Grading the Chicago Bears in the season finale against the Green Bay Packers
Happy birthday, Virgina McCaskey. Your 102nd birthday gift is a Chicago Bears' win over the Green Bay Packers.
Her Bears got a 24-22 win over the Pack on a walk-off-field goal by Cairo Santos and are currently 1-0 in the year 2025.
Here's how we graded the Chicago Bears in the season finale win over the Green Bay Packers.
Caleb Williams
In the fourth quarter, there's a fumble that went on DJ Moore that could be attributed to Caleb Williams.
Williams threw a run-pass option to Moore when he should have handed the ball off to Moore in the first place. Moore got hit just right and fumbled the football away.
The Bears were on the cusp of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Williams, with 50 seconds left, still got the Bears into field goal range. Cairo Santos nailed the 51-yard kick. It was Williams' first game-winning drive.
Still, it's easy to zero in on Williams' mistakes. At the end of the day, this was arguably his fifth or sixth late-game drive where he had the Bears in a position to tie or win a game. The Bears finally got one.
As the dust settles, Williams finishes his rookie year with:
- 3,541 Passing Yards
- 20 Passing Touchdowns
- 6 Interceptions
- 489 Rushing Yards
- 1 win over Green Bay at Lambeau Field
The 5-12 record to finish his rookie year isn't what he wanted. But he also set every Bears' rookie passing record.
Grade: B-
Chicago Bears offense
The Bears still struggled on offense. They didn't score on their first drive, but then had a chance to play with the lead after Josh Blackwell's 94-yard punt return.
Overall, the Bears gained 224 total yards, scored 24 points and went 7 of 14 on third-down plays.
Normally, that's not great. It's not even good, to be honest. That's a mediocre offense.
It was enough to win on Sunday. That's what matters to all Bears fans everywhere.
Grade: C
Chicago Bears defense
The Bears needed to have an edge to it, and the defense brought it.
The Bears won the turnover battle 2-1. The defense stymied the Packers in the red zone, limiting Green Bay to 1 success attempt in 3 opportunities.
When the Packers brought Malik Willis into the game, they pressured him and blitzed in very timely moments. In the third quarter around midfield, the Bears blitzed Kevin Byard. He eviscerated Willis on a sack and forced a fumble that the Bears recovered. That's how you treat a back up quarterback.
The biggest moment was stopping the Packers on third and two late in the fourth quarter, stuffing Emmanuel Wilson for a two-yard loss. That limited the Packers to a field goal with time left instead of just running the clock down and kicking a field goal with no time left.
The defensive unit that was maligned in losses to the 49ers, Lions and Vikings got a chance to set its offense up and did what it needed it.
Grade: A-
Chicago Bears special teams
Richard Hightower's unit had itself a day.
They had a punt return for a touchdown. They had Tory Taylor break the Bears' single-season record for punting average with 47.7 yards per punt. Bobby Joe Green had the previous record with 46.5 yards per punt. Cairo Santos hit the game-winning field goal.
That'll play.
Grade: A+
Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos
The Bears' kicker had one game-winner against Green Bay blocked. He made sure it wasn't two.
Santos nailed a game-winning 51-yard field goal to beat the Packers. Of all the questions about Santos' leg and range, he dispelled plenty about all of that.
It was the best way to send the Bears into the offseason.
Grade: A+