History seemed poised to repeat itself once again Sunday night at Lambeau Field.

As quarterback Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears offense lined up at the Green Bay Packers 14-yard line, trailing by seven points with less than half a minute left in the game, it felt inevitable that the Bears would score to tie or take a late lead. Chicago had pulled off the improbable five times this season. What was one more?

But as center Drew Dalman snapped the ball and Williams rolled to his left and lofted a ball up to tight end Cole Kmet, it wasn’t the Bears celebrating once again as the play ended. Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon leapt, snagged the pass and landed down with the ball in the end zone.

The Packers spoiled the Bears’ comeback to win 28-21.

“It’s frustration,” Williams said about the feeling after the game inside Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. “Just because we shot ourselves in the foot more than anything. I think that’s where the frustration comes from.”

Chicago seemed like it was set to overcome a bunch of shots in the foot in a game between the top two teams in the NFC North entering Sunday afternoon. The Bears overcame a 10-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter and needed to do it again when Green Bay took a 28-21 lead with 3:32 left in the game.

It seemed inevitable that it would happen. Williams showed off that late-game clutch gene once again when he completed a 27-yard pass to rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III. He followed that up with a 24-yard pass to Devin Duvernay that got the ball to the Packers 23 with two minutes left in the game.

Then the Bears started to either play for the tie or the win. With all three time-outs, Chicago moved the ball nine total yards over three plays before calling its first with 27 seconds left in the game, setting up that fourth-and-1 situation.

“We got a lot of options there,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said. “Don’t know exactly who’s gonna pop necessarily. But between the options that we have and then Caleb using his legs, was hopeful we could find a way to get a yard there.”

Williams snapped the ball and rolled to his left. Running back D’Andre Swift ran at the 13, which marked a first down, but was followed by three defenders while DJ Moore ran not too far behind him. Williams also didn’t have enough space to pick it up using his legs as Packers defensive lineman Kingsley Enagbare chased him and took away a lane.

For a moment, Williams thought he could loft the ball up to Kmet. But Williams didn’t put enough on it and threw the game-ending interception.

“I tried to give him a big-boy ball, try to let him go up for it because I ended up seeing [Nixon] starting to sprint,” Williams said. “I tried to slow him up and give him a chance. In those moments, it’s a gotta have it moment. They had a guy trailing me and didn’t feel like I could go get it myself. Just got to give Cole a better shot at it. Next time, just extend him a little bit more, kind of lead. But in those moments, you want to put the ball in play and trust your guy or try to have your guy go make a play. Just got to give him a better ball.”

Johnson compared the pass to the one Williams completed to Kmet for a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 13. Although it wasn’t the same exact personnel and play call, Williams made a similar cross-body throw on the run for the score.

He just underthrew the ball this time.

“Not tough at all,” Williams said. “Just need to give him a better ball. Thinking too much.”

It was a similar result for the Bears against the Packers. Sunday was Chicago’s 12th loss in their last 13 meetings against Green Bay. But Sunday felt different.

The Bears came back despite not playing their best football for much of the first half. A 14-3 halftime deficit felt larger than just 11 points. But Bears players after the game said they didn’t they could win Sunday like they had in the past. Unlike previous teams, they put themselves in a spot to fulfill another comeback.

“The resilience in the group is great,” Kmet said. “Because I’ve seen teams that I’ve been part of here fold at halftime like that, when things aren’t going so well. So to come out like that and play the way we did. I thought was was good on our end and things that we got to carry going forward.”

Chicago won’t have too much time to lament on Sunday. The loss dropped the Bears to the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs, half a game behind the Packers for the North lead.

“It’s frustration. Just because we shot ourselves in the foot more than anything. I think that’s where the frustration comes from.”

—  Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears quarterbac

The Bears will have four games left this season to qualify for the playoffs in Johnson’s first season. One of those games will be against the Packers at Soldier Field in Week 16.

So while Sunday was a tough way to lose, the Bears weren’t deterred after a failed comeback.

“There’s still a lot out in front of us, though,” Kmet said. “The whole year is still in front of us and there’s still a lot to play for, whether it’s playoff seeding. I mean, there’s a lot out still in front of us.”