How the Bears Turned 28-3 Into a Playoff Comeback Lesson

Dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same. Thanos famously said that in Avengers: Infinity War, but it is exactly how Atlanta Falcons fans feel about those dreaded numbers.

28-3.

Every Falcons fan knows what it means – and pretends it doesn’t still hurt.

The Falcons Podcast: Spotify | Apple Pods | WATCH

After Saturday’s thrilling Chicago Bears comeback win over the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs, we also learned that other franchises are using that pain for their own educational purposes.

#Bears HC Ben Johnson says they showed the Falcons/Patriots 28–3 Super Bowl game to the team in camp as a lesson that a game is never over.

They had Joe Thuney (who was with New England) and Grady Jarrett (who was with Atlanta) speak to the team about their experiences.

That… pic.twitter.com/GASGZzF1sC
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 11, 2026

“One thing that we had done during training camp was that we had shown the film of the Atlanta and New England from the Super Bowl [in 2016],” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said after the win. “But we had two players on our roster that were a part of those teams, Grady [Jarrett] was with Atlanta, and Joe Thuney was with New England. It was great to get the perspective from both of those players of how that game went down.

“I think it’s a good lesson to be learned that it’s 28-3 in the middle of the third quarter, and yet the game was still being played, and there was a lot of time left. That was my message to the group, just reminding them that this had been done before. And rather than saying ‘woe is me’ and ‘oh crap we’re in a hole,’ it’s more ‘we have a great opportunity for us to turn this around and into a game that we’re never going to forget.’ That’s what they did.”

The strategy appears to have paid off for the Bears.

What happens next for the Atlanta Falcons? Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second, sign up for our free newsletter, and get breaking Falcons news delivered to your inbox daily!

Chicago trailed the Packers 21-3 at halftime and 21-6 coming into the fourth quarter, but they proceeded to score 25 of the next 31 points to steal the game. The win marked the seventh come-from-behind victory for Caleb Williams and the Bears this season, including the playoffs – the most in a season by any QB under the age of 25 in NFL history.

Jarrett, who is in his first year with the team, fell to his knees after his new team secured the playoff win. It was the Bears’ first postseason win since 2010 and the defender’s first since 2017.

Grady Jarrett immediately fell to his knees after the final play...

Then chaos ensued 😂 @ChicagoBears pic.twitter.com/eWBfxzQxWV
— NFL (@NFL) January 11, 2026

The veteran defensive lineman had five tackles and a quarterback hit on Saturday night, but had three sacks on that fateful night in 2017. He was rightfully emotional after the game and took to social media afterward.

One man’s (and city’s) pain served a bigger purpose, and it fueled the biggest playoff comeback in Bears franchise history. Unfortunately for Falcons fans, it only ensures the suffering lives on, even if it is just now as a lesson for everyone else.