Packers Beat Bears, Earn Playoff Berth

The Green Bay Packers, incredibly, are playoff bound.

Jordan Love topped 300 passing yards with two touchdown passes to Dontayvion Wicks, Jayden Reed had 112 receiving yards and Aaron Jones had 111 rushing yards as the Packers beat the Chicago Bears for the 10th consecutive time, 17-9 on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

With three consecutive wins to close the season, the Packers finished the regular season at 9-8. Jones’ clinching first-down run brought the 78,000-plus fans to their feet as Love ran out the final minute by taking a couple knees.

With the playoff berth secured, the crowd roared and fireworks reverberated over the venerable bowl.

In a must-win game, how would Love respond to the pressure of the moment? He finished a remarkable 27-of-32 passing for 316 yards and the touchdowns to Wicks.

With Green Bay nursing a 14-9 lead early in the fourth quarter, Love hit Reed for a catch-and-run gain of 59 to the 13. Reed caught the ball near midfield and picked up another 37 yards after the catch. Did he run his route of bounds near the Green Bay bench? The Packers went quick so the Bears couldn’t challenge.

The Packers managed only a chip-shot field goal, however, when Bo Melton’s knees-and-hands touchdown catch was overturned.

Still, 17-9 was good enough because the defensive line rose to the occasion on the next drive. With Chicago needing a touchdown and approaching scoring position, Kenny Clark drew a holding penalty and Karl Brooks sacked Justin Fields. That forced a punt with 6:08 to go.

Could the Packers run out the clock?

On third-and-2, Love hit Reed, who took a whack from safety Eddie Jackson but gained 15.

Runs of 8 and 3 yards by Jones gained another first down, with the Bears calling timeout with 3:15 to go.

Jones wrapped it up moments later.

The Packers led only 7-6 at halftime despite a 200-101 advantage in yards.

The Bears took the opening kickoff and drove to a field goal to lead 3-0. The Packers had the answering drive but Anders Carlson was wide left from 41 yards.

Love’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Wicks, coming on third-and-1, gave the Packers a 7-3 lead.

The Bears pulled within 7-6 late in the first half but Love raced the Packers down the field, kick-started by passes of 24 yards to Bo Melton and 13 to Jones. On the next play, Tucker Kraft gained 9 yards but chose not to go out of bounds.

The wasted time came back to bite the Packers. A 7-yard completion to Kraft picked up the first down but the Bears didn’t allow him to get out of bounds, so the Packers burned their final timeout. One play later, Love hit Wicks at the sideline but he was driven backward and out of bounds, so the clock didn’t stop. Thus, the Packers didn’t get a chance at a field goal that would have extended their lead to 10-6.

Green Bay got the ball to start the second half and did add its lead. On third-and-3 from the 12, Love whistled one to Wicks at the 6, and the rookie did the rest in overpowering safety Jaquan Brisker to get into the end zone for a 14-6 lead.

The Packers had a chance to get some insurance points but, late in the third quarter, Love was stripped on what would have been a successful third-down scramble.

The Bears turned that mistake into a field goal to trail 14-9 with 13:03 to play.