Maybe facing the Chicago Bears really was what the doctor ordered after all.
On Sunday in Week 5, and for the first time all season, the Green Bay Packers looked like a team capable of contending in 2026. For all of his downplaying of any personal animosity against Ben Johnson, Matt LaFleur kept sticking with the deep ball up by 24 points in the fourth quarter, finally living up to the “All Gas, No Brake” mantra he espoused earlier in his tenure as Packers head coach as his team dominated the Bears
from the opening whistle in a 31-7 victory.
Jordan Love had his best game of the season and was immaculate with the deep ball, throwing for more than 250 yards on balls 20-plus yards downfield. Love finished the day 25-for-31 passing with 367 yards overall, the most ever by a Packers quarterback at Lambeau against Chicago, and he threw for two scores on bombs to Christian Watson. The Packers’ top receiver continued his impressive scoring streak with those touchdowns, which brought him up to six on the season, while ending the day with a stat line of 6 catches for 143 yards. Matthew Golden got into the act as well with six catches of his own for 123 yards, including two explosive plays of his own.
Credit the Packers’ offensive line as well for a good performance ahead of Love, as the team rolled out the same starting five as last week in Tampa. The run game still struggled — the team gained just 70 yards on the ground — but the Bears only recorded two sacks and three more QB hits in the game as Love was able to drop back and wait for deep routes to develop.
Meanwhile, the Packers’ defense was swarming to the football, recording three interceptions on Bears quarterbacks and five turnovers overall. Two of the picks came from Xavier McKinney, who recaptured a bit of his All-Pro form after a bit of a down start to the season, while Ty’Ron Hopper recorded the third to all but end the Bears’ comeback attempt early in the fourth quarter.
With the win, the Packers moved over .500 for the first time all season, improving to 3-2 and into a tie with the Bears — though with a win in hand — for second place in the NFC North (pending the Lions’ game against Arizona later in the afternoon). The Packers also recorded their first two-game win streak since last season’s back-to-back wins over the Lions on Thanksgiving and the Bears the following week, while that Thanksgiving game was the last time Green Bay had scored more than 30 points prior to this performance.
On the Bears’ first possession, Tyson Bagent hit D’Andre Swift out of the backfield for a 13-yard gain early, but he took a sack on 2nd-and-long to lead to a punt. Green Bay took over from their own 9-yard line and proceeded to move the ball well, cruising into Bears territory. On a first-and-10 after a Tucker Kraft sneak to move the chains on 3rd-and-1, Love dropped back and found a wide-open Christian Watson on a go route, dropping a perfect pass in for a 42-yard touchdown and an early Packers lead.
The touchdown was Watson’s fifth on the young season, and two plays later, the Packers’ defense gave the offense a golden opportunity. Tyson Bagent threw into double coverage and Javon Bullard tipped the pass into the waiting arms of Xavier McKinney at the Bears’ 45-yard line for the game’s first turnover.
After a few nice gains, the Packers faced a 4th-and-1 at the Bears’ 23-yard line, and Pierre Strong punched through the line to move the chains. Strong supplanted Kaleb Johnson in the lineup as the Packers’ RB2 throughout the first quarter, and the Packers ended the frame inside the 10-yard line. On the first play of quarter two, Lloyd obliterated Jaylon Johnson in a hole off right tackle and cruised into the end zone for his first career rushing touchdown, giving Green Bay a 14-0 lead.
The Packers forced a three-and-out on the next Bears’ drive, but they returned the favor on offense and Chicago finally got something going. The Bears ripped off their first long drive behind D’Andre Swift and Luther Burden, picking up four first downs, but Green Bay appeared to get a stop in the red zone only for Zaire Franklin to get called for holding to keep the drive alive. Chicago eventually got Swift into the end zone just inside the two-minute warning, converting on 4th-and-goal from the two to cut the Packers’ lead to seven points.
A false start penalty before the Packers’ first down play put them in a tough spot. Two passes to the boundary and an incomplete pass took barely 20 seconds off the clock and forced a punt. Fortunately, Daniel Whelan’s punt was a 68-yard bomb, and with a holding penalty on Chicago, the Bears started from their own 10. Brandon Cisse made back-to-back big plays to give the offense one more chance, though, sacking Bagent on 2nd down and breaking up a deep pass for Rome Odunze on third down. Matthew Golden’s punt return — with Skyy Moore banged up — set up the Packers at midfield with 40 seconds and two timeouts.
Love took a sack on first down then the Packers got an illegal formation penalty to force them into a 2nd-and-20 well outside field goal range. Austin Booker sacked Love a second time on third down to send the game into halftime at 14-7.
But on the first play of the second, half, Watson delivered an explosive play as Love found him over the middle for a gain of 31 yards. A few plays later, the Packers had a long touchdown to J. Michael Sturdivant wiped off the board on 3rd down, as the rookie receiver was flagged for offensive pass interference, so Love just chucked one deep again. This time it was Watson over the middle of the field once again, who elevated to make an incredible catch over safety Dillon Thieneman for a 53-yard score.
Trey Smack’s extra point went wide left, however, as Green Bay’s lead stuck at 20-7.
Chicago got back to work on offense, picking up chunks of yardage, but the Packers’ defense got a stop thanks to Dani Dennis-Sutton sniffing out a wide receiver screen on third down. Cairo Santos’ 43-yard field goal hooked wide left, keeping Green Bay’s lead at 13 midway through the third quarter.
One first down and a punt sent the ball back to Chicago, but Zaire Franklin delivered a big stop. Franklin knifed through the line to tackle Roschon Johnson for a loss on a 3-and-1 run, giving the ball back to Green Bay’s offense once again. The first play saw Love roll out to the left and Tucker Kraft got wide open on a post across the field, hauling in a deep ball for a gain of 46 yards, immediately putting the Packers into the red zone. They couldn’t do much more with it, however, and Trey Smack came on for a 35-yard field goal to give Green Bay a 16-point lead at 23-7.
The Bears converted a 4th down on their next series, getting a conversion from Bagent to Colston Loveland on 4th-and-4 from their own 40, but on the very next play, McKinney struck again. He lurked and broke on another Bagent throw over the middle, jumping a route by Loveland and intercepting his second pass of the game. Two passes from Love to Matthew Golden for 36 and 15 yards on the next two plays set Green Bay up with goal-to-go as the fourth quarter began. MarShawn Lloyd didn’t make Packers fans wait long, cutting outside and walking untouched into the end zone on the very next play. A two-point conversion to Golden made it a 24-point lead.
The Bears weren’t quite done, however, as Zavion Thomas took the ensuing kickoff 61 yards into Packers territory. Ben Johnson brought on Case Keenum to replace Bagent, and two passes took Chicago inside the 10. But the Packers got a 6-yard tackle for loss from Keisean Nixon on an end-around, forcing a 4th down attempt, and Ty’Ron Hopper, the replacement for Edgerrin Cooper, intercepted Keenum to end the threat.
Smack missed a field goal on the ensuing drive that could have made it a four-possession game — the wind clearly caught his kick right before the uprights — but the Packers recovered their fourth turnover on the next possession. Rome Odunze fumbled after having appeared to pick up a 4th down and Evan Williams recovered, but Smack missed again, this time from 47 yards out. Another fumble recovery followed, as Devonte Wyatt’s second sack of the game stripped the ball from Keenum for a recovery by Dani Dennis-Sutton.
The only particularly notable item from the final five minutes of the game was an injury to Javon Hargrave inside the two-minute warning, as the veteran defensive lineman came up limping and unable to put weight on his right leg. Hargrave was carted off the field and his status will be worth monitoring over the next few days.
