After dispatching the defending Super Bowl champions on their home turf a week ago, the Chicago Bears may have a more important game on deck for Week 14.

Chicago faces NFC North rival Green Bay Sunday in a game that could knock the Bears from the No. 1 seed all the way to No. 7 – or add another big win to their 2025 campaign.

They'll have to find out without their top wide reciever.

Second-year wideout Rome Odunze has been ruled out against the Packers with a foot injury. He did not practice at all this week and the team confirmed he'd miss this week's crucial divisional tilt.

This is the first game Odunze's missed in his NFL career. The No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, he'd started all 12 games for the Bears this season after appearing in all 17 games last year.

With him out, the onus will fall on D.J. Moore, rookie Luther Burden III and tight ends Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland to keep the passing game going. That group's been solid this year as the Bears rank 15th league-wide in passing offense entering Week 14.

Rome Odunze stats

Here's how Odunze's done in 2025 so far:

  • Targets: 90
  • Receptions: 44
  • Receiving yards: 661
  • Receiving touchdowns: 6
  • Yards per game: 55.1
  • Yards per reception: 15.0

Odunze leads the team in most receiving categories. He's tops in targets, receptions, yards, and touchdowns thanks to a strong start to the season. Moore is right behind him in those categories and is tied with Loveland for the second-most receiving touchdowns with three.

NFC playoff picture

Chicago enters this week as the top seed in the conference but that could change quickly. A loss to the Packers could bump Green Bay into the division lead and move the Bears to the wild-card seeds. A Bears loss and wins by the Rams and Seahawks would move the Bears to the No. 7 seed. They'd be tied with the 49ers on overall win-loss record but a worse conference record would bump them down.

  1. Chicago Bears (9-3; NFC North leaders)
  2. Los Angeles Rams (9-3; NFC West leaders)
  3. Philadelphia Eagles (8-4; NFC East leaders)
  4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-5; NFC South leaders)
  5. Seattle Seahawks (9-3, wild card No. 1)
  6. Green Bay Packers (8-3-1, wild card No. 2)
  7. San Francisco 49ers (9-4, wild card No. 3)

In the hunt: Detroit Lions (7-5); Dallas Cowboys (6-5-1); Carolina Panthers (7-6); Atlanta Falcons (4-8); Minnesota Vikings (4-8); Washington Commanders (3-8)

Eliminated: Arizona Cardinals (3-9), New Orleans Saints (2-10), New York

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rome Odunze injury update: Bears WR's status vs Packers

Reporting by Ayrton Ostly, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect