2025 Wild Card Round: Chicago Bears 31, Green Bay Packers 27

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: January 18, 2026

Super shredders [Photo: Prime Video]

Player Grades

The grading scale goes from -2 to +2, in half-point increments, for each play. Screens are graded as runs. Penalties are counted in whatever phase they were committed. Pre- and post-snap penalties are in the “Misc.” column. “Short” throws are 15 yards or less, “Deep” is over 15. Everything else (scrambles, throwaways, reads, etc.) is under “Miscellaneous.” Parentheses in a column denote grades/snaps from the opposite side of the ball and are not included in grades/snaps from the player’s usual side. Snap counts are from Pro Football Reference. Box score and other relevant info can be found at that link as well.

I’m not gonna lie, they had us the first half

I floated the idea on Twitter of promoting Al Harris to First Half Defensive Coordinator and I’m not entirely kidding. I know Dennis Allen isn’t exactly working with a ton of talent here, but that gameplan in the first half was awful. Coming out playing predominantly man with Nahshon Wright, Nick McCloud, a nowhere near 100% Jaylon Johnson, and two linebackers that just aren’t fast enough is a fireable offense. Doing that while giving no help to a pass rush that you know sucks should’ve resulted in George McCaskey sending a staffer to go clean out Allen’s office for him. If this was the plan, Tyrique Stevenson and Kyler Gordon should’ve been in from the start. Gordon clearly wasn’t 100% either, as evidenced by the fact that Green Bay’s strategy late became “locate #6 and throw it to the guy he’s currently failing to cover,” but that’s still better than McCloud. And if you want to run man that heavy, Stevenson needs to be in over Wright, or frankly, this version of Jaylon Johnson. Jaylon ending up grading out well overall and I commend him for even being out there right now, but if you’re the coach, you can’t let the fact that his name’s Jaylon Johnson factor into your decision making.

What about the decision making on the other side of the ball?

I didn’t have a problem with it. I applaud Coach Johnson for understanding that the defense stinks. I also didn’t hate the pass on 4th and 1 near the end zone because it was clear that the Packers saw the run coming. It was just unfortunate that DJ Moore fell down. The offense put together a nice drive to open the game, but unfortunately, only came away with three. Then the Packers marched down and scored and it was clear the offense was going to have to carry the day. So then they start pressing and getting aggressive, which means getting away from the run, which in turn means the playaction stuff becomes less effective and, at that point, they become a whole lot easier to defend. As Caleb continues to grow and master the offense, you’ll see them become more three-dimensional.

Caleb’s grade wasn’t as high as I expected.

Yeah, same here. He missed some throws he needed to hit and I did think that, overall, this game was a step back for him in terms of decision making. A couple open guys missed, one play where he ran himself into pressure by not stepping into the pocket. But then he hits this

[Photo: Chicago Bears]

and you’re reminded of just how special he is. This play being extra special because Coach Johnson had actually schemed Loveland wide open on the other side, but pressure closed that off. So Caleb threw on the Superman cape and saved the season. He may not ever be Tom Brady, but so what? How many guys can do this? In that moment, with the season on the line, no less. Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, this is not 2018. They’ve got the coach, they’ve got the QB, and thus, they have an honest-to-goodness window.

Monsters

Caleb, Loveland, Darnell Wright, Booker, Swift had a few really nice plays

Chipmunks

Trapilo (get well soon), Edwards (ditto), Dalman, Sweat and Dexter graded out at 0 with ~60 snaps at a “make plays” position

Four Stars of the Game

Colston Loveland