For more than 30 years, the rivalry between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers has felt painfully one-sided. Since 1992, Green Bay has won 78 percent of the matchups, a stretch defined by gut punches that linger in Chicago sports memory.
From a 99-yard touchdown by Robert Brooks in 1995, to a blown coverage that cleared the Packers’ playoff path in 2013, to Aaron Rodgers smugly declaring “I still own you” at Soldier Field in 2021, the Bears rarely owned the moment when it mattered most.
That context is what made Week 16 feel different and, eventually, historic. Chicago entered at 10-4 under first-year coach Ben Johnson, riding belief instead of dread. Even after losing to Green Bay two weeks earlier, the Bears sensed a sense of momentum.
The Packers arrived shorthanded, missing Micah Parsons and later quarterback Jordan Love, yet still controlled the game for nearly 58 minutes. Time of possession, physicality, and efficiency all leaned Green Bay’s way, reinforcing familiar fears.
Then everything flipped. In overtime, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams delivered a throw that instantly joined the franchise’s most important plays.
Under pressure and fighting the wind, he launched a pass that traveled 57 yards in the air and dropped perfectly into the hands of D.J. Moore for a walk-off touchdown in a 22-16 win. The play did more than end a game. It rewired the emotional math of the rivalry. For the first time in decades, Chicago authored the memory instead of absorbing it.
Why This Moment Carries Long-Term Weight
The comeback itself bordered on absurd. Chicago’s win probability bottomed out at 0.5 percent. Green Bay failed on five trips inside the Bears’ 10-yard line. Cairo Santos drilled a 43-yard field goal in heavy wind.
The Bears recovered an onside kick, which typically succeeds less than 10 percent of the time. Williams hit Jahdae Walker on fourth down to force overtime. Malik Willis fumbled on Green Bay’s first extra-period snap. Chicago won without forcing a single punt, something it had not done since 1945.
Those details matter, but the meaning runs deeper. Williams has now engineered late comebacks against Las Vegas, Washington, Cincinnati, Minnesota, the New York Giants, and Green Bay.
His growth is measurable. Sacks dropped from 68 as a rookie to 23. Interceptions have nearly vanished. Explosive plays are routine. What separates him, though, is poise. He consistently delivers his cleanest football when chaos is at its peak.
The broader implication is belief. Chicago finally owns a defining quarterback moment against its biggest rival, something Packers fans long took for granted with Brett Favre and Rodgers.
This throw does not erase decades of imbalance, but it changes the conversation. With Williams at 24 and Johnson at 39, the Bears have time, talent, and credibility. For the first time in a generation, the Bears-Packers rivalry no longer feels preordained.
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