DJ Moore Walks Off The Packers In An Impossible Comeback Win

GOOD MORNING, CHICAGO FANS

Are you still on the edge of your seat???

We had a day to recover, but I still haven’t exhaled since the Bears’ historic comeback over the Packers. The Cardiac Bears have been stressful every week, but a complete dud of an effort took my anxiety to a whole new level…until Caleb Williams saved the day.

The Bears are in the playoffs!!! Merry Christmas!

CHICAGO BEARS

W - BEARS 22 PACKERS 16 (F/OT)

MOORE LOVE LOST

In a year full of miraculous comebacks, returning from the brink of death against Green Bay in front of a frenzied home crowd easily takes the crown.

Seven years after the Bears won the division title against the Packers at home, DJ Moore caught a 46-yard overtime missile from Caleb Williams to put the Bears in prime position to take back the NFC North (and never give it back).

After the Packers held off a furious Bears comeback two weeks ago, we knew this rematch would be a heavyweight battle. I did not expect the Bears to look so incompetent for the first 57 minutes with such high stakes. The bad blood was there from the opening kickoff, but it was a one-sided fight.

Jordan Love left the game in the 2nd quarter. Malik Willis had a 142.8 passer rating. The Bears committed 10 penalties (with 4 personal foul penalties) for 105 yards. The Packers didn’t punt a single time. A high snap on a 4th down trick play ruined the Bears’ first drive of the game, and they only gained 33 yards of offense for the rest of the half. This team deserved to lose.

Ice Man Caleb Williams put on his Superman cape when Chicago needed a hero.

Standouts:

• Caleb was sharp all game and took advantage of the big moment, leading the Bears down the field for the game-tying and game-winning TD drives.

• DJ Moore (5 rec, 97 yards, TD) caught the game-winner and led the team in receiving with Rome Odunze and Luther Burden out due to injury

• Jahdae Walker’s first 2 NFL receptions were Caleb’s first and last passes in regulation, and the latter tied the game on a clutch 4th-and-4. Walker caught a game-winner in preseason and sneaked onto the 53-man roster! What a story!

• Nahshon Wright forced a fumble in the red zone - his 9th takeaway of the season

• Cairo Santos was bending it like Beckham in the forceful winds! He was 3/3 on field goals and executed a perfect onside kick

• TJ Edwards led the team with 10 tackles and made a few big stops

Quick Hits:

• Ben Johnson managed the game perfectly: stopping the clock with 6 minutes left, knowing when to kick the field goal when down 10, saving timeouts for the final drive, deferring to start the game and overtime, and more

• Packers had a bad snap on 4th down on their only overtime possession - felt like the bad handoff by the Commanders earlier this season!

• Bears allowed 0 touchdowns on 5 red zone possessions

• Keisean Nixon, the Packers cornerback who picked off Caleb Williams to end the game in Green Bay, was the one defending DJ Moore on the game-winner

• Packers shredded the Bears defense with Willis in the game and finished with 192 rushing yards

• Teams combined for 784 total yards of offense in what should have been a shootout

• 6th win of the season when trailing with 2 or less minutes left

• Two weeks ago, Ben Johnson hinted at going for 2 if they had scored a TD at the end of the game…this time he opted for the extra point, and it paid off

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Caleb Williams

19/34, 250 yards, 2 TD

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Caleb Williams to DJ Moore game-winner

Caleb Williams now holds the NFL record for fewest interceptions thrown through 1,000 career pass attempts with only 12!

D’Marco Jackson was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his game against the Browns

Stadium Update: Kevin Warren wrote a letter (read it here) explaining that the State of Illinois is not prioritizing the new stadium project. The Bears will continue to vet locations other than Arlington Heights as their plans seem to have come to a halt. Northwest Indiana was named as an option! So much for having a shovel in the dirt in 2025 like Warren promised.

Activated Tremaine Edmunds off IR, signed LB Dominique Hampton to the practice squad, released LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin

The Avengers, as named by Caleb Williams:

Ozzy Trapilo - Wolverine

Joe Thuney - Dr. Strange

Drew Dalman - Hulk

Jonah Jackson - Red Hulk

Darnell Wright - Bucky

It WAS just last year that the secondary called themselves the Avengers…I guess the whole team is in the MCU now?

NFC North

11-4 Bears

9-5-1 Packers

8-7 Lions

7-8 Vikings

Division Title

Win 1 of last 2 games OR Packers lose 1 of last 2 games

SCHEDULE 📅 SUNDAY @ 49ers

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

L - MAPLE LEAFS 3 BLACKHAWKS 2

8 SECOND FATE

• Leafs scored twice in 8 seconds with only 3 minutes remaining in the game to take the lead

• Hawks dominated the game for the first 50 minutes: won puck battles, solid in their own zone, quality chances, energy

• Spencer Knight misplayed a dump-in and turned it over, leading to the Leafs’ 3rd goal

L - CANADIENS 4 BLACKHAWKS 1

A DISALLOWED DREAM

• 3 goals were disallowed in what could have been a 6-2 game

• Hawks were hanging on to a 1-1 tie by a thread heading into the 3rd period before it all fell apart. They were outplayed all game and outshot 35-15.

• Frank Nazar scored a goal to break a 21-game streak without one

L - SENATORS 6 BLACKHAWKS 4

FRANKLY, ANOTHER BLOW

• Senators were all over the Hawks (40-24 shots), but the Hawks kept fighting back. They tied the game at 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3 before it got away from them.

• Nazar took a puck to the face and will miss approximately 4 weeks

• Ilya Mikheyev scored 2 goals, and Nick Lardis scored his 1st NHL goal

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Ilya Mikheyev

2 goals and 1 assist (3 points) on 8 shots

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Nick Lardis 1st NHL goal

Placed Connor Bedard on IR and will reevaluate him at the start of the new year. He reportedly has a separated shoulder and will not have surgery.

Recalled D Ethan Del Mastro and G Laurent Brossoit (who cleared waivers) from the AHL

Marcel Marcel, a 2023 5th round pick, was released from his AHL contract and will head to Europe

Artyom Levshunov was scratched on Tuesday because he was late to practice the day before. Jeff Blashill let him hear it during practice 😟

The following lines saw playing time this week:

Air BnB (Bertuzzi-Nazar-Burakovsky)

Rooks (Moore-Greene-Lardis)

The Ahhhtos, it just rolls off the tongue (Dach-Toninato-Donato)

0-4-0 without Connor Bedard. Thanks, Brayden Schenn. Now the Hawks will be without Bedzar (Bedard AND Nazar) as the season spirals away.

SCHEDULE 📅 T/SAT/SUN

CHICAGO BULLS

W - BULLS 127 CAVALIERS 111

BACKCOURT BELIEF

• Coby White (25p) and Josh Giddey (23p/11r/11a) gave the Bulls a glimpse of their early season success

• Bulls shot a season-high (at the time) 56% from the field

• 7 Bulls scored in double figures as reinforcements continue getting healthy

W - BULLS 136 CAVALIERS 125

FULL STRENGTH TWO TAP

• The entire Bulls roster (except Noa Essengue) was finally healthy and ready to beat the Cavs for the 2nd time in 3 nights

• A 44-point 3rd quarter kept the Cavs in the game, highlighted by two consecutive Darius Garland 3s off of Bulls turnovers

• Matas Buzelis and Nikola Vucevic each had 24 points

W - BULLS 152 HAWKS 150

FIRST TO A MILLION

• Highest scoring game in the NBA this season, highest scoring 1st half (83 points) in Bulls history, most assists (41) for the Bulls this season

• Matas Buzelis scored 28 points on 10/11 shooting and 7/8 from 3PT

• 9 Bulls scored in double figures for the 4th time in franchise history

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Matas Buzelis

20.3p/3.0r per game, 5 blocks, 3 steals

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Nikola Vucevic dunk

Granted a $2.7M Disabled Player Exception because of Noa Essengue’s season-ending injury

Billy Donovan started using 2-big lineups on a regular basis, and Vucevic’s minutes were reduced to make that happen

SCHEDULE 📅 T/F/SAT

CHICAGO CUBS

OFFSEASON

OFFSEASON UPDATES

• A new mystery team in the Alex Bregman bidding: the Arizona Diamondbacks

• Drew Pomeranz signed with the Los Angeles Angels. Shoutout to a Cubs legend after an unbelievable 2025 season. He was out of the game for 4 years before coming back and re-establishing himself as Mr. Reliable for Craig Counsell. 2.17 ERA, 10.3 K/9 in 49.2 extremely important innings!

• Brad Keller signed with the Philadelphia Phillies for 2 years, $22M! Shoutout to another Cubs legend after he had a career year in 2025. He had a 2.07 ERA, 0.962 WHIP, and 9.7 K/9 in 69.2 IP and was their closer in the playoffs!

Re-signed LHP Caleb Thielbar to a 1-year, $4.5M contract

• Had an amazing first season with the Cubs last year: 2.64 ERA, 0.879 WHIP, 5.9 H/9, .486 OPS vs. Lefties

• Joins Hoby Milner to form a fascinating lefty duo in the pen! They’ll be 39 and 35 years old when the season begins. They also have opposite and extreme arm angles, which should be a big advantage for the Cubs.

• Maybe he prefers a city where he doesn’t get ALL the spotlight as the most important Caleb?

Signed 1B Tyler Austin to a 1-year, $1.25M contract

• Played in Japan for the last 6 seasons - his last MLB appearance was in 2019

• Slugging first baseman who also has outfield experience and hits lefties very well

• .945 OPS and 85 HRs while playing in Japan

• Takes Justin Turner’s role as a righty bench bat, but Craig Counsell already said they plan to play Michael Busch every day!

• Shota Imanaga’s teammate in Japan, briefly played for Craig Counsell in 2019, and went to high school approximately 45 miles away from Dansby Swanson in Georgia

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Nick McCloud

McCloud was named Week 16 NFLPA Community MVP after hosting a holiday event for dads and their kids in the Chicago area. Read more about the event and his perspective here:

MILD TAKE

The Bears need to keep DJ Moore long-term.

Will everyone stop hating on DJ Moore after that performance?

Bears fans have found every reason to kick Moore out the door after the season despite his contract: low production, body language, not being targeted enough, not Ben Johnson’s choice, and so on.

I love DJ Moore. He’s been a pro’s pro since he arrived from Carolina in the #1 pick trade, and he’s one of the most talented wide receivers in the history of Bears football. He’s a reliable run-after-catch specialist who has blocked everyone with force this season. He took “No block, no rock” to heart from Ben Johnson.

His contract extension from prior to the 2024 season is very reasonable, especially as receiver salaries keep climbing. With Moore on the roster, the Bears’ Top 3 receivers include 2 affordable rookie contracts.

Keep Moore. Keep the Top 3. How long are they under contract?

DJ Moore: 2029, Rome Odunze: 2028 (with option), Luther Burden: 2028

That’s an elite, affordable, dynamic WR room for AT LEAST 3 more seasons. Add in the continuity of keeping the same guys in Ben Johnson’s scheme, and this offense will be clicking on all cylinders. Keep DJ in Chicago.

HITTING THE LINKS

Brad Biggs - Chicago Bears put Colston Loveland on the fast track — and the rookie tight end ‘just keeps learning’ (Chicago Tribune)

Ben Pope - Breaking down Blackhawks' goalie depth chart with Laurent Brossoit stuck, Arvid Soderblom struggling (Chicago Sun-Times)

Ben Weinrib - What position will Ballesteros play long term? (MLB.com)

Chicago Bears -New breed of Bears built to win | 1920 Football Drive (YouTube)

Chicago Blackhawks - Every Shift Season 4 Episode 2 (YouTube)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

Thanks for reading! Merry Christmas! Reply to this email with the Chicago sports gift you want for Christmas this year!