GREEN BAY, Wis. — That wasn’t even Keisean Nixon’s man.
The Green Bay Packers cornerback called game when he intercepted Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams in the end zone on fourth-and-1 with 22 seconds remaining and the Packers leading 28-21. Nixon’s first pick of the season vaulted the Packers (9-3-1) over the Bears (9-4) and into first place in the NFC North, but how Nixon got in position to make the biggest play of the season so far might be just as notable as the catch itself.
The Packers were in a zero defense — no deep safeties — and Nixon lined up 5 yards across from wide receiver D.J. Moore on the right side of the offensive formation. Moore was Nixon’s assignment. But as Williams faked the handoff to running back D’Andre Swift and Moore crossed the formation behind the line of scrimmage, tight end Cole Kmet leaked free on a corner route from the left side of the offensive formation. So as Nixon followed Moore horizontally, he quickly changed course vertically, abandoning his assignment to follow Kmet to the end zone.
Kmet was safety Evan Williams’ assignment, but Williams followed Swift to the flat. Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper had eyes on Caleb Williams to prevent him from running past the sticks himself. Swift was linebacker Quay Walker’s assignment and Evan Williams knew that, but Williams said it would’ve been “pitch and catch” between Caleb Williams and Swift for a touchdown since Swift was “right in front of him.” In other words, Nixon covered for Williams after Williams, in a sense, covered for Walker after the Packers linebacker appeared to be slow getting to the flat, having to avoid running into cornerback Carrington Valentine.
With Swift covered, Caleb Williams threw across his body into the end zone for Kmet. He underthrew Kmet, and Nixon skied for the uncontested interception.
“Off instinct, took off and played the flat and was praying that somebody was behind me to make the play on the corner,” Evan Williams said. “And sure enough, like Jesus himself, 25 (Nixon) comes out the blue and makes a play. I was just like, ‘Thank you. Thank you so much.’”
“My guy went behind the backfield and I was chasing. I saw the tight end freeze, so I knew he was the only person to get the ball,” Nixon said. “So I just ran to him and he threw the ball. I think I kind of got high. It was kind of high. Did I jump high?”
How the play unfolded was a surprise to safety Xavier McKinney, who hoisted both arms in the air after Nixon iced the game.
“When I saw him over there on 85 (Kmet), I’m like, ‘Damn, how the hell did that happen?’” McKinney said. “One thing that I’ll say, that’s what we supposed to do. We playing as a unit. Our back end, we play together, so if one guy mess up, then sometimes it’s like that. Sometimes, we need the other guy to cover up our mistakes. … We’ve all had instances where we’ve all had to do that for one another, but that just shows you and tells you how much we have each other’s back out there on the field while we’re playing and the type of instinctual players that we have just in the back end to be able to see things that might be messed up.”
Nixon hasn’t ridden the smoothest of rides in his first full season as the Packers’ No. 1 cornerback. There’s no player on the team with a bigger discrepancy between what fans thinks of him and reality inside the building, however, and he’s hardly as bad as a section of the fan base thinks. Nixon can be penalty-prone and has certainly been beaten in coverage, sure, but he’s been a solid No. 1 cornerback, especially for what the Packers are paying him (his cap number is less than $7 million this year, according to Over The Cap).
Nixon is also human, so he knows what people say about him outside the building. In a sit-down interview with The Athletic before the season for this feature on how he became Green Bay’s No. 1 cornerback, Nixon admitted to knowing what a section of the fan base thinks of him. They wanted a brand name at his spot, he said, but he was determined to prove them wrong, even if he said postgame Sunday, “I do this s——— for me. F——— everybody else. Excuse my language, but I am who I say I am, and I always tell myself that.”
Keisean Nixon, cornerback Carrington Valentine and safety Xavier McKinney celebrate after Nixon’s game-sealing interception against the Bears on Sunday. (Tork Mason / Imagn Images)
Nixon’s game was a roller coaster in itself. He committed an illegal use of hands penalty in the second quarter that turned a third-and-8 into an automatic first down for the Bears. Five plays later, he was flagged for unnecessary roughness after Bears wideout Luther Burden put his hand to Nixon’s throat, and Nixon retaliated. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur benched Nixon for two plays after the penalty turned a second-and-9 from the Packers’ 33-yard line into a first-and-10 from the 18 (LaFleur, however, was seen on the broadcast mouthing to an official, “Their guy threw a punch. Bulls———!”)
“You’ve got to keep your poise at the end of the day, and you can’t do anything that hurts the team,” LaFleur said. “However, I will say that I was proud of how he responded.”
Nixon was also in coverage on a pristine 1-yard touchdown pass from Williams to wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus in the third quarter, but Nixon also blew up a second-and-7 screen to Moore later in the third quarter and then made up for anything he had done wrong before with his game-winning interception. Nixon wouldn’t admit the play was gratifying because of what some outside the building think of him, but it’s no mystery how he actually felt.
“Super gratifying for him,” McKinney said. “I know how hard he’s worked just for these type of moments, just the work that I seen him put in day in and day out. It’s fun to watch and it’s fun to see. … That s——— makes everybody happy.”
It’s never easy in this league pic.twitter.com/He9uMCPDv8
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) December 8, 2025
Nixon may have detractors and his confidence may turn some people off, but there might not be a more beloved teammate inside 1265 Lombardi Ave. Nixon arrived in Green Bay in 2022 after three years with the Raiders, which he has compared to jail. The 2019 undrafted free agent was losing his love for the game while barely being used with the Raiders and even hated being in Green Bay when he first arrived.
But with the help of special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia, who coached Nixon with the Raiders, Aaron Rodgers and others, Green Bay grew on Nixon as Nixon grew on Green Bay. He made consecutive All-Pro first teams as a kick returner in 2022 and 2023 and gradually shouldered more defensive duties, first as a nickel corner, then last season on the outside. This season is the first in which Nixon has been the guy at cornerback from the jump. Has it been perfect? No. But some of the Packers’ most important players will ride for him until the wheels fall off.
“I’m proud of him, man,” said running back Josh Jacobs, Nixon’s teammate with the Raiders from 2019 to 2021. “Just to see him come in as a rookie and didn’t really have a good work ethic, was a little chubby coming in and just seeing him where he’s at now … how he dedicated himself to football and how he slowly, each year and really each week, he’s gotten better at his position. Even when people doubted him and counted him out, he heard the noise. We talk about it. Just to see the way he responds and the belief that he has in himself, I’m proud of him, man. I think he deserves it.”
“Short-man syndrome,” defensive end Micah Parsons said of Nixon. “Little scrappy motherf———. Like, he’s so scrappy. He’s not to be played with, bro. He’s small in size, but he’s like a pit bull. He’s scrappy on the outside. He knows when to turn it on. He always finds a way, and he’s incredibly smart. I don’t think people give him his credit. … I think people give him a lot of s———, but he’s having a hell of a year and he’s having a better year than some of the highest-paid guys, so I think people should give him more grace than what’s been given to him.”
Nickel Javon Bullard believes confidence is the key for Nixon.
“At the corner position, you have to have swag. Confidence. There’s something about, when you walk in, you’ve got to know that you’re the best guy walking in the building, and he’s got that,” Bullard said. “No matter what goes on on the play, the next play, that series, it’s always about his swag. And we love it. And we know the type of player that he is, the style that he plays. We know the swag that he brings. We know the aggression that he plays with and really just the want-to that he has. We love him. That’s a guy that I pride myself on playing alongside because I know he’s going to give me 100 percent every time he steps on the field.”
After Nixon’s heroic instincts and ball skills, the Packers are in position to win the NFC North for the first time since 2021. For now. There are only two teams with 11 wins in the NFL, and one of them welcomes the Packers to Denver on Sunday. Six days after that is a rematch with the Bears at Soldier Field.
Nixon’s interception is certainly a signature moment, but it can’t be the signature moment of the Packers’ season if they want to win the Super Bowl, which appears within reach.
“You want the best players to make the big plays when the back is against the wall and you’ve got to win,” Nixon said. “It’s fourth-and-1. There’s no bigger play than that, so it’s a hell of a win for us, for sure. But we’ve got Denver this week and then we play ’em again, so we can’t dwell on that. We can’t lose when we go to Chicago, so we’ve got to play the same way.”
