“It was good to get that done,” said tight end Cole Kmet. “We’ve had a lot of opportunities and moments where we’ve come really close, and things haven’t ended the right way. But it was really cool for it to end that way and get the game-winning field goal and get the win.”
The Bears led 21-13 before the Packers rallied late. Green Bay cut the deficit to 21-19 on Emanuel Wilson’s 21-yard TD run with 4:28 to play and then took a 22-21 lead on Brandon McManus’ 55-yard field goal with :54 remaining.
The kick came after the Packers had recovered a Moore fumble on a bubble screen at the Bears’ 43 with 1:49 left. But the veteran receiver made amends by setting up Santos’ game winner.
“After that bubble I was going to be on everybody’s hit list,” Moore joked. “[The catch that set up the field goal] felt amazing. Once I saw them playing outside leverage, I knew it was going to be a catch and I just had to get down and we had to clock it.”
Santos’ winning kick came seven weeks after his 46-yard attempt was blocked by the Packers as time expired, preserving Green Bay’s 20-19 victory at Soldier Field.
“Ever since that game against Green Bay at home, I’ve had a terrible taste in my mouth,” Santos said. “I’ve tried to stay in the moment every game after that, but I had this game circled in my heart. I literally got on my knees all week and prayed that I would have a game-winning kick. It’s just surreal that it happened this way.”
The victory came in Thomas Brown’s final game as Bears interim head coach. During Saturday night’s team meeting, Brown spoke to the players about embracing difficult moments, quoting a passage from the book, “The World Less Traveled.”
“I talked about one of the greatest enemies of success is ease or the desire for things to be easy,” he said. “I’m proud of those guys for the way that they battled and overcoming obstacles. It got very difficult towards the end.
“I also talked about doubts. It’s one of the biggest enemies of success. I wanted to continue to express how much I believe in the group. I wanted them to believe in themselves, to walk into this arena, this atmosphere, that we haven’t won in in a very long time and capitalize the right way.
“I wanted our last game together to be about firsts: The first time we won in 10 games. The first time we beat these cats in [12] tries. The first win in 2025. There was a lot to play for in this game. I’m so proud of those guys the way they capitalized and finished. Also, even more so on Virginia McCaskey’s [102nd] birthday. To be able to get a win was a huge deal.”