GREEN BAY – The Bears rallied for 10 unanswered points to tie Sunday's first-place battle 21-21 midway through the fourth quarter. But Josh Jacobs' 2-yard touchdown run with 3:32 to play gave the Packers a 28-21 win.
Seeking to tie the score or take the lead, the Bears reached the Green Bay 14. But on fourth-and-1, Caleb Williams' pass intended for Cole Kmet was intercepted by cornerback Keisean Nixon in the end zone with :22 remaining.
The defeat snapped a five-game winning streak and dropped the Bears (9-4) into second place in the NFC North, a half game behind the Packers (9-3-1) with four games remaining. The Bears are one game ahead of the Lions (8-5) and will host both Green Bay in two weeks and Detroit in the season finale at Soldier Field.
The Bears defense generated back-to-back impact plays on Green Bay's first drive of the game. After the Packers had reached the Chicago 38, Montez Sweat sacked Jordan Love for a 14-yard loss and C.J. Gardner-Johnson followed by intercepting a Love pass over the middle and returning it 28 yards to the Green Bay 36.
The offense was unable to capitalize, however, and the Bears were forced to punt following three straight incompletions and a false start penalty.
Love rebounded to throw a 23-yard touchdown pass to receiver Christian Watson, beating a blitz to give the Packers a 7-0 lead with 9:19 left in the second quarter.
The Bears cut the deficit to 7-3 on Cairo Santos' 33-yard field goal with 1:14 remaining in the first half. The kick capped a 14-play, 59-yard drive that was sustained by Williams' 12-yard pass to Luther Burden III on third-and-3 and Williams' 5-yard run on fourth-and-1.
The Packers answered immediately, extending their lead to 14-3 on Love's 45-yard touchdown heave to receiver Bo Melton with :45 to play in the half.
The Bears closed the gap to 14-11 midway through the third quarter on Williams' 1-yard TD pass to Olamide Zaccheaus coupled with Kyle Monangai's two-point conversion run. The TD was set up by Williams' 26-yard pass to Kmet down the right sideline to the 11. The quarterback eluded a defender in the backfield, sprinted to his right and hit Kmet in stride.
On first-and-goal from the 1, Williams rolled to his right and side-armed a pass to Zaccheaus, who made a sensational diving catch just inside the sideline with Nixon all over him.
Monangai was stopped short of the goal line on the two-point conversion, but he was pushed into the end zone by center Drew Dalman and left guard Joe Thuney.
The Packers again responded immediately, extending their lead to 21-11 just 2:10 after the Bears touchdown on Love's 41-yard TD pass to Watson.
The Bears made it a one-score game once again at 21-14 on Santos' 41-yard field goal with 3:15 to play in the third quarter.
After the defense forced a three-and-out, Williams engineered an impressive 17-play, 83-yard drive that he capped with a 1-yard TD pass to Colston Loveland, tying the score 21-21 with 8:00 remaining in the fourth quarter.
