Packers Collapse Again in Stunning Loss to Bears: A Familiar, Frustrating Pattern
With just under five minutes left in regulation, the Green Bay Packers held a 16-6 lead over the Chicago Bears. The win probability?
99.1%. All signs pointed toward a crucial divisional win and a major step forward in the NFC playoff chase.
Instead, what followed was a meltdown that’s become all too familiar in Green Bay this season - a self-inflicted unraveling that turned a near-certain victory into a gut-punch of a loss. And if you’ve been watching this team closely, Saturday’s collapse at Soldier Field wasn’t just shocking. It was on-brand.
Same Story, Different Sunday
This wasn’t the first time the Packers found themselves in full control late, only to let it all slip away. Back in September, they had a 95% win probability with 3:38 left against the Browns.
That game ended in a 13-10 loss to a Cleveland team that’s barely managed to stay afloat this season. But Saturday’s stumble in Chicago?
That one might sting the most.
Let’s break it down.
Josh Jacobs fumbled at the Bears’ three-yard line in the third quarter with Green Bay up 6-3 - a golden opportunity to take command, squandered. Later, in overtime, Malik Willis and Sean Rhyan couldn’t execute a fourth-and-one exchange, killing a potential game-winning drive. And then came the moment that will live in Packers infamy: Romeo Doubs couldn’t corral an onside kick with under two minutes to go and a 16-9 lead on the board.
That’s three massive mistakes in three critical moments - all in a game the Packers had no business losing.
Death by a Thousand Cuts
What’s most alarming about Green Bay’s losses isn’t just that they’re happening - it’s how they’re happening. There’s no single culprit.
Against Chicago, it was ball security. Against Denver, it was penalties (10 of them) and two back-breaking interceptions.
Against Carolina, it was a red-zone offense that went 1-for-5. Pick a category - turnovers, execution, discipline, situational awareness - and chances are the Packers have found a way to stumble in it this season.
It’s the kind of inconsistency that separates playoff teams from true contenders. Green Bay has shown they can beat anyone. But they’ve also shown they can lose to anyone - and often in spectacular, head-scratching fashion.
Echoes of 2014
The ending in Chicago had shades of the 2014 NFC Championship Game in Seattle - a game Packers fans still haven’t fully recovered from. Cairo Santos lined up for the onside kick with just an 8% chance of success. And yet, somehow, Doubs’ mishandling of the ball brought back haunting memories of Brandon Bostick’s infamous miscue in that Seattle collapse.
It was déjà vu - and not the good kind.
Head coach Matt LaFleur was visibly shaken postgame, struggling to process what he’d just witnessed.
“I’ve got to process what happened, how that happened, and try to find ways for us to not put ourselves in these tough situations,” he said. “The majority of the game I felt like we were pretty much in control.”
And he wasn’t wrong. Green Bay had Chicago backed into a third-and-20 late in the fourth quarter.
One more stop and the game’s over. Instead, the Bears found magic, and the Packers lost their grip - again.
A Team That Can’t Get Out of Its Own Way
LaFleur didn’t pin the loss on one play, and he’s right not to. This wasn’t about just the onside kick, or just the fumble, or just the botched fourth-down exchange. It was all of it - a full-team failure across multiple phases.
“It’s never one play,” LaFleur said. “There were so many plays in this game that if they go different, or if we make a play, or if we don’t fumble, or if we aren’t zero-for-five in the red zone… it’s never just one play and it’s never just one phase.”
That’s the most damning thing about this Packers team - they’re not losing because of one glaring hole. They’re losing because the mistakes are everywhere, and they’re happening at the worst possible times.
And now, with Micah Parsons out for the season - a blow that already dimmed their postseason ceiling - this latest loss might be the final crack in the foundation. Even for the most optimistic fans, it’s hard to imagine this team stringing together three clean games in January against the NFC’s best. Not when they can’t get out of their own way in December.
The Hard Truth
LaFleur summed it up best in his postgame comments.
“It’s hard to sleep at night when you have a game like that.”
This season has been filled with those kinds of nights - games that leave you staring at the ceiling, wondering how a team with so much potential keeps finding new ways to unravel.
The Packers aren’t just losing. They’re inventing ways to lose. And unless something changes fast, this season may be remembered not for what they accomplished, but for what they let slip away.