(670 The Score) For the first time in 84 days, the Bears celebrated.
"When he hit it, I think I just ran to the field like a fool, I don't know why,” DJ Moore said Sunday after the Bears' last-second 24-22 walk-off victory over the Packers at Lambeau Field.
No need to explain, DJ. Back home in Chicago, everybody knew why.
Everybody knew what you meant. Everybody felt the same way when Cairo Santos' 51-yard field goal cut through the frigid air and sailed through the uprights as time expired.
Happy 102nd birthday, indeed, Virginia McCaskey.
For the Bears and their fans, the postgame scene at Lambeau Field on Sunday was ecstatic, dramatic and more than a little cathartic. Not since Oct. 13 in London had the Bears tasted victory, back when Matt Eberflus was still coaching the team, Shane Waldron was still calling the plays and a psyched football city still had big expectations for its team.
Seems like a lifetime ago – or at least a couple careers.
What transpired in the 11 dysfunctional weeks that followed defied logic and disappointed a fan base as much as any Bears team ever has. One of those 10 straight losses included a 20-19 defeat to this same Packers team the Bears somehow beat Sunday, back on Nov. 17 at Soldier Field, where Santos had a potential game-winning field goal blocked.
But to say that Packers loss was the toughest one to take for the Bears does a disservice to the other punches to the gut delivered by the Commanders and the Patriots and Vikings and Lions and Seahawks and ... well, you remember all those because there's no way you can forget them. They were that bad. Every one seemed worst than the last.
Not again, everyone wondered as Santos lined up Sunday. How much can one team take? Not this time too, right?
Right.
Finally, the football gods relented.
Finally, this time, Santos nailed a 51-yard, walk-off field goal to restore meaning in a so-called meaningless Week 18 game and give so many Bears fans something to share besides grief.
The outcome improved the Bears’ record to just 5-12, but it immeasurably meant more than that.
--- It gave Caleb Williams the first fourth-quarter comeback win of his NFL career, a clutch trait that was perhaps the most important development of his up-and-down season. Williams completed 21 of 29 passes for 148 yards, a touchdown and a 95.2 passer rating and returned home 1-0 in his rivals' home stadium.
--- It provided Santos a sense of redemption after persevering through so many doubts since that blocked kick nearly two months ago. "I don't think I could write a cooler script for myself,'' Santos told reporters postgame.
--- It relieved Moore, the Bears' most talented offensive player who scored a 32-yard touchdown on a nifty catch-and-run early in the fourth quarter but whose fumble with 1:57 left set up Packers kicker Brandon McManus' go-ahead 55-yard field goal with 58 seconds left. Moore's biggest catch of the game came on an 18-yard reception in the middle of the field down to the Packers' 33ard line-y with three seconds left. "We live and die by two, we gave y'all a heart attack and pulled it through,'' Moore said postgame.
--- It ended the Bears’ 10-game losing streak this season and their 11-game losing streak in the series, giving Packers coach Matt LaFleur his first loss in the rivalry. Before Sunday, the last time the Bears beat the Packers was Dec. 16, 2018 – 2,212 days ago, if you're counting. For the Bears' last victory at Lambeau Field, you have to go back to 2015.
--- It gave the Bears their first road victory on a Sunday since December 2021 and gave interim head coach Thomas Brown his first NFL victory. In doing so, Brown did what Eberflus never did. He beat the Packers. General manager Ryan Poles told ESPN Radio pregame that Brown will be interviewed for the head coach position, but he seems to have little shot of securing the permanent job. The way he has handled himself does bode well for his future as an NFL head coach.
Brown looked like a genius when the Bears took their first lead in more than a month with a 94-yard punt return for a touchdown by Josh Blackwell in the first quarter on one of several trick plays tried against the Packers. This one worked when Moore, inserted as a decoy as the punt returner, faked like he was setting up for a return on the left as Blackwell caught the punt on the opposite side. Kudos to special teams coordinator Richard Hightower for designing and calling that one. The Packers were fooled, pursuing Moore as Blackwell sprinted down the right sideline.
It was the greatest play of the season, displaying smart strategy that has been in short supply for the Bears.
In contrast, Brown's oddest decision came after Moore's touchdown when the Bears took a 20-13 lead with 10:02 left in the game. They initially went for the two-point conversion, to understandably make it a two-score deficit, but a potential wide receiver pass by Keenan Allen failed. A defensive holding penalty gave the Bears another shot, even closer to the goal line. Yet instead of taking advantage of the penalty with the ball moving closer to the goal line, Brown decided to kick the extra point to make it 21-13.
The Bears’ decision-making was front and center on the final drive, when anybody who has ever watched them blow similar situations wondered how they'd manage the clock – or, more specifically, if they could get into field-goal range without running out of seconds. After Williams found Moore with that critical 18-yard catch, the Bears did what seemed unlikely given their history. They rushed up to the line of scrimmage, spiked the ball and stopped the clock with just seconds left.
Maybe the most significant aspect of that sequence was Brown's postgame revelation that Williams tweaked the play so Moore ran a different post route based on the defense the Packers played. The Packers called a timeout pre-snap to change the way they were covering Moore, which caused Williams to tell his receiver in the huddle to run an alternate route based on the defense.
"He made an adjustment,” Brown said. "He's got a killer instinct. He's probably better in those (late-game) instances.”
That's why it was important for Williams to play against the Packers, to experience what it feels like to finish the job as well as to endure the coldest conditions he has ever played in. Playing Williams allowed him to start all 17 games, to beat a playoff team on its home field, to check one of the most important boxes for a Bears quarterback, to finish on a high note.
“The first of a lot,” Williams said of the victory. “You couldn't ask for a better way to end the season.”
And so begins another offseason at Halas Hall that matters more than the season that preceded it, a frustrating yet familiar spot the Bears find themselves in again.
Besides Brown, the field of head coaching candidates should include Mike Vrabel – who likely will become the Patriots' top target after they fired Jerod Mayo – Ben Johnson, Brian Flores, Kliff Kingsbury, Joe Brady, Kellen Moore and possibly Ron Rivera and Mike McCarthy. Fox insider Jay Glazer reported Sunday that teams will call the Vikings about trading for coach Kevin O'Connell, but that seems highly implausible and more likely a negotiating ploy planted by an agent anxious to kick-start contract extension talks.
Whomever the Bears consider, general manager Ryan Poles apparently will lead the search and, given how much the McCaskeys value wins against the Packers, might've had his job spared by the victory Sunday. That risks overstating the power of a single victory, but nobody needed the Bears to finish on a positive more than the beleaguered Poles. Not when the McCaskeys react the way they do to all things Packers.
Additionally, when team president Kevin Warren’s first comment in describing Poles was that he was "young,” that's hardly the kind of praise that removes doubt. As I’ve done previously, you could make a strong argument for the Bears to move on from Poles, but the McCaskeys likely will embrace continuity even if it presages mediocrity.
Remember, a team that began the season with playoff aspirations ended 5-12. This team wasn't as resilient as it was underachieving, and the most pervasive culture in the locker room was one of losing. The Bears will try to claim it but get no credit for overcoming adversity that they created for themselves. They must be honest with the men in the mirror before anything changes.
Beating the Packers on Sunday provided the best news in months.
But it wasn't any better than the season itself ending, finally.
That's worth celebrating too.
David Haugh is the co-host of the Mully & Haugh Show from 5-10 a.m. weekdays on 670 The Score. Click here to listen. Follow him on X @DavidHaugh.