This afternoon, the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears meet once again, concluding the regular season against one another for the second straight season at Lambeau Field. There is nothing but draft position and pride on the line for Chicago, as the Bears come into Green Bay at 4-12.

The Packers, however, have playoff seeding on the line. Green Bay needs a win and a loss by the Washington Commanders to earn the #6 seed; otherwise, if either result goes awry, they will be locked in as the NFC’s #7 team and they will play the Philadelphia Eagles on the road in next week’s Wild Card round.

Stay tuned below for updates from throughout today’s game!

First Quarter Updates

The Packers won the coin toss and as usual elected to receive the opening kickoff, but were flagged for holding on the kick to set up the offense at its own 15-yard line. After picking up one quick first down on a run by Josh Jacobs, the Packers had to punt. Daniel Whelan made a critical play on the punt, however, using every bit of his 6-foot-5 height to get his hands on a bad, high snap from Matt Orzech and eventually getting the punt off.

The Bears’ first drive was a mess as well, however. Rashan Gary sacked Caleb Williams on the first play after Williams fumbled the snap, then Javon Bullard tackled Cole Kmet for a loss on second down. A short screen pass on third down led to a punt, but the Packers netted a few yards on the exchange of punts, starting their second drive at their own 40.

Additionally, the Bears’ punt ensured that they did not score a single opening-drive touchdown all season long.

Jordan Love’s touch looked off on the ensuing drive, and the Packers elected to punt from the other side of the 50. On the punt, the Bears fooled Green Bay’s coverage team, with the return man running to one side of the field away from the football. One of Chicago’s vices instead dropped back to return the kick, weaving through a wide-open field for a 94-yard touchdown to open the scoring with a 7-0 Bears lead. It was effectively the same play that the Rams ran on the Seattle Seahawks ten years ago, to similar effect.

Finally, the Packers’ offense got moving through the air, with Love hitting Dontayvion Wicks for 15 yards and Luke Musgrave for 19 yards to reach the Bears’ 22-yard line. However, they had to settle for a field goal attempt, and Brandon McManus hit from 37 yards out to put them on the board.

After the Bears went three-and-out again, the Packers took over and promptly shot themselves in the foot once again. On the first play of the next drive, Jayden Reed took a jet sweep off left end but fumbled after taking a perfect punch to the football from Jaylon Johnson. Former Packers safety Jonathan Owens recovered, giving Chicago the football at the end of the first quarter deep in Packers territory.

Second Quarter Updates

Two plays into the second quarter, the Bears found the end zone on offense. Following a screen pass to D.J. Moore that got them to the four-yard line, D’Andre Swift snuck through the middle for a short score and a 14-3 lead.

As the Packers tried to get moving again, they suffered a series of injuries that could prove to be massive heading into the postseason. First, Christian Watson went down clutching his right knee while running a route and was carted to the locker room. Then a few plays later, Jordan Love left the game shaking his throwing elbow after taking a hit in the backfield, forcing Malik Willis into the game.

Willis immediately delivered, throwing a dart to Tucker Kraft for 20 yards, then handed off to Josh Jacobs for a 9-yard touchdown run to pull the Packers right back into the game at 14-10. That score made it eight games in a row with a rushing touchdown for Jacobs, breaking Paul Hornung’s team record.

Green Bay’s defense forced a punt on the Bears’ next drive, and Willis came back out to try to give the Packers a lead for the first time. After Jayden Reed managed to track an underthrown deep ball from Willis, hauling it in for 31 yards on 3rd-and-8, Chris Brooks turned up the middle for a big run of 13 yards to reach the red zone. The Packers again had to settle for a field goal, however, kicking a 30-yarder on 4th-and-4 to pull Green Bay to within one point just after the two-minute warning.

Chicago returned the ensuing kickoff to the 45-yard line, giving them good field position for an attempt at a two-minute drill. They converted a 3rd-and-7 early to get into Packers territory, but a false start and a couple of throwaways from Caleb Williams forced a punt with 37 seconds left. The Packers chose to run the ball and let the clock run off, taking them into halftime down 14-13.