Immediately after walloping the Cleveland Browns 31-3 on Sunday, Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears were ready to turn the page to a massive rematch with the Green Bay Packers.
When asked about the Week 16 showdown, Williams immediately cited how Chicago came up just short in their comeback bid in Lambeau in Week 14.
"Yeah, I'm excited," Williams said, via the Chicago Sun-Times. "Ended up obviously throwing the pick, as everybody knows, in those last moments, and kind of let that off the hook, throwing such a bad ball to [tight end] Cole [Kmet]. I'm definitely excited. I'm excited for the moment."
The Bears got down by 10 points in the second half in their previous meeting before mounting a comeback.
Chicago tied the score midway through the fourth quarter. Green Bay retook the lead with 3:37 left. The Bears drove the field, but Williams underthrew Cole Kmet in the end zone, leading to a game-sealing Keisean Nixon interception.
It was a brutal way to lose, but the Bears showed fight, putting a slow first half behind them to make it a contest late.
Coach Ben Johnson appreciated that Williams focused on the ending of the game, knowing his quarterback would look to remedy the error in the rematch.
"I'm glad Caleb didn't like how the last one ended," Johnson said Monday. "None of us should, no one likes to lose. The only way you can shake that feeling is to look to stack more victories. That's our intent."
The loss to Green Bay surrendered control of the NFC North. The Bears' win over the Browns this past Sunday, coupled with the Packers' loss in Denver, vaulted Chicago back atop the division with three games to play.
Saturday's showdown is massive for the Bears' playoff positioning. Next Gen Stats currently puts Chicago's playoff probability at 71%. A win would vault them to 92%. A loss would sit those odds to 53%.
With the Packers, 49ers and Lions left on the slate, the Bears are out to prove they belong.
"I think we're ready," Williams said. "We've played teams that have a bunch of wins. We've played teams that don't. We've played close games. We've played games where we've beaten teams by a lot. We've played teams where we had to win with special teams, offense, defense, running the ball, whatever the case.
"I feel that we're ready for just about anything -- hot weather, cold weather, whatever the case may be. We're going to go out there and fight. I do know that."
