BOX SCORE

CHICAGO — A few Bears and Packers were close enough to be within earshot. That’s when an unfriendly exchange took place before Saturday night’s NFL playoff game at Soldier Field.

Some smack talk led to some light shoving, which caught the eye of both squads, and they converged on each other at the Bears’ midfield logo. Officials quickly quelled the exchange, forming a wall between navy and green.

If all the pregame hype didn’t resonate, that image should. Combatants in the NFL’s longest (and most intense) rivalry don’t like each other. Not one bit.

The Bears-Packers rivalry has been renewed this season after years of Green Bay dominance, with Chicago splitting the regular-season series and winning the NFC North title to set up this NFC wild-card round clash.

Emotions ran high on both sidelines. Execution was only good on one of them in the first half.

In the second half, it flipped, making the game interesting late — as you’d expect from these Bears. After a season full of dramatic finishes, this one was the craziest.

The Bears fell behind three scores early, but they came roaring back with an incredible second half, earning a 31-27 win over the Packers. For the third time in their three meetings this season, the game ended on a final pass, as Jordan Love’s end-zone throw fell incomplete.

Let’s examine what we learned as the No. 2-seeded Bears advanced to next week’s divisional round against either the No. 3 Philadelphia Eagles or the No. 5 Los Angeles Rams:

Caleb Williams surges back

Williams has been so good in the clutch this season and throughout his football career. The second-year Bears quarterback talked a ton about his confidence being at “an all-time high,” and head coach Ben Johnson said his signal-caller was “built for this.”

On this particular night, though, Williams wasn’t on point. He consistently struggled to find receivers. His at-times unreal accuracy and timing were a tick off. He threw an interception in the red zone. He was tripped and hurt the lower part of his leg, though he didn’t missed an offensive play.

Boosted by a defense that cut off Green Bay’s circulation (for a while), Williams led a fourth-quarter scoring drive that cut Chicago’s deficit to 21-16 on a 6-yard D’Andre Swift touchdown.

The Packers responded with a TD of their own, meaning the Bears need some trademark Williams heroics. They got some on a 10-play, 76-yard drive that ended with an 8-yard Williams TD pass to veteran wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus and a 2-point conversion toss to rookie tight end Colston Loveland.

The Bears’ defense made a stop — more on that unit below – and set up Williams for a late-minute push to win or tie. He pushed the Bears down field and put them ahead on a 25-yard TD pass to DJ Moore with 1:43 left in the game.

That score stood, with Love’s final pass going awry, completing a shocking Bears comeback for the ages.

Williams finished 24-of-48 passing for 361 yards and two TDs with two interceptions.

Fourth-down decisions go awry

The Bears attempted a fourth-down conversion from their own 32-yard line midway through the second quarter. They also went for it on the next drive while they were within Cairo Santos’ field-goal range.

They didn’t convert either time.

The Bears previously made an attempt from their own 38 to start the second quarter, with Williams hitting Moore for 18 yards and the only first-half conversion. But four plays later, on fourth down from the Packers’ 40, Williams threw an interception in the red zone after a clear miscommunication with rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III.

That earlier failed attempt from the Bears’ 32 resulted in a Packers touchdown, and Chicago trailed 21-3 at halftime.

The Bears felt obligated, and rightly so, to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Packers’ 6 late in the third quarter. A touchdown would have made it a one-score game, but Williams immediately was pressured and threw another pick in the red zone.

This section isn’t meant to question all of Bears head coach Ben Johnson’s fourth-down decisions, on which they went 2 for 6 in the game. It’s to point out the unsaid in him making them — that Johnson didn’t trust his defense to make a stop and didn’t believe — rightly so — that a bunch of field goals would win the game.

It’s an example of the offensive futility that put the Bears in a bind and way behind in the scoreline.

Defense awful early, better late

The Bears’ defense could do no right in the first half, allowing Love and the Packers to do whatever they wanted. Green Bay seemingly scored at will in the first half against a talented yet worn-down Chicago defense, which, in its current state, didn’t have the speed to keep up, especially early.

The Bears’ defense found late life, however, with a run of stops to start the second half. Chicago scored 13 points off four stops, with the other drive ending in an interception.

Once the Bears crawled within one score, Love’s fourth TD pass of the game — a 23-yarder to Matthew Golden with 6:36 left — made things difficult when the defense had to be near perfect. It was an ill-timed score and put the game in real jeopardy for Chicago. But the Bears responded with another TD, on Williams’ pass to Zaccheaus.

Chicago desperately needed a stop or a turnover late in the fourth quarter, and got it. The Bears forced a field-goal attempt that Brandon McManus missed, giving them a chance to tie the game or win it late.

After how Chicago’s defense started, the turnaround was as impressive as it gets.