2024 NFL season, Week 18: What We Learned from Sunday’s games
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Eric Edholm’s takeaways:
- Packers couldn’t improve their seed as Love, Watson were injured. The Packers had something to play for Sunday, needing a victory and a Washington loss to move up from the No. 7 seed to the sixth slot. But there were some tense moments as the Bears got off to a first-half lead and both Jordan Love and Christian Watson were injured. Watson (knee) was ruled out after a non-contact injury after 10 snaps. Love appeared to be hit on the funny bone after completing a wild checkdown pass, and though he flexed his hand and warmed up throughout the second half, the Packers smartly sat him for the remainder of the game. Backup QB Malik Willis took a shot from Bears safety Kevin Byard and coughed the ball up on a sack, adding to the pre-playoffs tension. The worry on Watson feels higher than Love; there’s no way Love would have been warming up on the sideline if he truly was injured. It’s a different story heading into the postseason with Watson’s injury, as he’s been in and out of the lineup the past two seasons and can’t seem to stay healthy for long stretches.
- Bears’ miserable season ended on a high note. The Bears had nothing to play for but pride, but pride was on display until the final seconds in a 24-22 victory at Green Bay – the franchise’s first at Lambeau Field since the 2015 season. Caleb Williams and the offense got off to a tough start, as they failed to score on their first offensive possession Sunday for the 17th time in 17 games, but the defense and special teams kept them in the game. They even came prepared with a pretty cool trick play. Josh Blackwell‘s punt-return TD (where was this one all season?) gave the Bears their first lead in a game since Nov. 24. The Packers took the lead in the final minute with a Brandon McManus field goal, but the embattled Williams dragged the Bears downfield – with help from a 15-yard penalty – to set up Cairo Santos game-winning kick. Considering the Bears were in this spot against the Packers at Soldier Field earlier this season, it was no gimme, but Santos nailed it. The win ended a 10-game losing streak and gave the Bears some hope heading into the offseason.
- Packers must clean up after sloppy performance, get more from receivers. The Packers suffered from execution and coaching errors in their loss to the Bears, which was pretty disappointing considering that Green Bay had a reason to play hard. Once the Commanders pulled ahead in the fourth quarter, the improved seed was out of the mix. But the early special teams breakdowns – a high snap on the first punt, followed by Chicago pulling off punt return misdirection – put the Packers in a hole. Then Jayden Reed had a costly fumble, which led to another Bears TD, which put Chicago up, 14-3. He atoned with a circus catch from Malik Willis late in the second quarter, but Reed has been in a mini-slump in recent games. They’ll need to be sure he’s buttoned up and ready for the wild-card game next week, especially if Watson is out. Malik Heath and Dontayvion Wicks stepped up with some nice plays, and Luke Musgrave made a key stab of a low pass, but the Packers need all hands on deck, operating at a high level next week.
Next Gen Stats Insight for Bears-Packers (via NFL Pro): Malik Willis entered the game early in the second quarter for an injured Jordan Love (hand), where he got the ball out quicker (2.52 seconds) and averaged more air yards per attempt (9.3) than Love (3.22 seconds and 6.4 air yards per attempt). Willis recorded a +13.3% completion percentage over expected on the day, the highest CPOE by a Packers quarterback in a game this season (minimum 10 attempts).
NFL Research: Caleb Williams finished his rookie season with 3,541 passing yards, which is the fifth most by any Bears QB. Erik Kramer holds the top spot with 3,838 yards in 1995, followed by Jay Cutler (2014, 2009 and 2015), who holds the next three spots on that list.