Three Takeaways from Bears' loss to Packers

Jeff Hanisch - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 2 hours ago

Although the Bears may not have taken round one against the Packers on Sunday, they at the very least proved they belonged in the conversation of championship-contending teams. Not only did they go on the road to knock off the Philadelphia Eagles last Friday, but they followed that up by going into Lambeau on Sunday and taking the Packers down to the final seconds.

In fact, the Bears had the ball with less than a minute to go inside the Packers' 30 and were looking to tie things up. That was until Keisean Nixon ended any hopes of that as he picked off Caleb Williams in the endzone, ending any hopes of a potential comeback win. While the loss ends the Bears' five-game winning streak and bumps them from the top seed in the NFC, all is not lost as these teams will meet in just two weeks for round two.

No one likes to use it, but going into both Philadelphia and Green Bay in a two-week stretch and not only proving they belong, but coming away with one win in those games is all the proof you need that this team is for real and needs to be taken seriously.

Here are some takeaways from the rivalry game:

Streaks continue

Apart from the Bears' winning streak coming to an end, several other streaks remained intact in this one. When it comes to the Packers, 17 remains their magic number, as they are 9-0-1 when they score at least 17 points. Hold the team under 17 points, and the Packers are 0-3, so you can see what you need to do to beat the Packers. That's obviously a lot easier said than done, as their offense for the most part has been humming all season.

Looking at the Bears and their streaks, several streaks remained true. In their nine victories, the Bears not only average more than 145 yards rushing per game, but also more than two turnovers per game. In their four losses, the team has struggled to win the ball, combining for 2 turnovers.

Both of those rang true last night: the Bears didn't have nearly the same success on the ground they've had, and they forced only one turnover. At some point, you knew their winning streak was going to come to an end, but having it lose against the Packers always stings a bit more.

All Eyes on Rome Odunze

The Bears have endured far too many injuries this season, but have found ways to win. Just when this team started to get healthy, especially on defense, another injury popped up, and this one could have a more lasting effect than the others.

Prior to their game on Sunday, it was revealed that Rome Odunze was dealing not only with a foot injury but would also miss their game against the Packers. Even worse, Odunze is dealing with what the team is calling a stress fracture, which could put him out for multiple weeks. Odunze has been the team's best receiver all season and has been one of Caleb Williams' favorite red zone threats dating back to last season.

You saw what not having him in the lineup does for this team as Williams stumbled out of the gates, going just 2-9 to start the game before finally settling in. Williams' accuracy has been in question all season, and now he is losing arguably his favorite target, which will put even more pressure on the other guys to get open and make plays.

Given how tough it is to diagnose stress fractures and any injury like that, look for Odunze to be a week-to-week diagnosis as they want to make sure he is 100% before coming back. If you had to guess, Odunze will try to play against the Browns in week 15, but if not, look for week 16 to be the target date for the Packers' visit to Chicago that weekend.

The questionable play call

It's hard to argue with the success that Ben Johnson and this offense have had this season. Since being appointed as the Bears' head coach, Johnson has transformed this offense, moving it from one of the league's worst last season to a top-seven unit this season.

A big reason for that is the Bears' ability to run the ball consistently, while Williams makes the plays he needs when it matters. However, there was one instance when Williams had a chance to make a play, only to throw a game-sealing interception that ultimately led to the Bears' defeat.

It was that same play that is coming into question, as the play call design from Johnson is what is confusing. I get that it was fourth-and-one with less than 40 seconds to go, but all the Bears needed was one yard to keep the drive going, and they could have gotten out of bounds to save a timeout or use their final one to stop the clock.

Looking back at that interception, and you had DJ Moore streaking open at the five-yard line, where he could have at the very least moved the chains and potentially gotten out of bounds inside the five. Whether or not Williams saw him is the question, but he also had the angle to tuck it and run for the first down to extend the drive.

The decision to go to the end zone there isn't what people are upset about, and more so, the play call itself. That aggressiveness has made Johnson so successful as a coach, and he will live and die by it. Sunday, he died by it, and the Bears fell out of first place in the process.