Chicago Bears lose 35-16 to the Green Bay Packers, but they make the playoffs when the Los Angeles Rams beat the Arizona Cardinals
CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears lost to the Green Bay Packers 35-16 on Sunday at Soldier Field, but they still will advance to the postseason for the second time in three years.
The Bears can thank the Los Angeles Rams for the playoff berth after the Rams beat the Arizona Cardinals 18-7. The Cardinals needed a victory and a Bears loss to make the playoffs, so the Bears will move on to play next weekend instead.
The seventh-seeded Bears will play the second-seeded Saints in New Orleans next weekend in the wild-card round.
The Bears got in the end zone on their first drive but didn’t score another touchdown. It was the Bears’ second loss to the NFC North champion Packers in a little more than a month.
Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky completed 33 of 42 passes for 252 yards with no touchdowns.
He threw a fourth-quarter interception to former Bears safety Adrian Amos, and the Packers scored three plays later. It was the second Bears turnover after rookie tight end Cole Kmet lost a first-half fumble.
Meanwhile, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed his first 11 passes before he threw four straight incompletions in the third quarter.
Rodgers completed 19 of 24 passes for 240 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Bears played much of the game without inside linebacker Roquan Smith, who left with an elbow injury. The Bears also lost wide receiver Darnell Mooney to an ankle injury in the fourth quarter.
The lone bright spot for the Bears, besides the playoff berth, was kicker Cairo Santos, who made three field goals and set a franchise record with his 27th straight made field goal. That broke Robbie Gould’s record of 26 straight in 2005-06.
