Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers: 5 storylines to watch in Week 18

LAKE FOREST – The Chicago Bears' season will, at long last, come to a conclusion Sunday. After 10 consecutive losses, Bears fans are ready for this to be over.

The Bears take on the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at Lambeau Field. Green Bay has won 11 consecutive games against the Bears, including a dramatic one in November when the Packers blocked a potential game-winning field goal by the Bears. The Bears have not won at Lambeau Field since 2015.

For Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown and his team, Sunday’s game will be the end to what has been a horrible 2024 season. The lone bright spot has been rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.

The Bears (4-12) take on the Packers (11-5) at noon Sunday. The game will be broadcast on Fox. Here are the top five storylines to watch.

1. Starters will play

The Packers have clinched a playoff spot. They will be either the No. 6 or the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs.

Even so, coach Matt LaFleur said this week that quarterback Jordan Love and the starters will play Sunday. The Eagles have locked into the No. 2 seed, while the Rams appear likely to earn the No. 3 seed. Green Bay would likely rather play at Los Angeles as the No. 6 seed than at Philadelphia as the No. 7. Philly has a much stronger home-field advantage.

For the Bears, Williams is expected to play in this game. Even though this game doesn’t mean anything for the team, the Bears know that live reps are scarce in football, and the No. 1 overall draft pick could use the experience.

It’s worth wondering if Williams will play the entire game. Williams took seven sacks against Seattle, and the Bears certainly don’t want to put him in harm’s way.

2. A strong finish?

Williams has a chance to end his rookie season with a bang. Ending the losing streak against Green Bay would certainly do that.

He also has a chance to become only the 13th Bears quarterback to throw for 20 touchdown passes in a season. He needs one more to do so.

This is already the fifth-best season in terms of passing yards by a Bears QB (Williams has 3,393 passing yards). If he throws for 274 yards, he could catapult himself to third best in franchise history, passing two Jay Cutler seasons. The top two spots are most likely out of reach.

But that’s not bad for a rookie season.

Williams went nine full games without throwing an interception. His first interception in months came on the final play against Seattle.

All in all, the rookie has played well despite the dysfunction around him. For the first time in ages, the best thing the Bears have going is the quarterback.

3. The end of a brutal run

No matter what happens, this season will be over. It will be one that Bears fans want to forget. A loss would mean the Bears ended the season with 11 consecutive losses.

Not so long ago, this team was 4-2 and beginning to dream about contending for a playoff spot. So much has changed since then.

The Bears fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. They fired head coach Matt Eberflus. The defense bottomed out. The offense was stuck in the mud at various points.

Pretty much nothing went to plan.

Brown doesn’t believe his team is checked out, but he also knows it’s not where it needs to be.

“When it comes to the understanding of how to prepare the right way, how to play all together at the same time, how to be mature enough to handle certain situations,” Brown said. “Those are more of issues I address on a daily basis versus guys being checked out.”

4. A 10-game losing streak

Every game matters. This might be the end of a lost season, but the Bears have nothing to lose. Fans can say what they want about last week’s ugly loss to the Seahawks, but their team never gave up.

The future is not guaranteed for anybody. Not for Brown, the interim coach, and not for many of his players.

“We all have a very arrogant approach to the future as if the future is guaranteed,” Brown said. “It’s not guaranteed. To be in [Halas Hall] is not guaranteed. To be in the league, period, is not guaranteed. There’s some guys who might play their last game on Sunday. Don’t even know it yet.”

To be in the league, period, is not guaranteed. There’s some guys who might play their last game on Sunday. Don’t even know it yet.”

—  Thomas Brown, Bears interim head coach

That’s a humbling way to look at it.

This exact group will never play together again. The Bears players certainly still want to win. If nothing else, than to get the monkey off their back and end this losing streak.

5. ‘I still own you’

This current 11-game winning streak for the Packers against the Bears is the longest in the history of this rivalry, which began in 1921 and has included more than 200 games.

Green Bay has won 16 of the past 17 meetings and 26 of the past 29. Since taking over as Packers head coach in 2019, LaFleur has never lost to the Bears.

As Aaron Rodgers so emphatically told Bears fans at Soldier Field in November 2021, the Packers still own the Bears. Rodgers is long gone, but the Packers keep beating the Bears.

Love and the starters are expected to play, but even if the Packers sat Love in the second half, there’s little confidence in this Bears team to win anything right now. LaFleur pulling his starters might be the only thing that gives the Bears a chance to snap this awful losing streak against their most hated rival.

This will be Williams' first trip north to Lambeau Field. It certainly won’t be his last. Bears fans are hoping that Williams can be a difference maker in this lopsided rivalry.