The Chicago Bears retook control of the NFC North after they beat the Green Bay Packers in the same week the Minnesota Vikings lost to the Washington Commanders. The Bears won 42-35 and had the lead the entire game, but it suddenly became 35-35 late in the fourth quarter and Chicago had to find a way to win, by any means necessary as Head Coach Ben Johnson so often emphasizes to his staff and players.
The Score
Just after the two-minute warning, the Packers scored and tied the game before kicking off for Chicago to try and put together a game-winning drive. It started extremely well with Devin Duvernay returning the kick all the way to the Bears’ own 47-yard line, already encroaching on field goal range with plenty of time and timeouts.
However, the first offensive play of the drive was a D’Andre Swift rush that went backwards three whole yards, adding pressure from both the clock and picking up the first down. But Ben Johnson wasn’t fazed, as he subbed Swift out and brought out a 5 wide-receiver set with DJ Moore in the backfield. The dynamic threats of Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, and DJ Moore took up Green Bay’s attention as the explosive Duvernay ran a deep route to distract a safety. Caleb Williams was aware of the situation, though, and don’t force anything on the second and long, finding undrafted free agent Jahdae Walker underneath. Right away, it was obvious he was going to pick up the first down, a huge accomplishment for a player struggling to contribute in a loaded offense. Then, Walker turned it up a notch. A hesitation, a juke, and a broken tackle later he ran down the sideline staying in bounds and getting pas the last Packer defender at the 25-yard line.
At this point, Green Bay coaches screamed to their players to let him score and allow their offense a chance. Despite the adrenaline and green grass, Walker, the UNDRAFTED FREE AGENT ROOKIE, had the awareness and skill to run across the field and waste time before going down at the one-yard line and making the Packers use their first timeout. Ben Johnson didn’t want to do anything crazy risky, so one play later, with the Packers defense lying down, D’Andre Swift took the lead for Chicago with 1:11 on the clock. Jahdae Walker had cemented himself as a smart player deserving of a role and a game ball if the Bears were to hold on.
The Stop
71 Seconds and two timeouts gave Green Bay plenty of time, though, as Tory Taylor kicked off. Walker wasn’t done yet, energized from his amazing 55-yard catch and run, he surged down the field, tracking down and tackling speedster returner Mecole Hardman at just the 18-yard line.
It wasn’t enough, though, as Green Bay marched down the field. It wasn’t always easy as Jordan Love was getting hit and moving around, but the Packers found a rhythm, completing four straight passes for 10+ yard gains on a string of hurry-up playcalls, and finally called their last timeout with 21 seconds left and 11 yards to go.
Chicago decided to come out in Dime to maximize their speed and coverage ability, knowing Green Bay was out of timeouts and one tackle in bounds could seal the victory. In a flash, it all ensued. Jordan Love dumped it off to Matthew Golden on a drag route, who swerved by rookie LB Ruben Hyppolite II before being gang tackled by three defensive backs: Zah Frazier, Jaquan Brisker, and Shaun Wade.
As the clock ticked under 10, the Packers got set on the ball as Bears defenders scrambled towards the line of scrimmage, ready for anything. Standout DT Gervon Dexter Sr was ready for the quick snap and lunged towards Josh Jacobs in the backfield, but it was an RPO. Jordan Love turned to his bubble route back to Matthew Golden but Shaun Wade was all over it, making a tackle for loss after avoiding Christian Watson’s block. The Packers hustled as fast as they could, but it was too late and the clock hit triple zeroes and the Chicago Bears had defeated their rivals.
Game Balls
In the end, it all worked out, and Head Coach Ben Johnson gets to be back on top of the NFC North with just four games left in the season. But more importantly, two game balls were able to be handed out to some unlikely heroes who more than earned their praise and money and more in such an important contest.
Jahdae Walker was handed his ball and mobbed by his fellow wideouts, proud of his understanding to go down.
“Shoutout Caleb for seeing me open and getting me the ball. Shoutout this team for getting me a touchdown before this week, so I was able to go down,” Walker joked and cheered in the locker room.
The special teams staff was quick to chime in about his tackle, too. Walker was given a three year contract as an UDFA and it looks like that was the right call.
Then Shaun Wade was given his game ball and the defense went even crazier with all of the pent-up aggression from being a poor unit. Wade’s ability to stay positive after being benched and seeing fewer snaps is impressive enough, but then being thrown into that hectic environment because of Kevin Byard having some fatigue as a veteran, he was able to make two crucial game-winning tackles, both on Matthew Golden. There would have been hope Kyler Gordon could still have saved the game, but Wade made it irrelevant by beating Watson and securing the tackle and win in the backfield.
It’s a game of inches, and winning in this league takes everybody. Jahdae Walker and Shaun Wade are just the most recent proof of that as the Chicago Bears head towards their first postseason under Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams.
