Cliffhanger Central

 Look, there has to be a name for them now. Has to be. They can't just be the Bears ... or Da Bearz ... or Da (Bleepity-Bleeping) Bearz.

So what do we call them, as Caleb Williams and his crew pull another one out of either the hat or a certain orifice? What do they answer to?

The Kardiac (as opposed to Kodiak) Bears?

The Windy City "Whew"s?

Or Chicago Med, because they've sent more of their fans to the ER this year than six Chicago dogs with extra peppers and a Malort chaser?

You tell me. You tell me after Chicago 31, Green Bay 27 last night, which was either an epic Packers choke (the Wisconsin version) or just another day of the week for the Bears (the Illinois version).

Seven times now this season the Bears have fallen down the well, which is about two more times than Timmy did on "Lassie." Seven times they've found a rope that conveniently seemed always to be there and clambered out.

The seventh time happened after the Bears went down 21-3 at halftime to their ancient rivals ... and after Packers quarterback Jordan Love kept picking them apart ... and after they kept going for it on fourth down and failing, which happened a staggering four times. It was as if Bears coach Ben Johnson's gambling old boss in Detroit, Dan "Call And Raise" Campbell, had pulled off some sort of alpha-male demon possession.

At any rate, it was still 21-6 heading to the fourth quarter, and the Bears looked expired. The Packers own 'em, the Pack's their daddy, all that noise.

And then ...

And then Super Caleb sprang from the phone booth, and the Bears followed.

Somehow, some way, they scored 25 points in the fourth quarter, and stole it right off the Packers' plate. D'Andre Swift ran for a score and Williams found Olimeade Zaccheaus for another score, and then threw to Colston Loveland for the two-point conversion. 

That pulled the Bears within three at 27-24. The Packers promptly missed a 44-yard field goal try -- a virtual gimme, these days -- and here came Super Caleb again, hitting DJ Moore from 25 yards out with 1:43 to play for the winning six.

Voila: Fifteen straight points in the last 6:36, at which point the Bears trailed 27-16. Seventh fourth-quarter comeback. Seventh win after trailing with two minutes to play.

And, oh, yeah: First playoff W for the Bears in 15 years.

Lovie Smith was still the coach then. Devin Hester was still running back kicks. Brian Urlacher was still terrorizing ballcarriers, and Jay Cutler was the surly quarterback.

Fifteen years along, Super Caleb fills that role, minus the surliness. And the Bears are headed to the second round, where they'll welcome either the Eagles or the Rams to Soldier Field -- aka Cliffhanger Central.

"I think it's our identity here at this point," Johnson said, when asked about all the fantastic finishes. "Some people say it's not sustainable. I don't know."

Or maybe he does. Wink, wink.