Bear Digest

Why the Bears’ Wild Card comeback vs. Packers ranks among the greatest wins ever

The Bears’ Wild Card comeback win over the Packers ended a 15-year playoff drought and delivered one of the most memorable victories in franchise history.
Bryan Perez|
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Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears’ 31–27 Wild Card win over the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night wasn’t just an awesome playoff win. It was one of the best wins in Bears' franchise history.

It combined so many incredible variables: rarity, stakes, and the improbability of the means by which Caleb Williams and the Bears rallied from a 21-3 halftime deficit to come away with the victory.

The Bears’ 25-point fourth quarter, highlighted by improbable Caleb Williams passes, was the largest postseason rally in Bears history. It had Solder Field rocking. Literally.

Remember: this was the Bears’ first playoff win in 15 years. It’s been a long time since Bears fans enjoyed the taste of a playoff win. It also helped erase the memory of the last playoff game that was hosted at Soldier Field: the Double Doink.

Consider that demon exorcized.

To put the Bears’ Wild Card win into perspective, it’s the team’s first playoff victory since they upended the Seattle Seahawks in the 2010 Divisional Round.

Yeah, Bears Nation was starving for this.

And then there’s the opponent: the Green Bay Packers. This rivalry has been a yearly fixture since 1921, with only two exceptions (1922 and 1982), which is why a playoff win over the Packers hits differently than beating a non-division opponent. 

The Bears hate the Packers. The Packers hate the Bears. Winning this game is the next-best feeling to winning the Super Bowl.

And that’s not hyperbole.

When you stack this night next to the Bears’ most iconic postseason landmarks, like blanking the Rams in the 1985 NFC Championship Game en route to a title, throttling the Patriots 46–10 in Super Bowl XX, or routing the Saints 39–14 to win the 2006 NFC Championship, what separates Saturday night’s miracle against the Packers is the context: a rivalry opponent, a multi-score comeback, and a franchise reset moment in a single game.

Was it the Chicago Bears’ best win in franchise history (aside from the Super Bowl)? Maybe. The case rests on how it happened: the Bears had to take victory from the jaws of defeat against the Packers. Caleb Williams engineered the late surge. Yeah, believe it or not, a Bears QB was the key to a win in the Bears-Packers rivalry. Even the defense stepped up in a big way in the second half. And how about the Bears fans in attendance? They were a true 12th man.

That is the DNA of an all-timer in Chicago: a comeback, against Green Bay, in January, with the season on the line.

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Bryan Perez
BRYAN PEREZ

Bryan Perez founded and operated Bears Talk, a Chicago sports blog. Prior to that, he covered the Bears for USA Today’s Bears Wire and NBC Sports Chicago. In addition to his Chicago Bears coverage, Perez is a respected member of NFL Draft media and was a past winner of The Huddle's Mock Draft competition. Bryan's past life includes time as a Northeast scout for the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks.

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