Packers, Karl Brooks give Bears middle finger, 20-19

Karl Brooks has 9.125-inch hands. The Green Bay Packers needed every inch to beat the Bears, 20-19, on Sunday at Soldier Field. The Packers’ defensive lineman didn’t think he got enough…until he turned and saw officials signaling no good. He had won the game with his middle finger.

Green Bay’s sixth-round selection out of Bowling Green in the 2023 draft, Brooks said he visualized himself blocking the 46-yard kick of Cairo Santos with no time remaining. And, thanks to the tip of his longest finger on that left hand, he might’ve saved the Packers’ wild-card playoff hopes.

“I just got penetration and just wanted it more, got a hand on it,” Brooks said after the game, noting that he didn’t celebrate right away until he was sure the Packers (7-3) were in the win column.

The block secured Green Bay’s 11^th consecutive win over its oldest rival and moved Matt LaFleur to 11-0 against the Bears. The head coach credited his special teams coordinator, Rich Bisaccia.

“It’s cool to see our guys go out there and show that resiliency,” said LaFleur. “And I think just the effort we got on that last play, I always hear Coach Bisaccia talk about it, that defines the character of your football team, by the effort that we’re giving on our field-goal block unit. And you see great effort from our guys all the time.”

The blocked kick bailed out LaFleur after he opted to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line early in the fourth quarter, down 19-14. Four plays earlier, quarterback Jordan Love rolled to his right and connected with Christian Watson on a 48-yard strike to pierce the Bears’ 10. But Chicago’s defense stiffened, holding Josh Jacobs to short yardage on two carries. Then, after DeMarcus Walker sacked Love on third down, T.J. Edwards and Tyrique Stevenson bottled up Love at the 1 for a turnover on downs.

Chicago (3-7), which lost despite a valiant all-around effort, then milked nearly seven minutes off the clock but couldn’t get much past midfield and had to punt. That’s when Love found Watson again, this time for 60 yards on a pass deep down the left sideline. After replay officials confirmed Watson’s catch, Love ran for 13 and then punched in a 1-yard touchdown to give Green Bay a 20-19 lead. Selfless and patient, Watson had four catches for a career-high 150 yards.

But the Bears weren’t done. Playing their first game since firing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron on Tuesday, they produced 391 total yards, their most since Oct. 6. Chicago didn’t commit a turnover against a Packers club that entered the game tied for second in the league with 19 takeaways.

New coordinator Thomas Brown and quarterback Caleb Williams seemed one step ahead much of the day, including Chicago’s final drive. Needing only a field goal, Williams showed incredible focus and perseverance. He brushed off sacks on each of the first two plays to connect with fellow rookie Rome Odunze on consecutive explosive passes – one for 16 yards to bring up fourth-and-3 from the Bears’ 37, then a 21-yard fourth-down toss that moved Chicago to the Packers’ 42. After hustling to the line, Williams then connected with veteran Keenan Allen for 12 yards to enter field-goal range shortly before Brooks blocked the Santos kick.

Green Bay has won five of its last six to keep pace in the NFC North, two full games behind Detroit (9-1). But despite improving to 7-3, the Packers are still in third place behind Minnesota (8-2), which won at Tennessee. The Packers host San Francisco next week while the Bears are back at Soldier Field against Minnesota.

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