Considering the Chicago Bears’ march to the NFC North crown this season was highlighted by a series of comeback victories, one seemingly greater than the next, it makes perfect sense the wildest of all was saved for the playoffs.

In a first half that almost could not have gone any worse, the Bears fell behind 21-3. They still chased an 11-point deficit with 6 minutes, 36 seconds remaining Saturday night before a raucous crowd at Soldier Field.

Yet there quarterback Caleb Williams was at the end, driving the Bears for a touchdown to lift them to a 31-27 victory, sending them to the divisional round of the playoffs next weekend, ending the season for the Green Bay Packers and quickly igniting a series of questions about the future of the coach up north, Matt LaFleur.

10 thoughts after the seventh fourth-quarterback comeback of the season by Williams and the team.

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1. General manager Ryan Poles wanted to add some pillars to the locker room for Ben Johnson to aid the rebuilding process, guys who could be the kind of examples the team hoped other players would follow.

A Kings of the North poster featuring Caleb Williams is seen hanging as fans take in the fourth quarter of an NFC wild-card game at Soldier Field on Jan. 10, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

It can be expensive to find the right guys, and this wasn’t a mission the team undertook because there was a critical shortage of leadership on the roster. The club felt really good about some veterans in place but wanted to add more.

Left guard Joe Thuney came via trade from the Kansas City Chiefs, a guy to not only help transform the offensive line but a player who’s a four-time Super Bowl champion. Defensive tackle Grady Jarrett was targeted as a disruptive player for the interior who has been meticulous in preparation throughout his career.

It’s interesting coach Ben Johnson would throw on some film of maybe the biggest game of their careers way back during training camp. Johnson put up some highlights from Super Bowl LI when Jarrett’s Atlanta Falcons took a 28-3 lead over Thuney’s New England Patriots in the third quarter, only to watch as the game completely flipped. The Patriots won 34-28 in overtime, the first ring Thuney won and the only Super Bowl Jarrett has played in.

“We have two players on our roster that were part of both those teams,” Johnson said. “It was just great to get perspective from both of those players of how that game went down. I think it’s just a good lesson to be learned that it’s 28-3 in the middle of the third quarter and yet the game still is being played and there is a lot of time left.”

So, Johnson has that as a reminder for his team at halftime after the Bears had another slow start offensively and fell in a major hole, one that could have been worse after failing on fourth down for the third time and turning the ball over on their 37-yard line with 32 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Fortunately, Brandon McManus’ 55-yard field-goal attempt was wide left, the start of a bad night for him as he missed from 44 yards and missed an extra-point try.

“That was my message to the group,” Johnson said. “Just reminding them that this has been done before and rather than saying, ‘Woe is me,’ and ‘Oh, crap, we’re in a hole,’ it’s more, ‘This is a great opportunity for us to turn this around into a game we’ll never forget.’ That’s what they did.”

It certainly was one for the ages and unprecedented for the Bears in the postseason. The largest deficit they had rallied from previously in the playoffs to win was seven points, something that happened three previous times.

Dec. 29, 1963: Bears 14, New York Giants 10
Dec. 26, 1943: Bears 41, Washington Redskins 21
Dec. 14, 1941: Bears 33, Packers 14

Other than those games, the Bears have rallied from more than a field-goal deficit to win a game just one other time. They trailed the New York Giants by five on Dec. 17, 1933, before pulling off a 23-21 victory in what was the NFL’s first official championship game. So the inventory of Bears’ postseason comeback magic doesn’t run very deep.

It started great too. The Bears won the coin toss and chose to receive. Johnson wanted to jump-start his offense, which scored just three points total against the Packers in the first half of the two meetings between rivals last month.

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Caleb Williams connected with rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III on third down to move the chains twice before rookie running back Kyle Monangai busted off a 9-yard run on third-and-1. It was a methodical drive, and Williams kept it rolling on third-and-12 from the Packers 26-yard line when he connected with DJ Moore cutting underneath, the fourth third down converted on the possession.

When things stalled out, Cairo Santos kicked a 27-yard field goal. No, the offense didn’t push it in the end zone, but the drive went 16 plays and 59 yards and took 7 minutes, 58 seconds off the clock. Ball possession would be a good way to protect the defense against the Packers offense, and they got points.

Well, the Packers blitzed the Bears for the remainder of the half. They moved downfield effortlessly with Jordan Love hitting Christian Watson for a 7-yard touchdown on third-and-2.

After converting a fourth down from their 38-yard line, the Bears turned it over on fourth down on the Packers 40 when Williams’ deep throw for Burden was intercepted by Carrington Valentine. There was a clear mix-up between the two on the play.

The Packers drove 87 yards for another touchdown and all of a sudden it was 14-3. Johnson kept his foot on the gas and three plays into the ensuing possession, it was fourth-and-5 on the Bears 32-yard line. The snap was high, and Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper broke up the throw.

With 5:15 remaining in the second quarter, the Packers were up 11 and nearly in the red zone.

“We were aggressive on some fourth downs,” tight end Durham Smythe said. “That was the game plan. We knew that going into the game. He told us we were going to be aggressive. So we knew, ‘All right, if we don’t pick it up, we’re just going to have to keep rolling.’”

It’s one thing to know that. But it didn’t look as if the Bears could do anything to slow it down. The defense forced Love into a fourth-and-1, and he found Watson wide open for what looked like a touchdown, but the receiver fumbled into the end zone and Romeo Doubs recovered. So, the Packers got the ball at the 1-yard line, and it took four plays before a touchdown pass to Doubs.

Now it’s 21-3 with 1:56 remaining in the second quarter and the Bears hadn’t done much of anything right since the opening drive. Johnson went for it on fourth down again and the Bears failed, but the Packers didn’t capitalize.

The running game produced only 44 yards on 15 carries in the first half. Meanwhile, the Packers had rushed for 93 yards and Love had thrown three touchdown passes. It was the biggest deficit the team has faced at halftime all season.

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams stands with coach Ben Johnson before playing the Packers in an NFC wild-card game on Jan. 10, 2026, at Soldier Field. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

That’s when Johnson put it simply to the group in the locker room.

“That we were going to have the greatest comeback in Bears history,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “And we did.”

Maybe a little something Thuney and Jarrett shared with the group back during training camp resonated just a little. The fact is the Bears have grown accustomed to winning this way, to clawing back into a game in the fourth quarter and finding ways to make plays in the decisive moments of the game. It happened in the Dec. 20 meeting here with the Packers. It nearly happened after the Packers led 14-3 at halftime of the first game at Lambeau Field on Dec. 7.

Williams set a franchise postseason record by throwing for 361 yards — he completed 24 of 48 passes — and rookie tight end Colston Loveland caught eight passes for 137 yards along with a grab on a two-point conversion.

The Bears were minus-2 in turnovers — they didn’t get a takeaway — and ran for only 93 yards but they chipped away in the third quarter, hung around and then exploded for 25 points in the fourth quarter with three lightning-quick touchdown drives of 2:30, 2:18 and 1:08. These weren’t short drives either — they were 66, 81 and 66 yards to the end zone.

What keyed the comeback was a total turnaround by the defense. Love had all sorts of time in the first half. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen gambled repeatedly in the second half with pressure and it worked as the Packers punted on their first four possessions after halftime and appeared generally stunned.

That in a nutshell is how you put together the biggest postseason comeback in franchise history. The Bears will wait to see what happens Sunday to learn who’s next. If the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the San Francisco 49ers, the Bears will be host the Eagles at Solider Field in the divisional round next Saturday or Sunday. If the 49ers win, the Bears will host the Los Angeles Rams.

“Crazy,” right guard Jonah Jackson said. “I don’t even know what’s going on. Any given Saturday, right. It’s (expletive) nuts. They have a really sound defense. They’re good at what they do. They had a damn good game plan for that first half. We found a way.”

It wouldn’t be accurate to describe this as a roller coaster because it was like the ride just stopped in the second quarter when the Packers took total control and a crowd of 60,338 turned really quiet.

But the thing got going. The defense started pressuring Love, and the success the Packers had running the ball in the first half was completely stopped. They rushed seven times for 6 yards in the second half and the joint got rocking to the point that you could feel the building sway ever so slightly at times. For real. Williams and the offense did their thing and the Bears were ebullient afterward.

“It was just like relief, again, after you win,” Kmet said. “It’s emotionally exhausting. Man, it’s a lot of fun. Surely, we don’t want to keep doing it like this but if this is how we have to do it, it is what it is at this point.”

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams throws a pass in the fourth quarter of an NFC wild-card game against the Packers at Soldier Field on Jan. 10, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

It’s the fourth time in league playoff history a team trailing by 15 points or more entering the fourth quarter — the Bears were down 21-6 — rallied to win and the first since that Patriots-Falcons Super Bowl. It’s the first time the Bears have won a postseason game — period — since a 35-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Jan. 16, 2011.

“I think it’s our identity here at this point,” Johnson said. “Some people say it’s not sustainable. I don’t know. The takeaways are — that’s who we are on defense. On offense, it’s explosive plays. That’s kind of what we’ve done all year long and coming up in big moments.

“It’s just resiliency and knowing that late in the fourth quarter that’s really when we’re at our best as a team. We’ll keep striving to be better earlier in games and starting faster and all that, but that gives us something to work toward. I can’t be any more proud of that crew than I am now.”

2. A great place to dive into some of the nuts and bolts of this remarkable win — and you’d need twice as much space as I have here to cover it all — is the game-winning touchdown pass to DJ Moore.

Super creative play call in this situation.

The Bears had plenty of time with 1:25 on the clock after D’Andre Swift caught a short pass and weaved his way 23 yards down to the Green Bay 25-yard line. The Packers were ahead 27-24 so Ben Johnson had to feel he was easily in Cairo Santos’ range if things went wrong and he had to play for overtime. The Bears needed things to go right and being at the 25-yard line gave them a little more space than they’d have say from the 15 or so where the field starts to get compacted. Red zone issues have sort of come and gone for the Bears. Best to get a score when you can.

Johnson called for an unbalanced line to the far side of the field to give the Packers some eye candy. Right tackle Darnell Wright lined up at left tackle — on the outside of Theo Benedet, who had replaced left tackle Ozzy Trapilo on the previous snap. Tight end Cole Kmet became the right tackle on the other side, aligning next to right guard Jonah Jackson.

There was a trio of targets to the left — Moore, Luther Burden III and Colston Loveland — and the goal was to sell a screen at the line of scrimmage to Burden, similar to a pass that had been thrown earlier in the game.

“We haven’t called (an unbalanced line) in a minute,” Jackson said. “We had that one in the back pocket for a little while now. We’ve always got some gadgets. Never know when they’re coming.”

Wright fired off the line and toward Burden as if he was coming to block safety Javon Bullard.

“Darnell is a presence out there,” Benedet said. “I think we were able to kind of draw their eyes in with him.”

How the Chicago Bears pulled off another improbable comeback win to KO the Green Bay Packers from the playoffs

More than their eyes. Cornerback Carrington Valentine bit up and — poof! — Moore passed him down the sideline. There was zero chance for safety Evan Williams to close from the middle of the field and it was an easy throw for Caleb Williams.

“The aim was always to throw it up the sideline to DJ,” Benedet said. “It worked out. They were cocky too. They were yelling, ‘Screen! Screen!’ and then DJ just slipped through there.”

Moore said he knew the defense would trigger on Burden and for the second time in two games against Green Bay, he had a game-winning touchdown reception.

“We’ve been waiting to pull that one out,” Kmet said. “Sweet play.”

Back to my original point, I think Johnson was hunting for a play that could get in from the 25-yard line. There was plenty of time remaining but if the offense had gone with a couple of short gains, who knows what would have happened. The Bears were 2-for-5 in the red zone and the last thing Johnson wanted was to go into overtime with the Packers again.

“Perfect call,” Caleb Williams said. “Being able to have that play call that we worked for, I think the past three or four weeks, and just didn’t use it in those other games and then in the right moment at the right time, coach calls it just as he does.”

3. Dennis Allen isn’t much for game review by the time he is made available in the middle of the week.

Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen walks along the sideline in the third quarter of a game against the Lions at Soldier Field on Jan. 4, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

Out of fairness to the defensive coordinator, he’s been that way after wins and losses.

It’s a shame because it would be fun and informative to get extra insight into how the Bears flipped the script, completely stuffing Green Bay in the second half. I alluded to some of it above. The Packers were able to rush for 93 yards in the first half and Love was 9 of 15 for 139 yards and three touchdowns. It felt like at least half the incompletions were balls he intentionally threw away. Green Bay was moving the ball at will, and was 5 for 7 on third down and 3 for 3 in the red zone. Remember, the Bears’ rally in the previous meeting was only possible because the Packers were 0 for 5 in the red zone.

This was an unmitigated disaster with everyone wondering why the secondary was locked in so much man coverage. As we reported last week, the Bears were actually worse in zone against Detroit than in man.

The Packers got the ball to begin the third quarter and the Bears needed a stop immediately. They were desperate and Allen showed it from the jump. He blitzed cornerback Nahshon Wright on the first play as Love was flushed out of the pocket and threw incomplete.

It wasn’t every time Love dropped back, but it sure felt like the Bears were sending more than four pass rushers on a whole bunch of his 31 pass attempts in the second half.

“DA got real aggressive,” free safety Kevin Byard III said. “Corner blitzes out there. Sending (safety Jaquan) Brisker. I think in coverage, we just covered a little better. Got some (pass breakups). Jaylon (Johnson) was making some really good plays out there. We just executed better. The belief in this team. Going into halftime, not where we wanted to be. But there was no panic.

“I think Matt LaFelur did a hell of a job in that first half. He kind of caught us in some coverages. J-Love was doing a great job of kind of reading what we were doing and was able to change into plays that were beaters. It was a hell of a chess match and in the second half, DA adjusted really well. We executed our defense a lot better. That was phenomenal.”

‘We had to respond’: Defense’s 2nd-half rebound gives the Chicago Bears just enough for a playoff rally

The Packers were just 1 of 8 on third down in the second half. Love didn’t look comfortable in the pocket and the big run-after-catch plays that Green Bay was easily drawing up in the first half were harder to come by. Allen had to get aggressive. The pass rush wasn’t getting home with four very often even with the Packers missing right tackle Zach Tom, their best lineman. He had to roll the dice a bit and risk giving up big plays to force the action. It worked as the Packers got just one first down on the first four possessions in the second half as the Bears hung on.

“Energy,” Johnson said when asked what keyed the comeback for the defense. “Effort. Desire. Hunger. That was it. We just had to tighten that (crap) up.

“On the back end we were covering and the front was getting home. That’s the same ball team that came out in the first half that came out in the second half. We just played better.”

Linebacker T.J. Edwards left early in the second quarter with a left ankle injury and will miss the rest of the playoffs. D’Marco Jackson filled in. He called the defense and was pressuring a lot. Practice squad linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin, signed on Friday, got some work in 4-3 sets and he blitzed too.

“We gave ourselves a chance each time we got a stop there in the third quarter,” Jackson said. “I feel like each person has got that dog in them. You don’t judge a dog by the size of him either. You judge a dog by what’s inside his heart. Each guy in here, they got that dog in them to keep going, keep fighting.”

The Packers offense couldn’t stay on the field, and frustration mounted on their sideline as the crowd roared back to become a factor.

Bears defensive end Montez Sweat knocks Packers quarterback Jordan Love to the turf in the fourth quarter of a NFC wild-card game at Soldier Field on Jan. 10, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

“A lot of bad things happened,” LaFleur said. “I think a pivotal part was offensively, we come out in the second half, and just could not get anything going. You go three-and-out, three-and-out. I think we got a first down on the third drive, but it was just too many opportunities when you have the ball and you’re not scoring.

“There were certainly some things we did up front where they started bringing pressure, and we weren’t sliding out to it, we weren’t picking it up. Give them credit. And it’s unfortunate because we were doing so great in the first half. And then the second half was a different story.”

It was a much different story. While the Bears got just one sack from Austin Booker, they had eight QB hits with Montez Sweat getting three and Booker two. There were six pass breakups — two for Johnson and two for returning nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon. Wide-open throws in the first half became contested in the second half, and you cannot overstate the total difference in run defense in the second half. It was like two different defenses really.

Johnson says it was execution. Allen clearly dialed up more pressure and it was more successful. It would be interesting to hear him dive into some of the nuances if he wasn’t moved on to the divisional round opponent.

4. Not sure if you saw the handshake between Ben Johnson and Matt LaFleur after the game but, if you blinked, you missed it.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur celebrates after the Packers scored during the first quarter of a NFC wild-card game against the Bears at Soldier Field Jan. 10, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

We’re not turning back the clock 40 years to the kind of bad blood there was between Mike Ditka and Forrest Gregg, but clearly something’s up in the rivalry now and has been since Johnson made a remark about LaFleur in his introductory press conference nearly a year ago.

Maybe it’s good for the rivalry. Maybe it sparks the players a little bit. I’m willing to bet that’s the content George McCaskey is ready for on a daily basis.

“There was probably a little bit more noise coming out of their building up north to start the week,” Johnson said after the win. “Which we heard loud and clear, players and coaches alike. This one meant something to us.”

Maybe the Bears didn’t like the Packers being upset that Jordan Love had been knocked out with a concussion in the previous meeting. Maybe they thought the Packers didn’t take the loss at Soldier Field real well. Maybe the Bears just wanted to stir it up and make it clear they’re no longer going to be bullied by a team that’s dominated for, well, the better part of three decades. I’m not sure. But there’s some tension there that doesn’t exist when you’re talking about division foes like the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings.

You have to at least wonder if this stunning defeat leads the Packers to consider change. I’d be a little surprised — and LaFleur would be in instant demand if he was on the open market — but this was a crushing defeat. It’s the second time the Packers have blown a game at Soldier Field, and LaFleur has a new boss as Ed Policy replaced Mark Murphy as team president.

LaFleur has one year remaining on his contract, so it’s likely time for an extension or time to move on from a guy who is 76-40-1 in the regular season and owns a .654 winning percentage that is fourth-highest in the league among coaches with at least 50 games. Think of all the firings the Bears have done for a long, long time. But they have never canned a guy who was four wins shy of being 40 games over .500.

Can you imagine how this chapter in the rivalry for the 212th meeting would be viewed if it was the final straw for LaFleur? The Packers lost their composure in the second half. They ripped through some timeouts when they shouldn’t have. They had a delay of game coming out of a timeout. There were some elements that you wouldn’t expect from a buttoned up operation.

At the same time, you can’t forget the injuries the team has been handling. They played down the stretch without the guy they traded for to get them over the top — Micah Parsons — and had 15 players on injured reserve. If it’s a roster built to win now, Policy has to answer if LaFleur is the coach for right now. If so, LaFleur is probably due a major raise the way coaching salaries climb.

We’ll see what shakes out. LaFleur deflected questions about his future. The Packers will start assessing what comes next while the Bears get ready to dive into another work week.

“They wanted us,” Caleb Williams said. “That’s what I heard. They wanted it and they got it.”

Just keep in mind this is miles and miles away from where it was when Ditka and Gregg had animosity for each other in the 1980s, something that dated back to their playing days.

Ditka lambasted Gregg after defensive end Charles Martin body slammed Jim McMahon after the play in a 1986 game.

“These things were after the play, after the fact,” Ditka said in 2011. “So either you are coaching that or your players are stupid. That’s what I’m going to say. In this case I believe they were coached. That’s why I never got along with Forrest Gregg. To this day I don’t respect him for that reason.

“When the play is over and you pick somebody up and slam them on the ground. Oh, big deal, Martin says. ‘I’m a tough guy.’ You’re not a tough guy. You’re a dumb guy.”

5. Something is off with the Bears running game. It’s not fine tuned as it was earlier in the year.

Bears running back D’Andre Swift scores a touchdown in the fourth quarter of an NFC wild-card game against the Packers at Soldier Field on Jan. 10, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

For a team that was trampled for 307 yards by the Baltimore Ravens just two weeks ago, the Packers came in feeling like they were well equipped to slow the Bears down on the ground. That surprised me a little bit, but dig into what was going on and the belief was that, for some reason, the timing has been off in the Bears running game — and it’s been off for a couple weeks now.

It was a tale of two seasons for Green Bay’s run defense, something that didn’t just slip after losing defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt to a fractured left ankle in a Thanksgiving Day victory at Detroit on Nov. 27.

Seven times in the first 11 games, the Packers limited the opponent to 96 yards rushing or less. Since losing Wyatt, the Bears ran for 138 yards (90 in the second half) of the Week 14 game at Lambeau Field. Two weeks later, the Bears ran for 150 yards on 26 carries (5.8 per carry). In the following game, the Ravens went for 307 yards on 53 attempts, the fifth-most yards allowed by Green Bay in a regular-season game during the Super Bowl era.

A Packers run defense that ranked eighth in the NFL (98.3 yards per game) and sixth in yards per carry (3.9) entering the initial meeting with the Bears in Week 14 did a free fall. The Packers closed the season 18th in run defense (117.7) and 12th in yards per carry (4.2).

What happened here? The Bears ran for only 93 yards on 28 carries. Sure, they fell behind and were forced to sling it more, but there were 15 rushes for only 44 yards in the first half. I thought the offense was going to be poised for a big game running the ball too. D’Andre Swift had 54 yards on 13 carries in the win and Kyle Monangai ran eight times for 27 yards.

The line has been solid all season and it looked like there was at least some thought given to the backs’ workload in the last two weeks. Swift had 19 carries in the final two weeks (he averaged 13.9 per game on the season) and Monangai had 14 rushes in the last two games. That ensured both would be as fresh as possible for a playoff run.

“The run game was a little bit lacking today for whatever reason,”right tackle Darnell Wright said. “We’ll see on tape what exactly happened. I don’t know off the top of my head.”

Bears running back Kyle Monangai finds an opening in the defense in the first quarter of an NFC wild-card game against the Packers at Soldier Field on Jan. 10, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

Said right guard Jonah Jackson: “It seems so much simpler when you’re watching it. But maybe there’s a linebacker holding back instead of reading. Like if we’re running wide zone and he’s holding in his spot and you overrun him and then he undercuts you and makes the play. There’s just a bunch of little nuances that people don’t really pick up on. They see it and say, ‘Oh! He blew past him!’ Green Bay was good at mixing things up and taking us off double teams and things like that.”

The offense had only 65 yards on 18 rushes in Week 18 against Detroit and 110 yards on 22 carries in Week 17 at San Francisco? Before that, it was humming along pretty good. Reason to be alarmed? I don’t think so, but I can tell you that the Packers were confident before the game that they could handle the run, and they accomplished that goal.

Ben Johnson indicated Ozzy Trapilo, who limped off the field in the fourth quarter, is likely done for the season. That means the team will probably turn to Theo Benedet, who has seven starts at left tackle. The team opened the return to practice window for veteran Braxton Jones last week. He’s been ready for some time to get back on the field after a knee injury. He could be an option too, but my first instinct would be Benedet plays.

“This year has been good for me,” Benedet said. “I got a lot of reps under my belt. So, I feel really comfortable right now.”

6. The Bears got Rome Odunze back and, boy, did Caleb Williams make a dynamite throw on his biggest catch of the game.

Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze misses a catch in the end zone during the first quarter against the Packers at Soldier Field on Jan. 10, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

It’s a big-time throw at any point in a ballgame. With the situation — fourth-and-8 with the Bears on their own 43 and trailing 27-16 with 5:37 to play, the stakes couldn’t get much bigger. Fail to convert there, and Green Bay is taking over on the plus side of the field with a chance to ice the game. The Packers only rushed four.

“He’s a guy that’s tough to contain,” Matt LaFleur said. “The whole plan was to try to especially eliminate his ability to go right. That’s what he likes to do. But certainly I mean, he made a heck of a play, heck of a throw.”

Linebacker Isaiah McDuffie was able to flush Williams out of the pocket to the left and hit him just as Williams threaded a pass deep down the sideline that Odunze ran under for a 27-yard gain.

“We had a great concept,” Odunze said. “Little bit of traffic and I was just trying to find my way to weave through there. That kind of delayed the pass a little bit. He escaped the pocket. He floated that up in the air.”

Odune played 54 snaps. It was his first game action since Nov. 28 at Philadelphia. He was targeted five other times and made one other catch for 17 yards.

Odunze originally popped up on the team’s injury report with a heel injury around the middle of the season. Later, NFL Media reported he had a stress fracture in one of his feet.

“There’s been a couple different things that have been going on with it honestly,” he said. “I don’t want to put it all out there. I wouldn’t be out there if I wasn’t good to go. The training staff did a great job and they understand where I’m at. I finally got to be out there and play ball a little bit. Obviously, I will go back and get my treatment and continue to rehab. I feel good though.”

Odunze’s five-game absence probably opened up opportunities in the passing game for rookies Luther Burden III and Colston Loveland. But overall, Odunze is clearly been the No. 1 target in the passing game.

Odunze (44 receptions, 661 yards in the regular season) is still tied with DJ Moore and Loveland for the team lead in touchdown receptions with six — and five of them came in the first four games of the season. What jumps out is that he led the team averaging 15.0 yards per reception. Since 2006, when Bernard Berrian averaged 15.2 yards per catch for the Super Bowl XLI team, that’s a mark Bears receivers (minimum 40 receptions) have reached only three times: Alshon Jeffery (15.8, 2016; 16.0, 2013) and Johnny Knox (18.8, 2010).

Odunze ranked sixth among wide receivers in the NFL, again, with a minimum of 40 receptions.

Alec Pierce, Colts: 21.3 yards per reception
Jameson Williams, Lions: 17.2
Nico Collins, Texans: 15.7
George Pickens, Cowboys: 15.4
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seahawks: 15.1
Odunze: 15.0

I think the Bears should be able to get more out of Odunze in 2026 with everyone familiar with the scheme. Instead of spending an offseason and training camp learning a complex system, players will be able to fine tune adjustments.

Odunze is a different kind of receiver than Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown, so there isn’t a perfect parallel. But consider St. Brown was in his second season in the league in 2022 when Ben Johnson was in Year 1 as offensive coordinator. St. Brown caught 106 passes for 1,161 yards (11.0 average). In 2023, St. Brown broke out for 119 receptions for 1,515 yards (12.7). Odunze will be in his third season in 2026 and second with Johnson calling the plays.

The Year 2 bump should make the Williams-Odunze connection a lot more consistent, and that was an issue at times this year. For players with a minimum of 40 receptions, Odunze had the third-lowest catch percentage in the NFL at 48.9%, ahead of only Cleveland’s Jerry Jeudy (47.2%) and Tennessee rookie Elic Ayomanor (46.1%). Jeudy played with a trio of quarterbacks, including rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, and Ayomanor was paired with rookie QB Cam Ward.

I’d be confident in Odunze’s stock rising in 2026.

7. A trio of soft-tissue injuries — groin, hamstring and calf — for nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon created one of the biggest challenges for Dennis Allen this season.

Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon comes out in his Spiderman mask as players are announced before the start of an NFC wild-card game against the Green Packers at Soldier Field on Jan. 10, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

Allen was excited to work with Gordon because of his versatility and playmaking ability. When Allen has had his best defenses over the years, he’s usually had a Swiss army knife safety. C.J. Gardner-Johnson, in the prime of his career with the New Orleans Saints, Tyrann Mathieu and Kenny Vaccaro are good examples of players Allen was able to deploy at safety, in the slot and as blitzers in the pressure package. They all had multidimensional skill sets to cover, blitz, play with range as well as tackle in space.

With Gordon missing 14 games and a ton of practice time dating back to the second week of August, it’s been disappointing for everyone. The Bears made Gordon a big part of the future in April when they signed him to a $40 million, three-year extension that made him the highest-paid nickel cornerback in the league. It’s one thing to handle the loss of a nickel cornerback for two or three weeks. It’s another thing to be playing with replacement(s) for the majority of the season.

The Bears used Nick McCloud at nickel before signing Gardner-Johnson Oct. 29. Jaylon Jones has also got a little run in the slot. That was before Saturday when Gordon returned from injured reserve for the second time this season and played 44 snaps. His return came at a critical time with Gardner-Johnson out with a concussion.

It struck me as a little odd that McCloud got the start as the nickel cornerback. McCloud wound up logging 20 snaps, with most of them coming on the first two defensive series. Packers QB Jordan Love completed some throws on Gordon, but he had three tackles and two pass breakups and looked like he was settling in. Remember, Gordon got only 117 snaps in the regular season. He’s going to have to make an impact in the secondary if the Bears want to continue advancing — and he’s an upgrade over Gardner-Johnson.

There’s some subjectivity involved in breaking down attempts/completions and yards allowed by defensive backs while in coverage. Looking at available numbers, there is a big split between Gardner-Johnson’s first five games with the Bears and the last five, according to Pro Football Reference.

Quarterbacks targeting Gardner-Johnson

First 5 games: 9 of 15 for 44 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT; 3 sacks, 5 QB pressures, 1 forced fumble
Last 5 games: 27 of 39 for 336 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT; 0 sacks, 0 pressures

Gardner-Johnson intercepted Jordan Love in the Week 14 game at Lambeau Field when the quarterback was fooled by a zone drop. He picked off Shedeur Sanders the next week when he sank and grabbed an underthrown ball for Browns tight end Harold Fannin along the sideline.

Of late, opposing quarterbacks have taken advantage of Gardner-Johnson, especially in man coverage when he has been unable to get his hands on the receiver and re-route him at the line of scrimmage. Gardner-Johnson is best when he can be disruptive around the line of scrimmage, but when he has to turn and run, he’s been isolated in disadvantageous positions.

As far as elsewhere in the secondary, Nahshon Wright was on the field for 70 of the 71 snaps and Jaylon Johnson, who looked better than he has the past couple games, had 58 snaps. Tyrique Stevenson rotated in and got 20 snaps as the defense went with some heavy DB looks at the very end.

8. Not only was 2018 the last time the Bears earned a home playoff game, it’s also the last time the franchise had a position player selected as first team All-Pro.

Bears guard Joe Thuney (62) celebrates after a touchdown by teammate D’Andre Swift in the fourth quarter at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sept. 28, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

Kickoff returner Cordarrelle Patterson was named All-Pro in 2019 and 2020, but otherwise the Bears have been shut out since 2018 as it’s difficult for good players on perennially bad teams to catch accolades unless it’s someone like Myles Garrett or Jeffery Simmons.

Left guard Joe Thuney was named first team All-Pro for the third consecutive season and free safety Kevin Byard III collected his third first team All-Pro — and first since 2021. Right tackle Darnell Wright was a second team All-Pro pick behind Detroit’s Penei Sewell, and they were the only two players to receive first-team votes.

The offensive line was the focus of general manager Ryan Poles’ offseason roster makeover. With Caleb Williams’ sacks being cut from 68 to 24 and the rushing offense finishing third in the league, Thuney and Wright were not the only linemen to get attention from the panel of voters for the Associated Press honors.

Right guard Jonah Jackson received seven votes for first team and finished fourth in balloting behind Denver’s Quinn Meinerz, Atlanta’s Chris Lindstrom and the Los Angeles Rams’ Kevin Dotson.

Center Drew Dalman garnered three votes for first team and finished fourth in voting after Kansas City’s Creed Humphrey, Miami’s Aaron Brewer and Baltimore’s Tyler Linderbaum.

Thuney and Wright gave the Bears two linemen named first or second team All-Pro for the first time since 1986 when left tackle Jimbo Covert was first team and center Jay Hilgenberg was second team.

Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams dubbed each offensive lineman an ‘Avengers’ character: Here’s who he picked

The O-line turnaround cannot be overemphasized when analyzing this season considering how much space has been devoted over the years to the franchise’s shortcomings in the trenches. Poles set out to finally fix it as the Bears moved on from mid-tier free agents like Nate Davis and attempts at reclamation projects — remember Alex Leatherwood — and got serious. The Bears traded for Thuney and Jackson and then extended the contracts of both. The Bears made Dalman the third-highest paid center in the league. Then, the Bears drafted tackle Ozzy Trapilo in the second round and he went on to start six regular-season games on the left side.

“It starts with those guys up front,” Williams said in October. “Those guys up front have been awesome. Being able to get in rhythm with those guys, not having many guys down in a sense, being able to get multiple reps. I think I’ve said it multiple times from last year to now, it’s being able to figure out where their weaknesses are, because every player has some weaknesses or anything like that.

“So being able to figure out where their weaknesses are and play off of that in the pocket and being able to feel that and know where I need to set up or rollout or get out the pocket at certain times. It’s being able to have those guys’ back when things don’t go right. These guys are beasts up front.”

I went back to that quote because Williams was citing the durability of the linemen. That’s been a huge part of the success when you consider the massive turnover the team went through on the line in previous seasons, not year to year or month to month but often game to game.

Bears center Drew Dalman (52) and left guard Joe Thuney (62) work to protect quarterback Caleb Williams against the Bengals on Nov. 2, 2025, in Cincinnati. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

That was back in October and the core new additions — Thuney, Dalman and Jackson — continued to post week after week. Dalman played in all 1,154 snaps, according to Pro Football Reference. Thuney missed a grand total of five snaps, late in ballgames. Jackson was on the field for all but 21 snaps — 20 during the Nov. 23 win over Pittsburgh when he had to go to the locker room to have an eye injury examined before returning.

Gone are the gamedays of wondering how many quarters Teven Jenkins would play before he was injured. The former Bears’ second-round pick — now with Cleveland — left the Dec. 14 game at Soldier Field with a shoulder injury. The irony of the situation — not to minimize whatever Jenkins was going through — wasn’t lost on any observers.

“Now you know what we had to go through,” one team source said after the game.

The stability the interior of the line had and the toughness Wright showed — he suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow in the Week 3 win over Dallas and only missed the following week — provided Williams and the running backs with a consistent base for the offense. Between the work of offensive line coach Dan Roushar, Thuney, Ben Johnson’s play calling and the work of the tight ends, the Bears were able to handle three starters — Braxton Jones, Theo Benedet and Trapilo — at left tackle.

The fifth-year option in Wright’s rookie contract is a formality now. The Bears will pick up that option for 2027 and probably, at some point in the offseason, work on brokering a multi-year extension.

There’s some youth in the mix with Trapilo, Benedet and rookie Luke Newman on the interior to build for the future. The Bears flipped arguably the greatest weakness of the roster into its finest strength in one offseason — and there’s proof in how four of the linemen received votes for All-Pro.

9. The vibe I have received while chatting with folks around the league this past week is that assistant general manager Ian Cunningham has a very good chance to land with the Atlanta Falcons.

Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham, left, and general manager Ryan Poles walk the field before their team faced the Ravens on Oct. 26, 2025, at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Cunningham has been through the annual interview cycle for several years and turned down the Arizona Cardinals GM job in 2023.

The Falcons interviewed Cunningham on Friday for the newly created president of football position. On Saturday morning, former Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan was hired for that job. One source predicts Cunningham will be hired as GM for the Falcons and that Josh Williams, currently the director of scouting and football for the 49ers, could become the assistant general manager. Williams also interviewed for the president of football job. Atlanta’s brass probably has a pretty good idea of who Cunningham is and what he could bring to the GM job after considering him for the president position.

Ever since Ryan emerged as a possibility to join Atlanta’s front office, there’s been buzz that Cunningham could be headed there. As I noted in this space last week, Matt Ryan is close friends with Bears GM Ryan Poles since their playing days together at Boston College.

Of course, the Bears’ rise to the top of the NFC North this season buttressed the resume of Cunningham, who previously worked for the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens, franchises noted for having strong front offices.

If the Falcons indeed hire Cunningham as GM, the Bears are considered unlikely to receive compensatory third-round draft picks in 2026 and 2027 as part of the Rooney Rule. The Bears would be in line for the picks if Cunningham is deemed to be the “primary football executive,” but right now the belief is the league will view Ryan as having that role in the Falcons organization.

I guess I would not rule out the possibility the Bears would get draft picks and it could come down to language in specific contracts. The league has come under regular criticism for a lack of diversity in top roles. It’s possible to think the NFL wants to do everything possible to give the appearance the system is working. Again, this is purely speculation, but there was buzz all week about Cunningham going to Atlanta and more of it at Soldier Field on Saturday night.

The Falcons GM job is the only one open after the Miami Dolphins hired Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan on Friday. Sullivan’s father Jerry was a wide receivers coach in the NFL for 25 years and spent another two decades at the college level. His father-in-law is Pete Hoener, the former Bears offensive line coach and a Peoria native.

10. The three-game run Colston Loveland is on is just a little teaser for the rest of the league for where the tight end could be next season.

Loveland was targeted 15 times and caught eight passes for 137 yards. From Week 17 through the wild-card round, he has 24 catches for 322 yards and two touchdowns.

Here’s the complete list of tight ends with eight or more catches and 135 or more yards in a playoff game:

Rob Gronkowski, New England: 8 catches, 144 yards on Jan. 24, 2016
Zach Miller, Seattle: 8-142 on Jan. 13, 2013
Gronkowski, New England: 10-145 on Jan. 14, 2012
Shannon Sharpe, Denver: 13-156 on Jan. 9, 1994
Steve Jordan, Minnesota: 9-149 on Jan. 6, 1990
Kellen Winslow, San Diego: 13-166 on Jan. 2, 1982

“We got a home run with him and that’s something Coach said the other day to me,” Caleb Williams said. “We were sitting in his office and everybody goes back to draft night. Why did we get Colston Loveland and why did we do this and why did we do that? It’s Colston Loveland, you know what I mean? That’s who he is. One of the hardest workers on this team. He’s there late, he’s there early. His body language when he’s on the field, all of that, is — I’m excited for what’s to come.

“I’m excited for what we got to show for these next couple weeks, and then what is to come in the future for our trust, our bond, seeing different route concepts and seeing different defenses and just being on the same page 99% of the time. I’m excited.”

Loveland doesn’t turn 22 until April and he’s got an entire offseason to devote to training. First, he’s got at least one more game and he’s putting up numbers of late.

10a. Cornerback Nahshon Wright, who had five interceptions, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles, received one first team vote for All-Pro. He finished 10th overall and there were some big names at the top: Derek Stingley Jr., Quinyon Mitchell, Patrick Surtain II and Devon Witherspoon. It was surprising Cincinnati’s D.J. Turner received only one point in voting. On a bad defense, he had some outstanding performances over the course of the season.

Thirteen kickoff returners received votes and Devin Duvernay received one first-place vote. He ranked sixth overall. On special teams, Josh Blackwell received one first-place vote and Jonathan Owens was also on some ballots. It’s an oversight that Daniel Hardy wasn’t named by any voters.

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10b. A lot of numbers jumped out at me from the box score. Here are three to consider.

First, Williams threw for a club record 361 yards in a postseason game. I’m sure you’ve caught on to this pretty quickly, but all sorts of Bears offensive marks figure to be replaced with Ben Johnson as coach. He’s sharp and in some cases, especially when it comes to throwing the football, there are some low bars to clear.

Second, two penalties for five yards. Johnson talked about being poised and channeling focus all week. Gone were the avoidable 15-yard penalties that plagued the team in the previous meeting with the Packers.

Third, zero punts for Tory Taylor. Part of that, of course, is going 2-for-6 on fourth down.

10c. The Bears do not know who they will be hosting at Soldier Field next weekend, but DraftKings has a head start on some early lines.

On Friday, DraftKings listed the Rams as a 4 1/2-point favorite over the Bears if they meet in the divisional round and had the Eagles as a 2 1/2-point favorite.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/11/chicago-bears-brad-biggs-10-thoughts-packers-playoffs/