The Green Bay Packers are 7-3 and winners of 11 straight games over the Chicago Bears after defensive lineman Karl Brooks blocked a field goal attempt as time expired on Sunday at Soldier Field.
With three seconds to go and the Packers leading by one point, Bears kicker Cairo Santos lined up a 46-yard field goal. But Brooks fired off the snap, penetrated inside and got just enough of the ball — with a finger tip or two — for the attempt to fall well short.
Game over. The dramatic special teams play from an unlikely source preserved a 20-19 win for the Packers.
Let’s meet Brooks, a second-year defensive lineman and the hero of Sunday’s incredible win in Chicago.
Who is Karl Brooks?
Brooks is a 24-year-old Michigan native. Ha arrived in Green Bay when the Packers made him a sixth-round pick in the 2023 draft. The second-year defensive lineman played in all 17 games as a rookie in 2023, producing 4.0 sacks, six tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries, four pass breakups and six quarterback hits over 380 snaps. Viewed as an ascending player in Year 2, Brooks has seen an uptick in play time in 2024, playing 231 snaps — or 41 percent — of the defense’s total snaps entering Week 11. He’s also been a regular on the field goal block unit.
How did Packers acquire Brooks?
Brooks was the 179th overall pick in the sixth round of the 2023 draft. The Packers acquired the pick after trading back from No. 48 to No. 50 overall (which was used on Jayden Reed) in the second round. Few teams have gotten more value from a sixth-rounder in the 2023 draft than the Packers with Brooks, a true Day 3 steal.
Where did Brooks play in college?
Brooks was a dominant defensive front player at Bowling Green. While playing a mix of inside and on the edge, Brooks produced 27.5 sacks and 48 tackles for loss over 52 games. Over his final two seasons, Brooks was one of the most disruptive defensive players in college football — tallying 17.5 sacks and 31 tackles loss. A tweener in terms of size and position at the next level, Brooks lacked big-time draft pedigree coming out of Bowling Green.
Has Brooks made any other big plays?
Earlier this season, Brooks delivered 1.5 sacks of Matthew Stafford while playing in place of Devonte Wyatt during a win over the Los Angeles Rams. A week later, Brooks forced and recovered a fumble while perfectly playing a screen pass against the Arizona Cardinals. Last year, Brooks had a sack and a tackle for loss in the Packers’ playoff-clinching win over the Bears in the season finale at Lambeau Field. He also had another strip-recovery of a fumble in the Packers’ Thanksgiving Day win over the Detroit Lions. For a rotational player just 27 games into his career, Brooks has made plenty of splash plays.
How did Brooks make the block?
Coach Matt LaFleur said special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia identified a weakness in the Bears field goal block unit and expected at least one block on Sunday. His prediction came true. Brooks beat a block and won the game with the tip.
Hear more from Brooks below, via Ryan Wood of PackersNews.com:
