As the third quarter ended last night and the fourth quarter began, things looked dire for the Chicago Bears. Even the little breath of hope provided by Devan Duvernay's 37-yard punt return in the final minute of the third quarter was largely suffocated when the ensuing possession managed just two yards across seven plays, culminating in a 51-yard Cairo Santos field goal that turned a two-touchdown deficit into...well, still a two-touchdown deficit.
But some of us had seen enough of Caleb Williams dating to his time at Gonzaga College High School, Oklahoma, USC, and with the Bears both this year and last to have hope. Read the thread. However, while that thread ended with hope, it began with the sobering reality of my conscious lifetime as a Bears fan: absolute domination by Green Bay. The Bears were just 15-50 against the Packers from 1994 through Friday with only two quarterbacks having even achieved three wins against Green Bay: both Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton at 3-1. The other Bears QBs from 1994 until Caleb Williams arrived -- excluding Grossman and Orton -- went just 9-48. My God.
But Caleb is here. And everything that could be different is different.
I was ecstatic about the ability to get Caleb to Chicago and have loved riding the wave with him. There are plenty of other players about whom I was right for the 2025 Bears, including but not limited to:
- Luther Burden. He had an imperfect game, but he made a trio of catches and has already reached "gravity" status: on the final Bears' offensive play of the game, Caleb's fake screen to Burden drew two Packers defenders up to the line, allowing DJ Moore to run free for the game-winning score. Love it.
- Rome Odunze, Kyler Gordon, and Jaylon Johnson. All three are good. All three are clearly playing hurt, especially the two DBs. Great efforts.
- Cole Kmet. Man. Kmet just can't get it done as TE2. His blocking remains adequate, but he's basically a non-factor as a pass catcher at this point, still managing to drop a ball in every game. Ugh.
- Ben Johnson. I was soooooo excited for Johnson's arrival, but he's been dramatically better than I even hoped.
Despite the above, I was wrong on a bunch of Bears players to whom I owe an apology. I expected some of these players to struggle when they were acquired whereas others I expected very little of last night. All of them played their roles in making last night's game an all-time great Bears memory. So, in order of intensity, here are the eight Bears to whom I owe an apology.
8. WR Olamide Zaccheus. I was excited for the Zaccheus signing. He was a competent slot receiver who handled a big workload in Washington and seemed like a nice addition for Caleb. In the early part of the season, Zaccheus produced reasonably well. But as the season went along, it became patently obvious that Zaccheus needed to take a back seat to Burden, an emerging star. So, I lamented Zaccheus' snaps yesterday, even yelling out "why?" when I saw him on the field in the red zone...seconds before he caught the club's penultimate touchdown. Sorry, Olamide.
7. DT Chris Williams. Williams is no star. I saw him as an egregious overpay at $3.263M this year on his RFA tender, and I hoped that he'd be inactive on most gamedays behind Grady Jarrett, Gervon Dexter, Shemar Turner, and Andrew Billings. Well, Jarrett struggled mightily in the early part of the season, Billings looked washed, and Turner tore his Achilles in November. The result? 219 nearly average regular season snaps followed by 11 more last night. Williams isn't good, but he isn't bad and that helped last night. Sorry, Chris.
6. DT Grady Jarrett. My big concern in March was that Jarrett was washed, resulting in his new contract being a massive overpay. That concern was justified: Jarrett looks washed and his contract is a significant overpay. However, let's be fair: Jarrett got off to a brutal start and struggled upon returning from injury in October, but he has played considerably better since then. He's not the impact pass rusher that the Bears need on the inside, but his play has been very solid for the last month and a half. 59 quality snaps against the Packers earns an apology. Sorry, Grady.
5. RB D'Andre Swift. Damn. Swift looked like a brutal overpay in free agency after Ryan Poles struck out on Saquon Barkley. And year one? Yikes. Lots of players were worse last year, but Swift was bad. In 2025 though? Swift has made a starring turn, producing a career year at age 26. He has run so much harder down the stretch, fighting for extra yardage with game-changing results. Most notably, he turned a third and four quick out with 1:54 remaining into a 23-yard gain to put the Bears in field goal territory. Huge, huge play. Sorry, D'Andre!
4. LT Ozzy Trapilo. I just couldn't understand drafting Trapilo in April. The Bears used the #10 pick in 2023 Draft on Darnell Wright and got an All-Pro performer. Trapilo played LT at Boston College in 2022 and struggled. So, he moved to RT for 2023 and 2024 and produced good results. That's cool...but a swing tackle in the second round? No thanks. Well, Trapilo didn't look like he'd play much in 2025 for the first month and a half of the season, only playing 40 brutal snaps in Las Vegas. But then Braxton Jones continued to struggle and got hurt and his backup, Theo Benedet, also got hurt. Trapilo entered the starting lineup in Week 12 and never looked back, rounding into form as a plus LT during his rookie year. Incredible. What a performance. His patellar injury -- of unconfirmed severity -- is devastating not just for the 2025 season but also for the 2026 year and possibly Trapilo's career. But being the hero that he is, Trapilo injured his patellar but hopped off the field on one leg to ensure that the Bears didn't lose a timeout inside the two-minute warning, becoming a fan favorite in the process. Wow! Sorry, Ozzy!
3. RG Jonah Jackson. I absolutely despised the Jackson trade and the post-trade extension made things even worse. Then the season rolled around and Jackson was a one-man wrecking crew in the opening week, torpedoing the offense with a dreadful showing against Minnesota. Jackson had a nightmarish Week 18 against Detroit, too, but the 15 games in between? Jackson was very good, a durable, plus starter on the inside. He's no star, but for those of us expecting a dumpster fire, Jackson's above-average season was a revelation. Sorry, Jonah!
2. TE Colston Loveland. My disappointment on Draft night was crippling. I couldn't believe that the Bears passed up Penn State TE Tyler Warren, coming off of one of the greatest collegiate TE season of all time, in favor of a Michigan Wolverine with a bum shoulder. Loveland then performed poorly in his first two games before injuring his hip in Week Three after playing just six snaps, then missing Week Four as a result. The early returns were dreadful. And to make matters worse, by the time Loveland caught two balls on Monday Night Football against Washington on October 13th -- running his season total to five grabs for 54 yards and no scores -- Warren had posted 29 catches for 370 yards and two touchdowns. *Gulp* Well, thankfully for Loveland and the Bears, the season continued. Loveland became a more important part of the offense and then played leading roles in a pair of season-defining wins, grabbing six balls for 118 yards and two scores (including the game winner) in Cincinnati before running roughshod over the Packers last night. As much as it pains me to say it, Loveland looks like a superstar and -- ugh -- an even better fit with Caleb than Warren would have been. Sorry, Colston!
1. K Cairo Santos. As if this could have been anyone else. I despite Santos for a reason as old as time: he's just like me! I was a weak-legged kicker who could kick the ball straight but not drive it powerfully. His inadequate leg strength in prior seasons figured to torpedo more meaningful games this year if Johnson successfully turned around the operation. And he did! It is but a distant memory now, but way back in Week One, Santos missed a 50-year attempt against Minnesota on the first play of the fourth quarter before JJ McCarthy led three touchdown drives. Had Santos made that kick, Odunze's late touchdown catch that brought the Bears within three would've tied the game. He nearly did it again in Minneapolis, missing wide from 45 yards out in the fourth before hitting from 48 on the game's final play to win the game. His kickoffs have been inconsistent, though his most successful kicks -- low line drives that bounce through the landing zone -- are fantastic.
Regardless, when the weather turned cold, Santos got hot. In particular, his 47-yarder against Pittsburgh was the difference in that game, his perfect day against Green Bay on December 20th got that game to overtime, and his perfect day yesterday was impressive enough on its own...but when contrasted with the disastrous performance from Brandon McManus, Santos and his low-trajectory kicks were crucial. Had Santos missed any of his five kicks, Green Bay would've been able to tie or win the game with a McManus field goal. But whereas McManus hooked a field goal and an extra point while pushing another field goal, Santos nailed his kicks. Had Cody Parkey made his final kick as a Bear in January 2019, the playoff victory drought would've been much shorter. But Parkey, rather famously, double-doinked that season away. Santos delivered, as he has almost all season. I'm surprised. But kudos. Sorry, Cairo!
I've been really underwhelmed by Gervon Dexter this year and frustrated by Tremaine Edmunds over the past month or so. Perhaps they'll combine for five sacks against the Rams!
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