Chicago's most detrimental play against Green Bay might not be what you think it was

The Bears defense made life much more difficult on themselves on a crucial third-down in the fourth-quarter.

Chicago Bears defensive end Montez Sweat (98) misses a tackle on Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) on Sunday, December 7, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers won the game, 28-21. Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin | Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Bears may have suffered a heartbreaking 28-21 loss against the Packers yesterday, but they did a great job of bottling up Josh Jacobs throughout the game. He finished with 20 carries for 86 yards. A whopping TEN of those attempts went for two yards or less.

He made the most important one of the game count, though.

Josh Jacobs gets through for the first down!

CHIvsGB on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/FzkiiCRBLZ

— NFL (@NFL) December 8, 2025

The Bears looked to have Jacobs bottled up (once again) on a third-and-one with just over five minutes left in the game. Nevertheless, he somehow got through four defenders (most notably Montez Sweat and Gervon Dexter) who had a hand on him before the first-down line. He ripped off 21 yards before Kevin Byard III brought him down at the six. Three plays later, he also scored the go-ahead touchdown.

It was (by far) his biggest play of the game. You could make a case that it was also the Packers' most important offensive play of the game, considering the circumstances surrounding it. If the Bears' defenders finished the job in the backfield, it would've been 4th-and-3 at the ~29 yard line.

It feels safe to say Green Bay would've taken the 24-21 lead at that point in the game and leaned on their defense to hold the Bears out of the end zone. A 49-yard field goal is far from a gimme in 6-degree windchill, though.

Even if Green Bay had made the kick, the Bears would've had more than enough time to tie it. They wouldn't have had to go for broke near the end zone and could've taken a more conservative approach. The ball would've been completely in their court.

Cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who had outside contain, was one of the other defenders who could've made a tackle on the play. He expressed his disappointment with their inability to wrap him up in the backfield to reporters in the locker room after the game.

"We all made good reads and got bumped off," Johnson said. "It's hard to say what happened in the moment. At the end of the day, that's a play we all have to make. There were four people there, including myself."

Chicago's defense was swarming against the run all game. However, they couldn't finish the play when the team needed it the most. Who knows how the final five minutes would've gone if they had that one back?

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