The Chicago Bears’ thrilling comeback victory against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night felt akin to an unforgettable ‘Free Bird’ encore at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert for the fans at Soldier Field.

In the celebratory aftermath, Caleb Williams and his teammates delighted the crowd by wearing the much-talked-about foam ‘cheese grater’ hats, adding a playful twist during Amazon’s post-game coverage — a tradition growing in popularity along Lake Michigan.

As the Bears overturned a daunting 21-3 halftime score to claim a 31-27 victory over their century-old adversaries, the Chicago faithful, many sporting similar foam hats, erupted with joy.

The foam grater hats, mimicking Green Bay’s famous cheese-heads, have gained traction across the Midwest, in cities like Minneapolis, Detroit, and Chicago, as a playful jab at the Packers’ long-standing successes.

Caleb Williams, now in his second year as the Bears’ quarterback and an emerging team leader, embraced this playful rivalry, sporting a grater hat after steering the Bears to an overtime triumph against the Packers earlier this season.

On Saturday, though, Williams added real cheese and a small grater to the act – a move fans described online as ‘diabolical.’ Williams even imitated famed butcher and restauranteur, Salt Bae, by delicately releasing some shredded cheese from his pinched fingers, which got a big laugh from teammates DJ Moore and Colston Loveland, not to mention the Amazon crew.

DJ Moore (center) and Colston Loveland (right) laugh as Caleb Williams (left) grates cheese 

Williams tossed for 361 yards on 24-of-48 passing to go with two touchdowns on Saturday 

‘Topping it with Salt Bae as well,’ one fan remarked, adding: ‘But earned the right, so go nuts.’

Williams did earn it, Saturday, throwing for 361 yards on 24-of-48 passing to go with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.

In a more subtle reminder of this rivalry’s depth, Bears head coach Ben Johnson was caught giving a rather terse post-game handshake to his counterpart, the Packers’ Matt LaFleur.

‘Sports hate is the only good hate,’ one fan joked on X in response to the video.

Bears fans are seen wearing novelty cheese grater hats during Saturday’s game in Chicago

It was Moore who had the winning touchdown, Saturday, catching a beauty of a 25-yard pass from Williams to complete an astonishing comeback and earn Chicago its first playoff win in 15 years.

‘We understand that it’s 6-0 minutes of football. We understand and know who we are, we understand what this means for the city,’ Williams said. ‘So we keep going and keep fighting.

‘Play with the frustration, the anger, all of that. Use that for our advantage. Right before i walked out I told the offensive line, the other quarterbacks, we are going to protect our den today.’

But amid the drama and chaos of such a gripping fightback, Williams admitted that if the Bears are to reach a Super Bowl then they can’t keep fightback at the death.

‘We’ve got to get better this week,’ Williams said. ‘We’ve got to execute and do the small things and from there we’ve got to have the mentality.

‘It’s 1-0 and every week coming in to it and it starts in the first quarter, it starts tomorrow and then throughout the week. Got a lot more to show. My goal is to win the big one. It starts with this one.’

Williams once again led the Bears back from the dead as they advanced in the playoffs

As for the Packers, such a dramatic collapse will take time for the team to recover from 

Williams was the hero – Bears fans serenaded him with chants of ‘MVP’ when joined the Amazon Prime studio after the game – but he didn’t do it alone.

Loveland was relentless, ending with eight receptions for 137 yards. D’Andre Swift took 13 carries 54 yards and scored a touchdown.

The Bears will be at home next weekend regardless of Sunday’s playoff results. If the Philadelphia Eagles beat the San Francisco 49ers in their wild-card matchup, then the defending Super Bowl champions will be in Chicago for the next game.

If the 49ers win, the Bears will host the Los Angeles Rams, who narrowly beat the Carolina Panthers earlier on Saturday.