(670 The Score) Caleb Williams will want that one back.
Williams will regret not putting more loft on the ball for Bears tight end Cole Kmet, not picking another receiver more open or not tucking the ball and running himself to get a first down to keep the chains moving and hope alive.
Every time Williams sees the painful replay, whether it's Monday at Halas Hall or next spring on a loop in his head that won't stop repeating, surely he’ll want that single pass back that could've changed everything.
That one completion that could've beaten the Packers and cemented his status as "The Iceman'' on a frigid day at the Frozen Tundra, that could've given the Bears a commanding lead in the NFC North, that could've really, truly loudly announced the resumption of the NFL's best rivalry.
Alas, Williams can't undo what was done.
And what the Packers did was come through with their own clutch play to save the day.
"I rolled out and saw Cole and tried to give him a big boy ball,” Williams told reporters postgame at Lambeau Field. “It's a 'gotta have it' moment – just have to give Cole a better shot at it.
“In those moments, you have to give your a guy a chance to make a play.''
That was the idea on fourth-and-1 at the Packers’ 14-yard line with 27 seconds left in the Packers' 28-21 victory over the Bears before cornerback Keisean Nixon intercepted Williams to thwart the final, pulsating Bears' threat.
Bears head coach Ben Johnson called a play designed to put Williams on the move, to his left, with Kmet running a deeper route in the end zone and receiver DJ Moore coming clear underneath.
"We had a lot of options there, don't know who's gonna pop ... (It was) almost identical to the play that we scored against Philly,'' Johnson said postgame, referring to Williams’ 28-yard touchdown pass to Kmet on Black Friday.
That throw landed right where it needed to be against the Eagles. Nine days later, this one landed in the wrong hands against the Packers.
This one prevented the Bears from attempting a two-point conversion that Johnson surely would've tried – you think a coach who would take his shirt off a big win over the Eagles wouldn't pull the ultimate flex by going for two to win against the Packers?
This one made that possibility moot and stopped Chicago from enhancing Williams' nickname. But the Iceman giveth and the Iceman taketh away.
Not that it appeared to shake his confidence.
"We had a great shot,” Williams said.
It was a great divisional matchup, the kind of NFL relevance that Chicago has lacked for too long, with the Bears commanding the second half after the Packers controlled the first. It was a day the Bears showed familiar resilience and resolve in bouncing back from a dreadful first 30 minutes only to not have enough in the end.
It was a devastating emotional blow to lose in the final minute, but it hardly devastates a Bears season in which every goal discussed before kickoff remains attainable after it.
Nobody in Chicago dares to celebrate a moral victory against the dreaded Packers, but remember that the Bears lost a game, not their way. The arrow is still pointing up. The vibes are still positive. The playoffs are still realistic.
Remember, the Bears just finished back-to-back road games against two of the NFC's toughest teams and came within a play or two of winning both. Against the Packers, the Bears hung with the toughest defense they're going to play this season and a quarterback in Jordan Love who's playing as well as any in the NFC.
In the standings, the Bears dropped to 9-4. Around the league, this effort underscored how legitimate the Bears have become under Johnson.
After all the yammering that Tom Brady did about the weather in Wisconsin, the cold reality was this: The Bears are a damn good football team, but the Packers are just better at the moment. The Bears have closed the gap considerably but, nonetheless, one remains.
The best part for everyone who loves this rivalry is that we can revisit that in two weeks on the lakefront at Soldier Field when both teams meet again.
"Our guys were confident we would come away with a W, but we just fell short,'' Johnson said. "It's awesome to have this rivalry alive and well right now ... We'll learn from it, make our corrections and move on.'”
Those corrections will start in the defensive secondary, where the Bears suffered their biggest breakdowns. Jordan Love completed 17 of 25 passes for 234 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. The Bears played without fragile nickel back Kyler Gordon, who was ruled out after suffering an injury in pregame warmups.
But poor communication and execution plagued what had been one of the Bears' most reliable units. The most egregious example came with 48 seconds left in the first half, when the Bears unforgivably let Packers receiver Bo Melton get behind everyone for a 45-yard touchdown reception.
On the play, it appeared safety Jaquan Brisker expected deep help on the opposite hash mark and safety Kevin Byard thought cornerback Jaylon Johnson would drift deeper than Johnson did. The result was a wide-open Melton who scored to give the Packers a 14-3 lead at halftime.
Love's other two touchdowns went to Christian Watson, who had four catches for 89 yards and gives the Packers their most potent big-play threat. But everything about the Packers starts with the quarterback and despite the fact this Bears season has unfolded like so many heartwarming scripts, Love prevailed in the end Sunday.
Against Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's vaunted blitz calls, Love completed 9 of 12 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns, according to PFF data.
Offensively, the Bears responded to an awful first half – their 71 yards was the lowest output by any Johnson offense, ever – with a gritty final 30 minutes. The offensive line resembled the one that dominated the Eagles. Receiver Luther Burden flashed explosiveness. Tight end Colston Loveland showed some dependability. The running back tandem of D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai fought for tough yards.
And Williams competed, doing what was necessary to lead his team back into contention, whether it was getting hot with his arm or staying elusive with his feet.
"He put his Superman cape on a few times,” Johnson said of Williams, who was only sacked once.
At one point, Williams beat Micah Parsons to the corner and several times showed agility that ordinary quarterbacks just don't possess. And Williams' accuracy improved in the second half – up until a final underthrow that he regretted as soon as he threw it.
"Frustrating,” Williams said.
It was a day full of frustration for the visitors, but the Bears have made longer trips home from Lambeau Field.
In the end, the Bears performed in front of a national television audience like a playoff team that Johnson would prefer nobody mention just yet.
"We'll be a playoff team when we've earned enough wins to be a playoff team,” Johnson said.
They remained stuck at nine Sunday evening, but hardly stuck in place.
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.