, showing a spark in their first drive without offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who was fired this week.

Auman: Which team will show up first today? It's emphatically the Packers and their offense, marching down the field in less than four minutes. Most of it came on the ground from Josh Jacobs, but Jordan Love capped the drive with a touchdown pass to Jayden Reed. Chicago's defense is No. 7 in the league in scoring, but giving up a 70-yard touchdown drive on eight plays on the opening drive only puts more pressure on rookie QB Caleb Williams before he's even taken a snap.

Tom Brady: 'Jordan Love emulating his mentor Aaron Rodgers' on Packers TD vs. Bears | NFL Highlights

Tom Brady points out that Love took advantage of a free play — 12 men on the field for the Bears — much the same way Aaron Rodgers did famously for Green Bay. Having a free play means going for something big, and for Love, that meant finding Reed in the end zone for an opening-drive touchdown. The question now: Can the Bears and their struggling offense answer with interim OC Thomas Brown calling plays for the first time this season?

Jordan Love took a page out of his mentor Aaron Rodgers' book, as Tom Brady noted, catching the Bears defense with 12 men on the field and firing a strike to Jayden Reed in the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown pass to cap off a very successful opening drive for the Packers.

Auman: Can a change at offensive coordinator be the wake-up call the Bears need? Chicago, having moved on from Shane Waldron and promoted Thomas Brown as their new playcaller, tries to break out of a three-game slide against the Packers, who have had their number for five years and counting. 

Green Bay, meanwhile, is looking to bounce back from a loss to Detroit and stay in the thick of the NFC wild-card race, while Chicago is just trying to find the end zone. They've averaged 9 points per game in their three-game skid, so it won't take much for rookie Caleb Williams to find any kind of lift and get the Bears into the end zone.

Tom Brady and Kevin Burkhardt will be in the booth for Chicago's Week 11 matchup at home against Green Bay on Sunday, while Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi report from the sidelines.

Tom Brady previews Packers vs. Bears, talks Chiefs' dominance | FOX NFL Sunday

Heading into Sunday's tilt, Green Bay is in third place in the NFC North, while Chicago is in fourth place in the division. The last time the Bears beat the Packers was in Week 15 of the 2018 season when Mitch Trubisky was their quarterback.