Bears face Packers at Lambeau Field with NFC North lead in the balance
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chicago (9-3) at Green Bay (8-3-1)
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The NFC North leaders are eager to show they’re not the same old Chicago Bears who continually took their lumps against the Green Bay Packers over the last 15 years or so. Chicago snapped an 11-game skid in this rivalry when it ended the 2024 regular season by winning at Green Bay. The Bears (9-3) have built on that momentum this year as they have the NFC’s best record and carry a five-game winning streak into their Sunday matchup with the Packers (8-3-1) at Lambeau Field. “I think throughout this whole year, what we’ve been able to accomplish has given us extreme confidence,” Bears quarterback Caleb Williams said. “And then, for myself, being a part of something that, everybody knows the stats of the Bears going up there before last year, it wasn’t the best. And so being able to be a part of that (win), being able to contribute to that, provides confidence for myself, and I’m going to exude that to the other guys.”
Chicago hasn’t had a winning season since 2018, but the Bears’ emergence doesn’t surprise Packers safety Xavier McKinney. McKinney was impressed with the creativity new Bears coach Ben Johnson showed as Detroit’s offensive coordinator when the Lions swept the Packers last season. “I knew they were going to be good,” McKinney said. “Especially whenever they ended up getting Ben Johnson, I was, ‘OK, they’re going to be a problem this year.’” The Packers also are feeling good about themselves. They’ve won three straight and are eager to regain control of this rivalry.
These two teams will face each other twice in a span of 14 days in a pair of games that will go a long way toward determining the NFC North champion. They meet again Dec. 20 at Chicago. “I feel like our team knows that we control our destiny at this point,” Packers safety Evan Williams said. “There’s a lot that’s to be said about the Bears and how they’re doing right now. They’ve put together a hell of a season. But at the end of the day, I feel like we all understand if we go out there, put our best foot forward and play our best ball, that we don’t feel there’s a team that can hang with us.”
Another frantic finish?
The two matchups between the Packers and Bears last season both were decided by field-goal attempts on the final play. Chicago’s Cairo Santos made a 51-yarder in the Bears’ 24-22 victory at Green Bay after having a 46-yarder blocked by Karl Brooks to end the Packers’ 20-19 triumph at Chicago.
Feasting on turnovers
Chicago has an NFL-leading plus-17 turnover margin. The Bears have 26 takeaways, four more than any other team. Packers coach Matt LaFleur credits the arrival of former New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen as Chicago’s defensive coordinator. “He does such a great job getting that out of his guys, but I also think it’s a credit to his players in regards to just, they’ve got tremendous ball skills, really, on every level of the defense,” LaFleur said. Chicago might have a tougher time taking the ball away from Green Bay, which hasn’t committed a single turnover during its three-game win streak.
Passing on it
Johnson raised some eyebrows Monday when he said the Bears are winning “in spite of our passing game, not because of it.” He walked that comment back somewhat the next day. “It is easily construed as I’m not happy with the quarterback,” Johnson said. “That’s not the case whatsoever. He continues to get better each and every week and I couldn’t be more pleased with how he played last week and I know what the stats say. Throw those out the window.” Against Philadelphia last week, Williams was 17 of 36 for 154 yards and finished with the second-worst completion percentage (47.2) of his career. He has completed only 53.2% of his passes in the past five games and ranks last in the NFL in accuracy at 58.1% this season, though the issues aren’t all on him. In the game against the Eagles, for example, receivers lost their footing on several well-placed throws.
Johnson feels blessed to be back
Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson felt “a little sore” and definitely “blessed” after returning from a groin injury last week. The two-time Pro Bowler didn’t think he would play again this season. “But God had different plans and God pushed me and told me I’m on His time and not what anyone else says,” he said. Johnson, who had surgery in September, was in on 61% of Chicago’s defensive plays against Philadelphia after missing the previous nine games. His only other appearance was in a loss at Detroit in Week 2. During one 10-day period in his recovery, Johnson said he consumed only fruits and water.
Surging Parsons
Green Bay’s Micah Parsons has six sacks in his last three games to improve his season total to 12½. He’s the first player to have at least 12 in each of his first five NFL seasons since the statistic started getting tracked in 1982.
Bears player to watch
QB Caleb Williams. Williams became the first Bears quarterback to win at Lambeau Field since Jay Cutler in 2015 when Chicago beat Green Bay in last season’s finale. If he’s going to make it two in a row, a little more accuracy would help. Williams has completed only 53.2% of his passes in the past five games and ranks last in the NFL in accuracy at 58.1% this season. He had a particularly rough time against Philadelphia, when he was 17 of 36 for 154 yards and finished with the second-worst completion rate (47.2 percent) of his career, though it wasn’t all on him. Receivers lost their footing on several well-placed throws.
Packers player to watch
WR Christian Watson. The previous time the Packers faced the Bears, Watson tore his anterior cruciate ligament. Watson returned to action Oct. 26 and has since emerged as perhaps the Packers’ most reliable receiver. Watson has three touchdown catches over his past three games and has 21 overall receptions for 363 yards in six games.
Key matchup
Bears RBs Kyle Monangai and D’Andre Swift vs. Packers run defense: Monangai and Swift each rushed for at least 125 yards and scored a touchdown in the Bears’ road victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles. Swift has 774 yards rushing and Monangai has 591 this season. Green Bay limited Detroit’s dynamic duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery to a combined 100 yards on 28 carries last week, but DT Devonte Wyatt suffered a season-ending ankle injury in that game.
Key injuries
Bears: CB Jaylon Johnson said he felt “definitely a little sore” following his return last week after missing nine games because of a groin injury that required surgery. The two-time Pro Bowler was in on 61% of Chicago’s defensive plays… LB T.J. Edwards (hand/hamstring) has missed the past four games.
Packers: DT Devonte Wyatt suffered a season-ending ankle injury against Detroit… WR Matthew Golden (wrist) has missed three of Green Bay’s past four games… DL Lukas Van Ness (foot) has been out for six of the Packers’ past seven games… CB Nate Hobbs (knee) has missed four straight games… LB Quay Walker (neck) has been unavailable for two consecutive games… WR Savion Williams (foot) and DL Karl Brooks (ankle) also didn’t play last week… WR Jayden Reed (foot/shoulder) has been working his way back after being placed on injured reserve in mid-September, but it remains uncertain whether he will play Sunday.
Series notes
The Bears had lost to the Packers 11 straight times before winning 24-22 at Lambeau Field in their 2024 regular-season finale. Both Packers-Bears games last season came down to a field-goal attempt as time expired. Cairo Santos made a 51-yard field goal to win the game at Lambeau Field after his 46-yard attempt was blocked by Brooks to end the Packers’ 20-19 victory at Soldier Field. The Packers and Bears meet again in Chicago on Dec. 20. The two NFC North rivals play each other twice each season, and this is the longest they’ve gone in a season before facing off since 1998. The Packers’ 108 victories over the Bears match the highest total by any NFL team over another. The New York Giants have beaten Washington 108 times.
Stats and stuff
The Bears clinched a winning record for the first time since the 2018 NFC North championship team went 12-4… Chicago’s five-game win streak is its longest since a five-game run in 2018. The Bears haven’t won six in a row since 2012… The Bears haven’t won consecutive games at Lambeau since 2004 to 2007… Chicago leads the league in interceptions (17), takeaways (26) and turnover differential (plus-17)… Coach Ben Johnson could join George Halas in 1920 as the franchise’s only first-year head coaches to win 10 of their first 13 games… S Kevin Byard leads the NFL with six interceptions — two shy of his career high. CB Nahshon Wright is tied for second with five, and LB Tremaine Edmunds has four… Packers QB Jordan Love has six touchdown passes and only one interception in four career starts against the Bears. Love matched a career high by throwing four touchdown passes in Green Bay’s Thanksgiving Day victory at Detroit… Green Bay has allowed fewer than 20 points in each of its six home games, marking the first time since 1969 that’s happened… Packers RB Josh Jacobs has 11 touchdown runs this season, tying him with Buffalo QB Josh Allen for second place in the NFL. Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor has 15 touchdown runs… Packers DE Micah Parsons is the first player to have at least 12 sacks in each of his first five seasons since the stat started getting officially recorded in 1982. Parsons has six sacks during the Packers’ three-game winning streak. ... Packers WR Dontayvion Wicks caught six passes and scored two touchdowns at Detroit to match his career single-game highs. His 94 yards receiving were three off his career high… Packers LB Isaiah McDuffie has 31 tackles over his past three games.
