Chicago Bears’ NFC lead was short-lived. Now they need more wins — ‘probably at least 2’ — to make playoffs.

GREEN BAY — For, oh, so brief a moment, the Chicago Bears were atop the NFC. At 9-3 entering Sunday’s game against the rival Green Bay Packers, they had the best record in both the conference and the North division.

The Bears, though, knew it never would be so easy.

“We haven’t accomplished anything yet,” coach Ben Johnson said a week ago in the aftermath of a surprising win over the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

The Bears gave themselves a shot during Sunday’s 28-21 loss to the Packers at Lambeau Field. Johnson’s offense drove to the 14-yard line, needing a touchdown to tie, when it faced a crucial fourth-and-1.

Week 14 photos: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers

The Bears could’ve gone in any number of directions with the play, but Johnson elected to put the ball in his quarterback’s hands. Caleb Williams faked a handoff and rolled out to his left. Johnson later said Williams had multiple options on the play, and if all else failed they liked his chances in a footrace to the sticks.

Williams lofted a ball for tight end Cole Kmet, who had his man beat in the back of the end zone. The throw, however, came up short and landed in the arms of Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon for an interception that all but ended the game.

“Just got to give Cole a better shot at it,” Williams said. “Next time, just extend him a little bit more and kind of lead him.”

And just like that, the Bears are in for a dogfight. The loss dropped them to 9-4, second place behind the Packers in the NFC North and seventh overall in the conference.

If the season ended today, the Bears would be in the playoffs — but just barely. Nobody understands how thin that margin is better than their first-year coach.

“We’ll be a playoff team once we earn enough wins to become a playoff team,” Johnson said after Sunday’s game. “Right now we’re a nine-win team, and I don’t think nine wins is going to get you in this year. So we’ve got to do what we can to find a way to get enough wins to get in the tournament.”

The Packers (9-3-1) jumped to the No. 2 seed in the NFC, with the Los Angeles Rams (10-3) back atop the conference. The Detroit Lions (8-5) are lurking just behind the Bears for that last wild-card spot.

The fact Bears fans even are looking at NFC playoff positioning speaks to how quickly Johnson has turned around the franchise’s fortunes. The Bears have been the fun, plucky team with the shirtless coach who wasn’t afraid to call out Packers coach Matt LaFleur during his introductory news conference in January.

But the mood shifted Sunday. The Bears hung in there against the Packers, rallying from a 14-3 deficit to make it a game. And they’ll have another crack at them in two weeks at Soldier Field.

Bears safety Jaquan Brisker said after the game he felt the Packers fans were quieter than usual. Perhaps that’s because, for the first time in several years, real tension was hanging in the air at a Bears-Packers game.

A nervous energy coursed through the historic stadium as the Bears drove down the field with a chance to tie in the final minutes. Yes, the Bears snapped their 11-game losing streak against Green Bay last January, but that game was relatively meaningless for a Packers team that already had locked up a playoff spot.

Sunday’s game was not.

“We knew it was going to be a tough challenge and it was exactly that,” LaFleur said. “It took a full 60 minutes and we’re fortunate that we made a play when we needed to at the end of the game.”

This was the first time since 2001 that these teams met in a December or January regular-season game when both were at least five games over .500.

Sunday’s game had high stakes. The rematch on Dec. 20 will too.

“This is my seventh year in the division, and I do think there’s some aura that comes with playing here and competing here,” Johnson said of Lambeau. “I love it for our guys. This is what the football gods made football to be: cold weather in December like this.

“Green Bay, Chicago, I think that’s outstanding. It’s awesome to have this rivalry alive and well right now, and we’ll get another chance at it here in two weeks.”

As for that comment about LaFleur in January — when Johnson said he liked beating LaFleur twice a year when Johnson was in Detroit — LaFleur has downplayed it every chance he gets.

But the Packers coach had the last laugh Sunday and gave his counterpart the quickest of postgame handshakes. Asked yet again about the nearly year-old comment and if there was any personal satisfaction in beating Johnson, LaFleur said, “Absolutely not.”

Related Articles

• Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears’ 2nd-half turnaround was too little, too late: ‘We need to start faster’

• Even with loss to Packers, Bears fans celebrating a surprising winning season

• J.J. McCarthy and the Minnesota Vikings rebound with 31-0 win over the reeling Washington Commanders

• Week 14 photos: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers

• Week 14 recap: Caleb Williams’ 4th-down INT seals Chicago Bears loss as Green Bay Packers take over 1st place

“It’s Packers-Bears,” LaFleur said. “It’s a great rivalry and certainly with what was at stake in regards to positioning in the NFC North, that’s the only thing that matters.”

A year ago, the Bears were wondering if their interim coach could bring any juice to a team mired in an extended losing streak. On Sunday they walked into Lambeau Field and had the Cheeseheads holding their collective breath in the final seconds.

“You love being in these games,” Williams said.

But the Bears came up short. The work is not done. Nothing is guaranteed. The Bears have four games remaining, and as Johnson said, they need more wins.

“We probably need at least two to feel good about where we’re at,” Kmet echoed.

The Bears take on the Cleveland Browns next week at Soldier Field before their rematch with Green Bay.

“I know one goal we always have is you don’t lose two in a row,” cornerback Jaylon Johnson said. “For us it’s just resetting our mind, getting our bodies right and then just attacking the Cleveland week and trying to get to win No. 10.”