Reporting by Courtney Cronin, Rob Demowski and Kalin Kahler
Chicago–when Chicago Bears rioter cairo santos Converted a 43-yard field goal attempt with 1:59 left in the fourth quarter Saturday night in the strong winds of Soldier Field, green Bay Packers It had a 16–9 lead and a 96.9% chance of winning the crucial NFC North battle.
At that point, Santos had only provided points on three kicks to the Bears, but it was his next kick that proved to be a game-changer.
It wasn’t that his onside kick was noteworthy, it’s that it wasn’t controlled by the Packers’ receiver. Romeo Doubsand Bears cornerback josh blackwell Recovered.
At that point, the Packers’ winning percentage had dropped to 86.9%, and given how stagnant the Bears’ offense was for nearly four quarters, there was no reason to believe in a miraculous comeback.
Except that bears live dangerously throughout the season. Entering the game, they had five wins this season after trailing in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, tied with the 2011 Broncos and 2016 Lions for most wins in a season since the 1970 merger.
“We may never get out of this,” Blackwell said. “People on the sideline were saying, ‘We’re OK. We’ll score right here, take an onside kick, score again and we’ll win.'”
And that’s exactly what happened for the 11-win Bears, who stand alone with six one-score wins after an incredible 22-16 victory.
Here’s how he did it, starting with the third Santos onside kick his team recovered in 20 attempts.
Santos’ kick went 12 yards to the Bears’ 47, but Dobbs could not control it. Blackwell recovered, setting up the Bears with a first-and-10 at the 47 with 1:56 left and two timeouts.
bear lb D’Marco Jackson, “In my vision, I just saw [Doubs] Grabbing it, and just running towards the ball. Then I see ‘black’. I see him come right in, and I just try to cover him, get everybody off of him, just to keep him on the ball.”
blackwell: “It more or less went through his arms, and I was just there to jump on it.”
Doubt: “S—, I missed it. It’s just this game, brother. I repeat it all week long and, yes, brother, someone’s got to be responsible, and I’m willing to take it 1,000% of the time.”
packers security Javon Bullard: “He’s a grown man taking responsibility. Certainly we all could have done better. We could have controlled our guys better. It wasn’t right.”
Packers coach Matt LaFleur: “I just saw the ball, I’ve been seeing the ball the whole time. You know, was it blocked well enough? I’ll have to go back and watch the tape, but I thought we had a chance to field the ball. We didn’t field the ball.”
Bears D.E Daniel Hardy, “I’m still in a little shock as to how it all happened, but I got off the ball, did my job, and that was to go through somebody’s face. And after I did that, I saw the ball in the air, and I saw it fall into the returner’s hands, and then I saw him bounce the ball. So I tried to jump on the returner.
0:33
Bears recover heavy onside kick vs. Packers
Romeo Dobbs was unable to catch the Bears’ onside kick, giving Chicago a huge lead late.
“I think I landed on his feet or something, and someone else landed on top of his body, and then the ball was loose on the ground. Someone, obviously black, jumped on it and was fighting under the pile. I didn’t actually see who had it at the time, but I heard him. And obviously the ref is standing right there, so I’m going to yell, ‘Bear’s ball!’ And then they came out of the crowd with the ball, and it was just crazy.”
Jackson: “The crowd got into it. That was a game-changing game for us, like, kept us in the game, kept us alive. So, man, shout out to Black for that game.”
Daring: “Cairo’s got everything in the book. So for anyone listening, just prepare yourself. I’m not sure I’m free to share [which type of kick that was.]Just know that this is an onside recovery kick, That’s what we’ll call it,”
jackson: “I’m not going to lie. I just believe in this team. Like, it’s crazy, like, how things fall our way and just, we’re staying in the right direction.”
Final (OT) – Bears 22, Packers 16 📉
@chicagobears‘The chances of victory were as low as 0.5% before the onside kick was recovered coming from the two-minute warning (16-9 w/ 2 timeouts). This is the 5th most improbable win in the NGS era (since 2016).
Powered by @awscloud pic.twitter.com/kUaWBZ4YIA
– Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) 21 December 2025
Daring: “We practice onside kicks every Friday. It’s just guys focused on details, locked in and wanting to win more than guys on the other side. … [Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower] “We’re well coached, and I think we’re the best special teams unit in the country.”
kevin byrd: “As soon as that happened, it took me back to the Cincinnati game [the Bears won on a last-second TD pass to Colston Loveland]I just knew we were going to win, It was destiny,”
Williams connected with Loveland on a 6-yard pass and then threw two incompletions, setting up fourth-and-4 at the Packers’ 6 with 24 seconds remaining. The Packers had an 80.3% chance of winning as Williams initiated the scramble and threw a high ball to the wide-open field. Jahde WalkerWhose second career catch was a game-saving touchdown. Santos’ PAT made the score 16–16. Bears sacked malik willis – tending to an injured person jordan love –With 17 seconds left in the fourth, the game was sent to overtime.
Williams: Jahdae is my boy – when he first came here, I allowed him to stay at my house for a while until he found a place. we’ve moved indoor [facility] And it worked. Just to be able to relate to him for moments like this. He goes out there, makes plays and he’s in the right spot. The ball will find him, and that’s what happened in that game.”
bear ot darnell wright,[Jahdae] It’s very funny. He is one of the funniest people. Like every day during practice, he’s almost like a child. He is very happy to be there. He is always smiling. So he gives everybody a lot of energy, and he had a big play tonight, too.”
Bears WR DJ moore, “I liked it, man. You handed it to our rookie at the end of the game and sent us to overtime. I liked it. He was up for it.”
packers cb Nate Hobbs: “It was just miscommunication. That’s all.”
La Fleur: “Yeah, it was a zero attack. So obviously someone let their guy go.”
0:21
Jahde Walker makes great catch as Bears pull away late
Caleb Williams struck out Jahde Walker on fourth down, who managed to make the catch to tie the score for the Bears vs. the Packers.
blackwell: “I love it for Jahdaye. He’s a very good player, and he loves football. I mean, we all love football, but you can see it on his face and he’s a little kid out on the playground at practice, and he deserves it. He’s worked hard and for him to have that moment in this crowd, this moment, it was incredible for him.”
Before the first Packers-Bears game two weeks ago, team captain Byrd said he had contacted Chicago’s director of research and analysis Harrison Freed. Byard handles the coin toss for Chicago, and after several confusing overtime coin toss rules around the NFL this season due to the new regular-season overtime rules, he wanted to study.
Byrd: “I went to Harry, and I said, Hey, man, can you run me all the overtime tackles, punts or kicks? He basically told me, like, Hey, you know, obviously in overtime, there are no punts, because you basically only kick the ball, no punts, no second half. But right before overtime, I remember I went to Ben and Asked him, like, hey, we’re kicking, right? Just make sure, we’re all good at it and he said, ‘Yeah, man, we’re stopping.'”
Byrd was surprised that his team had to go to overtime all Saturday night given his head coach’s aggressive tendencies.
Byrd: “sincerely, [kicking the PAT] It was a bit of a surprise for me. Obviously, we didn’t talk about it, but we were on the sidelines, like, just talking amongst each other, like, if we score right here, we’re going for two, we’re going for the win! dude, i think [Ben] Just trust the defense that we’re going to hold on. No, like I said, it was surprising, because Ben is usually aggressive in those situations. But like I said, he must know something. “That definitely helped us.”
After a short kickoff return in OT, the Packers had a first-and-10 at the 21. After one game, Willis beat jaden reed Gained 31 yards to the Bears’ 45. Then on fourth-and-1, Willis fumbled, and the Bears took over on downs.
Willis: “There’s just a misunderstanding between me and [center Sean Rhyan]He wasn’t expecting me to change cadence, but the clock had slowed down and I was just trying to hurry up and get a picture, So we’re a little behind schedule, totally in a mess, He’s on me,”
jackson: “So, you know, we had to adjust with the change of quarterbacks. We knew he was more athletic than Jordan. But I mean, it was a big stop by T.J. [Edwards] To get them to go for it and then stop that fourth-down so our offense can get the ball and have a chance to drive.”
Byrd: “He fumbled the snap, and then the running back picked it off … And listen, this team is special. Just talking in the locker room, like, it doesn’t happen often – we’ve been able to win as many games in the fourth quarter. … A lot of the impossible happened tonight, the onside kick, that play, and then DJ with the game-winning touchdown.
“I’m very happy and proud to be part of the group, because I think it doesn’t happen often.”
The Bears captured 36 for a 54.6 winning percentage. An incompletion set up Chicago’s first-and-10 after two runs at the Packers’ 46. That’s when Ben Johnson called a play which the team set up on Thursday. Williams fired a precise laser at Moore – according to Next Gen Stats, it covered 56.9 yards – who was covered by the Packers cornerback. kesin nixon As he passed in the end zone for a walk-off TD. According to ESPN Research, this was Williams’ league-leading sixth fourth quarter comeback win, and he became the only Bears QB in history to throw a TD pass in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter and OT.
Johnson: “That was one we put in and we ran in practice Thursday, and it looked almost identical to that. I thought Caleb threw a dime in practice and DJ came down with it, and we’re hopeful it may or may not be there, but we put him in at the right time. DJ ran a great route, and Caleb threw him a great ball.
Caleb Williams’ game-winning 46-yard TD pass to DJ Moore covered 56.9 yards in the air, the third-longest completion of Williams’ career.
Moore was only 0.6 yards away from Casein Nixon upon passing.#GBvsCHI , #dabierspic.twitter.com/QjBBSz2rDc
– Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) 21 December 2025
“I think it’s also a testament to our preparation during the week. I think the coaches do a great job with good ideas to get our guys in good spots, and when you go out and execute it on the practice field, it becomes a reality for us on game day.”
Moore: “It’s scary [when the ball is in up in the air in the lights]But then I could track the ball and know if I needed to slow down or speed up to reach my hand position. So, I mean, it was scary, but good.”
Bullard: “He just made a good throw and catch. It’s all-out coverage. It’s an all-out blitz, man. He ran a route that ran away from him. That’s just football. It’s not on KE. It’s not on anybody. It’s a playcall, good throw and catch. Congratulations to them.”
Williams: “I knew it was good. You got that belief, you got that confidence, you got that swagger as an offense, you practice well, you make plays like that in practice. It was like practice and when the play is called and that moment comes, it’s time to kill it, it’s time to go into the game.”
Hardy: “I think the culture of this place has changed a lot. I think people go to games expecting to win. We have expectations of success.”
Courtney Cronin and Rob Demowski contributed to this report.
