1/6/25 Hometown Broadcasting Sports Monday
6 January 2025 Sports
From Wayne Mausser
Caleb Williams drove Chicago to Cairo Santos’ 51-yard field goal as time expired and the Bears snapped a 10-game skid with a 24-22 victory over the playoff-bound Green Bay Packers, who lost quarterback Jordan Love and wide receiver Christian Watson to injuries on Sunday.
The Bears (5-12) beat the Packers for the first time since 2018 and ended an 11-game losing streak in this rivalry. It was redemption for Santos, who had a 46-yard field goal blocked by Karl Brooks on the final play of a 20-19 loss to the Packers on Nov. 17.
Brandon McManus had put Green Bay ahead by making a 55-yard field goal with 54 seconds left. Williams got the Bears into field-goal range by throwing an 18-yard completion to DJ Moore, whose fumble had set up the McManus kick.
Green Bay (11-6) is the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs and will play at Philadelphia in the wild-card round. Kickoff Sunday is at 3:30.
Now the Packers wait on the status of Watson and Love. Watson was carted off the field with a knee injury in the second quarter and Love departed with an elbow issue later in that same series.
Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said Love was held out as a precaution. The QB had some practice tosses on the sideline late in the game.
The Packers had opted to play their starters rather than rest them for the postseason even though they already had clinched a playoff berth with their Dec. 23 victory over New Orleans. Sunday’s results still could have impacted their seeding.
That plan proved costly when Watson and Love both got hurt in the same second-quarter series with the Packers trailing 14-3.
Watson, who missed a loss at Minnesota last weekend with a hurt left knee, clutched his right knee after going down while running a pattern in a non-contact injury. Watson walked to the sideline and later was carted into the locker room.
Later in that series, Love flipped a pass to Josh Jacobs while facing heavy pressure, then started to shake his throwing hand. Love eventually left with an elbow injury as Malik Willis took over for the rest of the drive, which ended with a Jacobs 8-yard touchdown run.
Willis ended up going 10 of 13 for 136 yards with a fumble.
Chicago took an early lead because of its defense and special teams. Williams was 21 of 29 for 148 yards with a touchdown pass to Moore, who had nine catches for 86 yards.
The Bears took their first lead since the opening quarter of a 30-27 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 24 by utilizing some trickery on a punt return.
As Moore acted as though he was preparing to catch a punt near Green Bay’s sideline, Josh Blackwell actually got the ball while his back was toward the line of scrimmage way over near Chicago’s sideline.
Most of the Packers in coverage converged on Moore and other Bears, creating a clear lane for Blackwell. He made it into the end zone untouched for a 94-yard touchdown.
That play enabled Chicago to end the first quarter ahead 7-3 despite getting outgained 87-(minus-4). It was the first time since Sept. 4, 1994, that a team led a game after the first quarter despite having less than zero total yards.
A fumble by Jayden Reed led to a D’Andre Swift 4-yard run that put Chicago ahead 14-3 early in the second quarter.
Along with the injuries to Watson and Love, Bears S Jaylon Johnson hurt his quadriceps. Packers WR Romeo Doubs missed the game due to an illness.
Elsewhere in the NFC North Sunday night the Lions (15-2) rolled over the visiting Minnesota Vikings (14-3), 31-9, to capture the number one seed and a first round bye in the NFC.
It was 10-6 at the half but then Detroit’s offense kicked into gear and along with a stifling defense, held the Vikings in check.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff was 27 of 33 for 231 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions and Jahmyr Gibbs rushed 23 times for 139 yard s and two touchdowns to lead the way.
Minnesota’s Sam Darnold was just 18 of 41 for 166 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions and was under pressure all night. Viking’s star wide receiver Justin Jefferson caught just three passes of 54 yards. The Vikings were in the red zone three times but came away with just six points.
Aaron Rodgers became the fifth player in NFL history to throw 500 career regular-season touchdown passes, accomplishing the feat in the second quarter of the New York Jets’ game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
On first-and-goal from the 5, Rodgers dropped back and then ran forward in the pocket to buy some time before zipping a pass to Tyler Conklin in the end zone to give the Jets a 7-6 lead with 7:57 left before halftime.
Conklin handed Rodgers the ball as the entire offense celebrated in the end zone, hugging the quarterback and tapping him on the helmet. Rodgers got more high-fives and hugs when he got to the sideline.
He joined Tom Brady (649), Drew Brees (571), Peyton Manning (539) and Brett Favre (508) as the only players to reach the milestone.
The TD pass against Miami also gave him 25 for the season, the 14th time in his 20-year career he reached the mark, tying him with Brees (14) for the third-most seasons with at least that many. Only Brady (17) and Manning (16) have more.
Rodgers later passed Matt Ryan (62,792 yards passing) for seventh on the NFL’s career passing list. He then added his 501st TD pass on a 13-yard throw to Allen Lazard with 59 seconds left in the first half.
Rodgers’ third TD pass of the game — No. 502 — made some more history. His 4-yard throw to Davante Adams marked the 83rd time the two have combined for a score — passing Miami’s Dan Marino and Mark Clayton for the third most by a quarterback-wide receiver combination.
The 41-year-old Rodgers, who was intercepted on his first pass against Miami, entered the game one touchdown pass away from 500 after getting No. 499 on an 11-yard toss to Adams that completed a 99-yard opening drive for the Jets against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 22.
Rodgers had a rough outing at Buffalo last Sunday, when he was held without a TD pass, threw two interceptions and was sacked four times to bring his career total to an NFL-record 568 before giving way to Tyrod Taylor in the fourth quarter.
Rodgers’ playing future beyond Sunday is uncertain. He has said he’d prefer to come back with the Jets — if he decides to continue playing. Rodgers, who has one year remaining on his contract, said he wants to take some time in the offseason to consider his future.
Meanwhile, it’s not clear if the Jets will want Rodgers back. The team is going through a reset with general manager and head coach searches underway. New York’s next regime, along with owner Woody Johnson, could opt to cut ties with Rodgers and go in a different direction next season.
John Blackwell set career-highs with 32 points and six 3-pointers, and Wisconsin finished with a program-best 21 makes from behind the arc in a 116-85 victory over Iowa on Friday night.
Markus Ilver tied Wisconsin’s team record of 18 3-pointers in a game with 2:48 left and Xavier Amos got a friendly roll at 1:54 to set the record. Amos added another 3-pointer and Camren Hunter sank one with 21.7 seconds left.
Wisconsin finished 40 of 61 from the field (65.6%), including 21 of 31 from 3-point range, to score its most points at the Kohl Center, its home arena since 1998. The Badgers’ previous best 3-point mark came in an 82-68 win over Nebraska on Jan. 22, 2020.
Nolan Winter added 18 points and eight rebounds, and Steven Crowl scored 14 points for Wisconsin (11-3, 1-2 Big Ten). John Tonje and Kamari McGee each scored 12.
Drew Thelwell scored 25 points for Iowa (10-4, 1-2). Josh Dix added 16 points, Owen Freeman scored 14, and Brock Harding and Pryce Sandfort each scored 10.
Iowa started the game by making 10 of its first 13 field goals before finishing 32 of 66 (48.5%).
Wisconsin has the weekend off before playing at Rutgers on Monday. Iowa returns home to host Nebraska on Tuesday.
On Saturday Grinnell College defeated the Ripon men’s basketball team, 98-91.
The Ripon College women’s basketball team won Saturday, 67 to 44 over Beloit College.
Anfernee Simons scored 28 points and Deni Avdija 19 as the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 105-102 on Saturday night.
Giannis Antetokounmpo hit two free throws to give the Bucks a 102-100 lead. Simons was fouled on a scoring drive and completed the three-point play, giving Portland a 103-102 lead with 23.5 seconds remaining.
Milwaukee turned it over on its next possession without getting a shot, giving Portland possession with 8.4 seconds remaining.
Simons hit two more free throws with 5.4 seconds left, giving Portland a 105-102 lead. Damian Lillard missed a 3-point try from the left side on the Bucks’ final possession.
Antetokounmpo finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds, and AJ Green added 21 points on seven 3-pointers.
The Bucks are at the Toronto Raptors Monday.
The Wisconsin Herd, NBA G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks, lost to the College Park Skyhawks 123-111.
Terence Davis led the Herd with 28 points while Milwaukee Bucks assignment player Chris Livingston followed with 18 points.
The top scorers for the College Park Skyhawks were Kevon Harris with 25 points and Mouhamed Gueye with 22 points.
Wisconsin will host their first home game of the regular season on Sunday, Jan. 12 vs the Osceola Magic with tip-off set at 12:30 p.m.
Share |