Packers top Bears at Lambeau, 28-21; earn top spot in NFC North

GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Green Bay Packers topped the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field on Sunday, Dec. 7 – and in doing so, they earned the top spot in the NFC North. 

Scoring summary

1st quarter

• Bears 0, Packers 0

2nd quarter

• At 9:25, Packers' J. Love pass deep middle complete. Catch made by C. Watson for 23 yards. TOUCHDOWN. Packers take 7-0 lead over Bears
• At 1:17, Bears' C. Santos 33 yard field goal attempt is good. Packers hold lead over Bears, 7-3
• At 0:45, Packers' J.Love pass deep middle complete. Catch made by B. Melton for 45 yards. Packers take a 14-3 lead over Bears

Halftime: Packers 14, Bears 3

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3rd quarter

• At 8:25, Bears' C. Williams pass complete. Catch made by O. Zaccheaus for 1 yards. TOUCHDOWN. K. Monangai rushed up the middle to GB End Zone for yards. TWO-POINT ATTEMPT SUCCEEDS. Packers 14, Bears 11
• At 6:17, Packers' J. Love pass short middle complete. Catch made by C. Watson for 41 yards. TOUCHDOWN. Packers 21, Bears 11
• At 3:19, Bears' C. Santos 41 yard field goal attempt is good. Packers 21, Bears 14

4th quarter

• At 8:06, Bears' C. Williams pass short right complete. Catch made by C. Loveland for 1 yards. TOUCHDOWN. Packers 21, Bears 21
• At 3:37, Packers' J. Jacobs rushed for 2 yards. TOUCHDOWN. Packers 28, Bears 21

FINAL: Packers 28, Bears 21

Game summary

Keisean Nixon intercepted Caleb Williams' pass in the end zone with 22 seconds remaining to preserve Green Bay’s 28-21 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday that moved the Packers into first place in the NFC North.

The Bears were facing fourth-and-1 from Green Bay’s 14-yard line when Williams faked a handoff and rolled to his left. Tight end Cole Kmet had gotten behind Nixon in the end zone, but Nixon made a leaping catch of the underthrown pass.

Josh Jacobs scored the tiebreaking touchdown on a 2-yard run with 3:32 remaining as the Packers (9-3-1) won their fourth straight and snapped a five-game winning streak by the Bears (9-4).

Packers coach Matt LaFleur improved his record against the Bears to 12-1, the lone loss coming in the final week of the 2024 regular season. It came in his first head-to-head matchup with rookie Bears coach Ben Johnson.

During his introductory news conference, Johnson said, "to be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year." Johnson was Detroit’s offensive coordinator last season when the Lions swept the Packers.

LaFleur declined to comment on that remark before Sunday’s game, but Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said, "you take it personal, for sure. I’ll just leave it at that."

Green Bay’s Jordan Love went 17 of 25 for 234 yards with three touchdowns — two to Christian Watson and one to Bo Melton — and one interception. Williams was 19 of 35 for 186 yards with two touchdowns and the pick.

Jacobs set up his go-ahead touchdown with a spectacular 21-yard run.

The Packers were facing third-and-2 from Chicago’s 28 when Love pitched right to Jacobs. Chicago’s Montez Sweat, Gervon Dexter, D’Marco Jackson and Jaylon Johnson were all converging on Jacobs behind the line of scrimmage.

Jacobs somehow got through all of them and raced 21 yards before Kevin Byard finally brought him down. Jacobs then scored with a physical run up the middle on third-and-goal.

That still left plenty of time for Williams, who has orchestrated five fourth-quarter comebacks this year. He got Chicago into scoring position with completions of 27 yards to Luther Burden and 24 yards to Devin Duvernay.

Chicago faced third-and-1 from the 14 when Kingsley Enagbare stuffed Kyle Monangai for no gain. That set up the game-sealing interception.

After getting outscored 14-3 and outgained 207 yards to 71 in the first half, Chicago rallied to tie it with two touchdowns and a field goal on its first three second-half possessions. Williams threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Olamide Zaccheaus and Cairo Santos kicked a 41-yard field goal in the third quarter.

The tying touchdown came when Williams floated a 1-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Colston Loveland on third-and-goal with eight minutes left. That capped a 17-play, 83-yard drive lasting over 8 1/2 minutes.

Packers-Bears rivalry

Big picture view:

It's the third straight divisional game for Green Bay (8-3-1). After back-to-back wins over the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions, the team sits in second place behind Chicago (9-3) in the NFC North standings. The Bears have won five straight games and currently hold the conference's top seed.

The backstory:

The Packers are 107-95-6 against the Bears in the regular season – their most wins over any single opponent in a rivalry that dates back to 1921. The two teams have met 210 times, including the playoffs, which is the most in NFL history.

Green Bay's 108 wins over Chicago all-time, including the playoffs, are tied for the most victories by any NFL team against another (108, New York Giants over Washington).

The Packers are 41-25 against the Bears at Lambeau Field. The Bears won the regular-season finale there a year ago, 24-22.

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Of late, Green Bay has won 16 of the past 18 regular-season games – including an 11-1 mark with head coach Matt LaFleur at the helm. Sunday will be the first game for Ben Johnson, who took over as Chicago's head coach over the offseason, against the Packers. 

Local perspective:

Al Harris, who was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2021, is now Chicago's pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach.

Two former Packers now play for the Bears: Green Bay selected defensive lineman Jonathan Ford in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and defensive back Jonathan Owens played for Green Bay in 2023.

Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards, now in his third season with the team, played for the Wisconsin Badgers from 2014-2018.

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