No More Moral Victories: Bears must finish against the Packers |
Anthony Pasquale
· · 2 hours ago
It’s been a few days since the Bears fell to the Packers in Lambeau. The final score saw Chicago lose by a touchdown, thanks to a late interception while the Bears were driving to potentially tie or take the lead. Simply put, the game was a tale of two halves.
There’s no way to sugarcoat it; the first half was one of the worst two quarters of football the Bears had played all season long. Caleb Williams entered the second quarter with less than 10 passing yards. The first half finished, and the Bears had not even eclipsed 75 yards of total offense. The second half was a much different story. The Bears made some crucial adjustments that allowed the offense to start playing in rhythm. The running back duo of D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monongai began to find some holes in the running game, giving the offense some much-needed flow. Plus, an effective run game allowed for the Bears to use play-action effectively — especially when Williams was on the run. Chicago had nearly 250 yards offensively in the second half, including a pair of TD passes from Williams. The Bears had the makings of another thrilling finish at their fingertips, but a costly fourth-down interception with less than a minute to play sealed their fate and clinched another rivalry win for Green Bay. The Packers are 27 for their last 31 in this rivalry and 12 of their last 13, with the only loss coming in Week 18 of 2025 when Green Bay’s starters did not play the whole game. As a Bears fan, there are certainly things to be encouraged by. The way the team fought back in the second half, coming from behind by two scores, was impressive. The flow that Caleb Williams and company found offensively should be something to build upon. Chicago had Green Bay down to the wire at Lambeau Field in a game where they were missing their top pass catcher, their best linebacker, and two crucial members of their secondary. However, this culture built by Ben Johnson is supposed to be different. It’s not about moral victories anymore. The fact of the matter is that these are games that you’re supposed to win if you are a contender, and the Bears came up short. There have been many fans and talking heads taking solace in the fact that the Bears fought hard on Sunday. This isn’t to dismiss the effort shown by Chicago on the road, but isn’t celebrating Moral Victory Monday indicative of the Bears of old? The Packers are a fierce foe, and they now lead both the division and the conference. The good news? Chicago gets another crack against their biggest rival in prime time at home in two weeks.
