Windy City Gridiron
Our standout performers from the Week 18 victory in Green Bay.
Now that was fun.
After the catastrophe that was the 2024 season, the Chicago Bears walked into Lambeau Field and earned a victory against the Green Bay Packers. Finally. This was the Bears’ first victory at Lambeau since 2015, and their first win against the Packers since December 2018.
It wasn’t easy. The Bears offense looked as bad as ever early on, with interim head coach Thomas Brown calling more screen passes than any coach ever should. Ever. The offensive line was getting destroyed. And yet, the team fought on.
Once again, Bears QB Caleb Williams put the team in position to win in the closing minutes of the game, leading a sub-one minute drive on the road in the closing minutes. However, unlike other times this year when the rookie QB led a potential game winning drive, this time the team closed it out. Cairo Santos hit a 51 yard field and the Bears exorcised their green and gold demons.
Williams starts his Bears career undefeated at Lambeau Field (and without an illegally blocked field goal in Chicago, would have swept the Packers this year). Yes, this season was incredibly disappointing, but this one felt real good.
Let’s look at the standout performers from the Week 18 victory in Wisconsin.
Byard, simply for this play.
Okay, he did more than just that sack-forced fumble. But my goodness, was that a thing of beauty or what?
Byard set the tone for the Bears defense on Sunday, leading all defenders with 14 total tackles. He added the aforementioned sack, one tackle for loss, and one QB hit. The ninth year man was a big addition to the Bears defense in 2024, one of its most consistent players, and one of GM Ryan Poles’ best free agent signings.
We have seen Williams play well in crunch time all year long, and I had no doubt when the Bears got the ball back at the end of the game that he could get them into field goal position. My bigger worry was whether they’d make the field goal (more on that in a minute).
But how great is it to finally have a QB like this on the Bears? Not a guy who we worry will fumble the ball in crunch time or throw a pick. Nope, a bonafide playmaker. Ice cold blood in his veins. We’ve seen him deliver in these situations all year, but then the team would find a way to squander it.
To finally put it all together, at Lambeau, was beautiful.
Williams becomes the first Bears QB to win at Lambeau Field since Jay Cutler on Thanksgiving night in 2015. That was Cutler’s only win at Lambeau as the Bears QB. In fact, the only Bears QB this century who has more than one win at Lambeau Field is Rex Grossman (2004-2006)....
