The Bears didn’t finish the job in Green Bay, but their poise, resilience, and quarterback play showed this rivalry — and this team — is no longer what it used to be.
If you simply checked the final score or tuned in for the last play of Sunday afternoon’s game between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, you probably walked away thinking the rivalry is exactly where it’s been for years.
You probably thought — in the words of Dennis Green — “the Bears are who we thought they were.”
But that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Losing to Green Bay always hurts. It always stings because it hands the bragging rights back to Wisconsin and leaves Bears fans open to every recycled joke in the book. There are no moral victories in this rivalry. There never have been.
That being said, Sunday’s loss hurt far less than many of the beatings Bears fans have endured over the years. Because the eye test told a very different story from the box score.
The Bears were dominated in the first half. Green Bay’s defensive front blew up almost every play and created constant chaos. Chicago failed to capitalize on an early Jordan Love interception, gave up explosive touchdowns, and went into halftime trailing 14–3 with the Packers getting the ball to open the second half.
In previous seasons, that’s the recipe for things to get ugly — fast. But the Bears responded. They came out of the locker room with a defensive stop, a touchdown, and a two-point conversion. Suddenly, the game flipped.
Chicago controlled almost the entire second half. They dominated time of possession, outscored Green Bay, and found themselves one play away from a game-tying touchdown in the final seconds.
And the best part? They were sparked by quarterback play.
Caleb Williams made a throw on the final snap, not putting enough on a ball to Cole Kmet that ended in a game-sealing interception — the kind of mistake he’ll replay in his head all week. But before that moment, he put the team on his back for three straight scoring drives, including a 17-play marathon that required him to be special while facing relentless pressure from Micah Parsons and Green Bay’s defensive front.
The Bears were in that game until the last second. And anyone watching could feel that it was the Packers — not the Bears — who looked like the team hanging on for dear life. That alone is a new dynamic in this rivalry.
Because even with the loss, going toe-to-toe with the Packers at Lambeau confirmed what we’ve suspected for weeks: the Bears are one of the better teams in football. They can play with anybody, anywhere. Winning at Lambeau is hard for everyone, and Chicago is the only offense to top 300 yards and 20 points there all season.
So yes, the Bears lost. But even as Matt LaFleur and Ben Johnson exchanged a quick handshake at midfield and both talked in their press conferences about seeing each other again in two weeks, the feeling lingered that this rivalry finally has a different aura.
This feels like the start of a decade-long war. Because here’s the truth — Jordan Love is good. Matt LaFleur is good. Ben Johnson is good. Caleb Williams is good.
These teams aren’t going anywhere.
And again, this isn’t a moral victory column. Bears fans should be upset. If this game ends up being the difference between making and missing the playoffs, it will sting. But devastation is different from dread. We’ve felt dread after many Bears–Packers games. That is not what Sunday was.
Honestly, I walked away feeling more confident in the Bears than I did going in. I had a lingering fear that despite what my eyes told me, things might unravel down the stretch — that the Packers were about to prove there were still multiple tiers between the two franchises.
That’s not the case. These teams have different strengths, sure, but when Chicago gets a few defensive pieces back, they’re evenly matched. And week after week, the Bears have shown they can play with anybody.
If you can play with anybody, you can make a run.
For now, it’s on to Cleveland. And neither the Bears nor their fans should hang their heads for one second.
In two weeks, they’ll get their shot at redemption in prime time.