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Through three-and-a-half quarters on Saturday night, the Green Bay Packers appeared to be cruising toward a season sweep of the Chicago Bears and first place in the NFC North. Just minutes of game time later, the Bears pulled off an improbable comeback to get a 22-16 win in overtime and relegate the Packers to wild card status.
Plenty of things had to go wrong for Green Bay to botch what was a 10-point lead with less than three minutes remaining, and there is a long list of culprits. Backup quarterback Malik Willis, who played most of the game after Jordan Love went down with a concussion, is not exempt.
After the Bears made up the 10-point deficit in the final two minutes of regulation to force overtime, the Packers got a chance to strike first in the extra period. But on fourth-and-1 in fringe field goal range, Willis fumbled an under-center snap, leading to a turnover on downs that set up the Bears’ winning score.
After the game, Willis took the blame for the botched exchange, explaining that he sped up the snap count without telling center Sean Rhyan, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic.
Malik Willis took blame for the fourth-down botched snap. Said he sped up the snap count to get the snap off in time and should’ve let Sean Rhyan know in the huddle he’d do that.
“That play, ultimately, it decided the game.” pic.twitter.com/0daSi4ieti
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) December 21, 2025
“That play, ultimately, it decided the game,” Willis said. “It didn’t give us a chance to get points, it didn’t give us a chance to help the defense out and keep them over here on the sideline to rest up and get ready for their final drive. Kind of flipped the game on its head.”
It didn’t take the Bears long to capitalize, as Caleb Williams found DJ Moore for a 46-yard touchdown to end the game just minutes after the costly fumble.
Willis played admirably in relief of Love after the star QB took a hard hit to the head in the first half, but that one mistake proved costly enough to decide the game. The former Titans starter finished 9-for-11 with 121 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 44 yards on 10 carries.
It remains to be seen whether Willis will have to start a massive Week 17 game against the Baltimore Ravens, and Love will have to go through concussion protocol throughout the week to try to get ready for another Saturday game.
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