Just when you thought you had witnessed the most dramatic, astonishing, improbable comeback victories by the Bears this year, they topped each and every one of them Saturday night in the most important game of the season.
Trailing their first-place showdown with the Packers 16-6 late, the Bears scored 10 points in the final 1:59 of regulation to tie the score 16-16 and then won the game 22-16 in overtime on Caleb Williams' 46-yard touchdown heave to DJ Moore.
With the victory, the Bears (11-4) avenged their Week 14 loss in Green Bay, extended their division lead to a game-and-a-half over the Packers (9-5-1) with two contests remaining and registered their seventh win in their last eight games.
The Bears will clinch a playoff berth Sunday if the Lions lose to the Steelers in Detroit and can secure the NFC North title by winning either of their final two games at San Francisco or at home versus Detroit. They would also capture the division crown if the Packers lose one of their last two contests versus Baltimore or at Minnesota and the Lions drop one of their next two games against Pittsburgh or at Minnesota.
The Bears have now won six games this season in which they trailed in the final two minutes of regulation, the most in the NFL this year and the most in franchise history.
"This is a special group," Johnson said. "I felt that early in the season. You get some of those wins—the Raiders game, the Washington game—and you start feeling it, the belief is coming. This group—I'm talking about coaches and players combined—it's rare, it really is. I can't say enough good things about the people in this building.
"[General manager] Ryan [Poles] has done a great job bringing this collection of people together. They're mentally tough. They're physically tough. I know we're going to fight you for 60 minutes and even though the odds were against us there that late, we're going to keep on swinging and make some plays when we needed to."
After Cairo Santos' 43-yard field goal cut the deficit to 16-9 with 1:59 to play in the fourth quarter, Josh Blackwell recovered the subsequent onside kick at the Bears' 47.
Williams followed by completing 6 of 8 passes for 53 yards capped by a 6-yard TD pass to Jahdae Walker on fourth-and-4 to tie the score 16-16 with :24 to play. Williams beat a Packers blitz and found the undrafted rookie wide open in the right corner of the end zone.
"That's one of those plays that we felt like depending on the coverage, it would change who the primary receiver was going to be," Johnson said. "The play before, they covered-zeroed us and Caleb was aware of that. They came back on fourth down and did the same thing, cover zero, and on that particular play, Jahdae was our zero answer."
The Bears won the overtime coin toss and elected to kick. The Packers reached the Chicago 36, but on fourth-and-1, a botched exchange between center Sean Rhyan and quarterback Malik Willis resulted in a fumble that running back Emmanuel Wilson recovered short of the line to gain, turning the ball over on downs.
After Kyle Monangai's 11-yard run on third-and-3 sustained the Bears' first possession of overtime, Williams rainbowed the game-winning TD pass to Moore, igniting a raucous celebration at Soldier Field.
"That was one that we put in and we ran in practice on Thursday, and it almost looked identical to that," Johnson said. "Caleb threw a dime in practice and DJ came down with it. We timed that one up right [in the game]. DJ ran a great route and Caleb threw him a great ball.
"It's also a testament to our preparation over the course of the week. The coaches do a great job of coming up with good ideas to put our guys in good spots, and when you go out and execute it on the practice field, it does become game day reality for us."
Williams completed 19 of 34 passes for 250 yards with two TDs—on the Bears' last two possessions—no turnovers and a 98.9 passer rating.
Moore and Santos received game balls from Johnson in the postgame locker room celebration. With receivers Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III both inactive due to injuries, Moore led the Bears with five receptions for 97 yards. Santos made all three field goals he attempted from 46, 51 and 43 yards in windy conditions.
"He did a phenomenal job," Johnson said. "That's a big asset for us. He's been here. He understands that wind. He does a great job in practice. He gets a lot of time on task with it. I thought he handled it really well. Huge reason why he got a game ball."
The Packers offense advanced into at least the Chicago 10 or score a TD on each of its first six drives of the game—not counting a kneel down at the end of the first half. But the Bears defense did not allow a TD on five red-zone possessions.
The Packers led 6-0 at halftime on Brandon McManus field goals of 26 and 22 yards on back-to-back second quarter possessions. The Bears defense allowed 178 yards in the first half but tightened inside the red zone, forcing Green Bay to turn the ball over on downs and settle for the two field goals after reaching the Chicago 8, 5 and 4.
The second field goal came after Packers quarterback Jordan Love had been knocked out of the game with a concussion. Love was replaced by Willis after absorbing a helmet-to-helmet hit by Austin Booker with 8:15 left in the second period.
The Bears' best chance to score in the first half came on their first possession when Williams completed passes of 15 yards to Jahdae Wallker and 27 yards to Olamide Zaccheaus. But on fourth-and-1 from the Packers' 4, center Drew Dalman sailed a shotgun snap over Monangai, who was lined up in the wildcat formation. Monangai recovered the fumble for an 18-yard loss.
The Bears cut the deficit to 6-3 on their first drive of the second half on Santos' 46-yard field goal. Santos played the strong crosswind perfectly, kicking the ball toward the left upright and letting the wind push it back into the center.
The Packers responded by once again driving the length of the field. But on first-and-goal from the 4, Nahshon Wright ripped the ball away from running back Josh Jacobs and Tremaine Edmunds recovered at the 2.
Green Bay extended its lead to 13-3 on Willis' 33-yard TD pass to receiver Romeo Doubs with :33 remaining in the third quarter.
The Bears answered as Santos' 51-yard field goal into the wind made it a one-score game with 10:52 remaining. But McManus followed with a 28-yard field goal, widening the margin to 16-6 with 5:03 to play.
But the cardiac Bears proved once again that the game was far from over.
"I don't think I've been around a team that when it's this late in games they don't bat an eye," Johnson said. "You don't feel any despair on the sideline from any of the phases … With our guys, they don't miss a beat. They just keep plucking along and they know good things will come if we just keep on swinging away.
"I couldn't be more proud of the group. I'm very fortunate to be in the position I'm in coaching these guys. It's not something I take for granted."
