Packer Central

Live Updates: Packers Beat Bears 20-19 on Blocked Field Goal

The Green Bay Packers have won 10 consecutive games against the Chicago Bears. Can they make it 11? Follow along all day for updates from Soldier Field.

Bill Huber

The scene at Soldier Field for Packers-Bears.
The scene at Soldier Field for Packers-Bears. / Bill Huber/Packers On SI
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CHICAGO – The Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears will meet for the 209th time on Sunday at Soldier Field. The Packers have won 10 in a row in the series; the Bears have lost three in a row overall.

Will those trends continue? Follow along for updates.

Final Score

Packers 20, Bears 19

Fourth Quarter

Packers 20, Bears 19 (2:59 remaining)

On the second play of a do-or-die drive, Jordan Love threw a pass to the left to Christian Watson. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson fell and Watson made an unbelievable diving catch at the 45. He got up sprinted to the 14 for a gain of 60. The Beards challenged but Watson’s hands were under the ball. Jordan Love scrambled to the 1 and snuck in for the touchdown. The 2-point run was stuffed, so it will be up to Green Bay’s defense to win the game.

Bears 19, Packers 14 (4:17 remaining)

The Bears didn’t score the clinching points but they consumed 7 minutes off the block. The Bears converted three consecutive third downs before a dropped pass by Keenan Allen and a well-timed blitz by Jeff Hafley forced a punt.

Jayden Reed’s 16-yard punt return gives the Packers the ball at their 22. It will be up to Jordan Love to win the game.

Bears 19, Packers 14 (11:19 remaining)

After Josh Jacobs started the quarter with a 12-yard run, Jordan Love faked a handoff to Jacobs, extended the play to his right and threw a deep ball into double coverage to Christian Watson against cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Elijah Hicks. Hicks was in good position but lost his footing and Watson made the catch for 48 to the 8.

Green Bay got nothing out of it, though. On third-and-goal from the 5, Love was flushed out of the pocket and took a 1-yard sack. Coach Matt LaFleur kept the offense on the field for fourth-and-goal at the 6. Love didn’t see anyone open and ran to his right but was stopped by linebacker T.J. Edwards at the 1.

It will be up to Green Bay’s defense to get a stop.

Third Quarter

Bears 19, Packers 14 (0:31 remaining)

Chicago’s offense, which was so bad that it fired its offensive coordinator, looks unstoppable with its fourth drive in five possessions. After Caleb Williams converted a fourth-and-1 with another read option keeper, the Bears overcame first-and-20 on D’Andre Swift’s 39-yard touchdown on a toss. Evan Williams was obliterated, Carrington Valentine was too far outside and Xavier McKinney missed a tackle near the 20. The 2-point pass failed.

Packers 14, Bears 13 (6:34 remaining)

The Packers are back in front on Josh Jacobs’ 7-yard touchdown run. Zach Tom helped clear a big hole for Jacobs, who ran through a tackle attempt at the 5 and strolled into the end zone. At the start of the drive, Jacobs turned a swing pass into a 21-yard gain. On the play before the touchdown, Christian Watson was wide open between the linebacker and the safety for a 25-yard catch.

Injury update: CB Jaire Alexander (knee) is out.

Bears 13, Packers 7 (10:17 remaining)

Chicago’s offense, so woeful the last three games, just tacked on a field goal to extend the Bears’ lead to 6. The big play was Caleb Williams’ superb pass to tight end Cole Kmet for 25. Xavier McKinney was in position for an interception but Williams pass floated just over his head. A big run stop by Evan Williams and strong third-down coverage by Carrington Valentine forced the Bears to settle for Cairo Santos’ 27-yard field goal.

Injury update: CB Jaire Alexander (knee) is questionable. He did not play during the final sequence of the first half. Carrington Valentine and Keisean Nixon are the corners to start the second half.

Alexander was questionable on the injury report due to a knee injury sustained three weeks ago at Jacksonville. He started and played intermittently throughout the first half.

“I think he’s done a really good job,” defensive coordinator Hafley said on Thursday. “I thought he got better and better as he got going. And he just changes a lot of things that we can do. Some people don’t even want to throw to his side, which helps out a lot. He’s obviously able to make plays on the ball. There’s always the threat of him taking it away. So, I think he’s one of the best. Hopefully, we’ll see that again really soon.”

Halftime

Bears 10, Packers 7

Green Bay’s 10-game winning streak over Chicago is in jeopardy, as the Bears lead at halftime and will get the ball to start the second half.

Chicago entered the game with 23 consecutive possessions without scoring a touchdown but Roschon Johnson ran through Quay Walker on third-and-goal with 7 seconds remaining in the first half.

Jordan Love is 8-of-12 passing for 99 yards but fired his 11th interception, which allowed Chicago to drive for the go-ahead score.

Green Bay is 1-of-4 on third down while Chicago is 5-of-7.

Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, who was sacked nine times last week, was sacked only oncce in the first half and added 60 rushing yards on six carries.

Second Quarter

Bears 10, Packers 7 (7 seconds remaining)

Caleb Williams and the Bears capitalized on Jordan Love’s interception to lead at halftime. On third-and-5, Williams scrambled for 13. On third-and-1, he took a read-option for 7. On the next play, the Packers’ pass rush voided the middle of the field, which allowed Williams to run for 12 to the 17. On the next play, Williams fired a receiver screen to D.J. Moore, he broke a tackle by Evan Williams and maneuvered through Green Bay’s defense for 12 yards to the 5. Finally, on third-and-goal from the 1, Roschon Johnson got past Quay Walker for the touchdown.

Packers 7, Bears 3 (5:49 remaining)

The bye hasn’t eliminated the Packers’ penchant for punching themselves in the face. They went from second-and-1 at the 5 to third-and-11 at the 15 before Jordan Love threw a high fastball that whistled through the hands of tight end Tucker Kraft and was intercepted at the goal line by Terell Smith. Chicago will start at its 24 following Love’s 11th interception of the season. On second-and-1, left guard Elgton Jenkins was downfield on a pass. On second-and-6, a sweep to Jayden Reed lost 5. Could this be a game-changing sequence?

Packers 7, Bears 3 (13:28 remaining)

The first quarter ended with a bunch of penalties. An illegal shift by receiver DeAndre Carter wiped out a run for 6 and illegal motion by D.J. Moore deleted an 11-yard pass to Keenan Allen. On second-and-long after all of that, Williams ran around right end for a gain of 7. Xavier McKinney’s paddy-shove in the back resulted in Williams falling to the ground as if he’d been hit from behind by a male elephant. That gave the Bears a first down at Green Bay’s 45 at the end of the first quarter.

However, Green Bay got the stop to start the second quarter because Brenton Cox destroyed a play-action bootleg and sacked Williams for a loss of 10.

First Quarter

Packers 7, Bears 3 (4:54 remaining)

The Bears’ defense was tougher this time. Green Bay picked up one first down, but Jordan Love had to throw it away on first down, Josh Jacobs lost a yard on second down and the Packers had to settle for a checkdown to Jacobs on third-and-long. Daniel Whelan’s punt pinned the Bears at their 5.

Packers 7, Bears 3 (7:49 remaining)

The Bears answered Green Bay’s opening touchdown drive with a 53-yard field goal by Cairo Santos. On third-and-8 at the start of the drive, Caleb Williams broke contain, outran Edgerrin Cooper and scrambled for 16. The drive died, though, on Brenton Cox’s tackle for loss on second-and-7 and Williams’ incompletion on third-and-10. Rashan Gary’s inside move got him free for a hit on Williams.

Packers 7, Bears 0 (11:15 remaining)

The Packers drove 70 yards in eight plays for an easy touchdown drive to open the game. After Josh Jacobs gained 1 yard on the first play, Jacobs rushed for 10, Romeo Doubs caught a pass for 17, Jacobs ran for 8 and 6 and Emanuel Wilson gained 13 by breaking two tackles. The Packers went quick on the next play, catching the Bears with 12 men on the field (as well as offside) on Jordan Love’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Reed.

Josh Jacobs vs. the Bears

A key matchup will feature the Josh Jacobs-led Packers rushing attack going against a Chicago defense that has been vulnerable against the run.

The Bears are 28th in the NFL with 4.85 yards allowed per carry. Jacobs is fourth in the NFL in rushing with 762 rushing yards.

Going a bit deeper, Jacobs is one of 50 running backs with at least 50 carries. From that group, Jacobs is fifth with 3.73 yards after contact per carry, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Bears’ defense tackles well, though. According to SportRadar, the Bears have missed 46 tackles – eighth-fewest in the league.

“For me, man, it’s just not giving up on a play,” Jacobs said. “It’s trying to go out there and give everything that I have and never feeling like I didn’t try. Me being a vet in this locker room, me trying to be the leader that I want to be, I hold myself to certain standards, to a certain level of accountability, and I wouldn’t be able to come in here and look these guys in the eye if I feel like I didn’t get everything that I had.

“And I feel like I couldn’t ask that out of them if I wasn’t showing it or giving it. So, that’s just the thing that I think about every time I step on that field. I know my brother is straining for me to get a block or cut off a DB and things like that, so I just try to play mark.”

Packers-Bears Inactives

Jaire Alexander and Evan Williams are active, meaning the Green Bay secondary will be at full strength.

Injury Updates

In their loss to Detroit before the bye, the Packers played without star cornerback Jaire Alexander and rookie starting safety Evan Williams.

According to a source, Williams (hamstring) was cautiously optimistic that he would be able to play.

Alexander, however, would go through a pregame workout to determine his availability.

Alexander suffered a knee injury on the final defensive snap off the victory at Jacksonville. He was limited participation at all three practices this week.

If Alexander is inactive, that will mean he will have missed all three NFC North games.

Dropping the Ball

There are a few mismatches in Chicago’s favor. One of them is dropped passes.

According to SportRadar, the Packers have dropped 23 passes while the Bears have only dropped seven. By percentage, Green Bay’s drop rate of 8.2 percent is the worst in the NFL. Chicago’s drop rate of 2.4 percent is the fourth-best.

Among all players who have been targeted at least 20 times, according to Pro Football Focus, Dontayvion Wicks has the highest drop rate in the league at 27.3 percent. Jayden Reed has the fifth-highest at 16.3 percent.

Reed has seven drops and Wicks has six; the Bears have seven.

“You go back and are like, ‘All right, what’s your weekly process with how you warm up, how you train your hands, what are you doing?’” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said.

“And you’ve just got to make tweaks – and we’ve done that – and, hopefully, we see the results from that moving forward. But I have a ton of confidence in Tay and I know whatever issues we have with the catching, we’ll get those resolved and I’m excited about that.”

Wicks scored two touchdowns against Chicago in Week 18 at Lambeau Field. He’s confident better days are ahead.

“My confidence ain’t going nowhere,” he said. “I’m still confident in my hands, I know what I can do. It’s just, it’s going to turn. I’m just waiting on my time.”

First Run In Rivalry

Packers running back Josh Jacobs is having a tremendous season. He’s on pace to finish with the third-most rushing yards in franchise history and will be running at one of the worst run defenses in the NFL.

Jacobs is no stranger to big rivalries, having played in Alabama-Auburn games as well as Raiders-Chiefs clashes.

“I know the history,” Jacobs said. “But, man, I’m not going to lie, whenever I’m on that field, whoever I’m going against, I take every game personal. I take every game like it could be my last game.

“But these types of games, there’s just a little bit more to it, a little bit more bragging rights, a little bit more – you know, you walk with a little different type of aura. So, it’s going to be fun. I love going against good teams. I love seeing where I’m at and the preparation that I put in that week, seeing how it all plays out on game days against a good team, so it’s going to be fun for me.”

Defense Leads Dominance

The Packers have dominated the rivalry because of their quarterbacks. Green Bay has won 10 in a row against Chicago, with the first eight wins by Aaron Rodgers and the last two by Jordan Love.

The defense has come up big, too. Green Bay has won five in a row at Soldier Field. The Packers have not allowed more than 20 points in any of those games. That’s a feat matched in Packers lore by only Curly Lambeau’s teams, which allowed a total of 18 points in five games at Chicago spanning the 1928 through 1930 seasons.

Missing Marcedes

Former Packers tight end Marcedes Lewis is in his 19th season and will be playing in his 278th career game. That’s by far the most games among current players, with Panthers long snapper J.J. Jansen (253) and Dolphins defensive tackle Calais Campbell (252) about a season-and-a-half behind.

Lewis has played more games than any tight end in NFL history; former Cowboys star Jason Witten played in 271.

“Cedes is a guy that I’ve got as much respect for as anybody in this game,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “It was obviously a lot of fun working with him. I think you lean on some of those veteran players, just getting their insight.

“He always had great nuggets for us, and I always thought he championed the message in the locker room and was a great leader, was a big brother to many of the younger players, which most of the guys were younger than him. Just a great mentor and he meant a lot to us. He’s a guy that I keep in touch with in the offseason, as well, and just got a lot of respect for him.”

Speaking of Tight Ends

Could Packers tight end Tucker Kraft have a big game?

Packers Big Favorites

The Packers are 5.5-point favorites against Chicago at DraftKings. Here are some betting-centric notes from The Action Network’s Evan Abrams.

- Road favorites coming off a bye are 76-51-4 against the spread over the past two decades.

- The Packers have been underdogs against Chicago just four times since 2009. Over the last 20 years, the Bears are 12-30-1 against the spread against the Packers. A $100 bettor would be down $1,873. 

- Chicago hasn’t won or covered against Green Bay since 2018.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.