Things were not looking good for the Chicago Bears on Saturday night, and their collective playoff lives were on the line against the Green Bay Packers, their hated — and usually much more successful — arch-rivals.

But for quarterback Caleb Williams and the Bears, being in an 18-point hole didn't faze them one bit, because they've been there before. They have been the ''Comeback Kids'' all year now, winning games with last-minute rallies.

They had another one their back pocket Saturday, and it was one for the ages. The Bears scored 25 fourth-quarter points to beat the Packers 31-27 at Soldier Field, finally closing out the deal with 25-yard touchdown pass from Williams to D.J. Moore. with 1:43 left. The Packers' last rally ended 23 yards out with a fumble on the final play.

It was the largest comeback in Bears playoff history, and Williams' seventh game-winning drive this season, tied for the most in the NFL with Denver's Bo Nix — and the most in a season for a Bears quarterback since 1970.

Here's the game story from Bears Roundtable writer Grant Bricker.

 It was the second time in a month that the Bears have come back to spun the Packers, and they have played each other three times now since Dec. 20. The No. 2 seeded Bears advance to the NFC divisional round while the Packers — who have now lost five straight games to end the season — are all done, finishing another unsuccessful season.

"I think it's our identity here at this point," Chicago coach Ben Johnson said. "Some people say it's not sustainable. I don't know. The takeaways, that's who we are on defense; and on offense, it's explosive plays. That's kind of what we've done all year long and coming up in big moments. As a team, it's just resiliency and knowing that late in the fourth quarter, that's really when we're at our best as a football team.

"We'll keep striving to be better earlier in games and starting faster and all that, but that gives us something to work towards. I can't be any more proud of that crew than I am now."

The Bears were down 21-3 at halftime and 21-6 entering the fourth, but then scored touchdowns on three straight drives. Williams, the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft who was playing in his first postseaon game, completed 24 of 48 passes for 361 yards and two touchdowns. He also had two first-half interceptions.

Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love basically matched him throw for throw. He was 24-for-46 passing for 323 yards and four touchdown passes, but his late rally came up short as time expired.

Love hadn't played for three weeks after suffering a concussion in the first loss to the Bears. Once considered an NFC favorite when they were 9-3-1 after beating the Bears on Dec. 20, their season ends in disappointment once again.

Under coach Matt LaFleur, the Packers have now lost five of their last six playoff games dating back to 2021.

"We've just got to do a better job of keeping our composure as a football team and going out there and doing the fundamental things that we practice all the time," LaFleur said. "I think when you get into these types of big games, when you don't execute simple fundamentals, it comes back to bite you. That's exactly what happened."

The Packers' month-long losing streak coincided with defensive end Micah Parsons'  season-ending knee injury. Once he got hurt, the Packers didn't win another game and they struggled to stop people week after week. 

The Packers allowed just 19.0 points per game and 287.2 yards in their first 13 games. That spiked to 28.8 points per game and 402.6 yards in its last four.

The Packers gave up 25 points in the fourth quarter, only the third time in NFL history that a team has allowed that many in the fourth quarter of a playoff game.

"It's going to take a lot of work, a lot of work," LaFleur said. "And we're not where we want to be. I know we fought through a lot of adversity this year. Unfortunately, we didn't do enough to overcome that adversity. That's all of us collectively. We've got to do more. We've got to be better because it's never an excuse. I know we lost some key players, but you've got to find a way to overcome that because I think we do have a lot of talent on our team. It's just, it's disappointing."

The Bears will host another playoff game next weekend, with the date and time to be determined. No. 1 seed Seattle will host the lowest remaining seed, and the Bears get the highest seed. If the Philadelphia Eagles win on Sunday against San Francisco, the Bears will play the Eagles. If they 49ers win, Chicago gets the Los Angeles Rams.

RAMS RALLY TO BEAT PANTHERS:  Matthew Stafford led the Los Angeles Rams on another fourth-quarter scoring drive to come back to beat the Carolina Panthers 34-31 in Charlotte on Saturday as the NFL playoffs got started. READ MORE

LOVELAND SHINES FOR BEARS: Colston Loveland's playoff heroics and consistent dominance confirm his top-10 draft status, proving he's the Bears' undisputed offensive force as they ready for a postseason run. READ MORE

BILLS' PLAYOFF JOURNEY STARTS WITH JAGUARS: Ball security, balance, and discipline will decide the winner between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars. Here’s how Buffalo can win on the road and move on. READ MORE