Caleb Williams’ last throw in regulation was a backpedaling, fourth-down rainbow that landed in Cole Kmet’s hands in the corner of the end zone for a breathtaking touchdown.
His last throw of the game was the beginning of the end for Chicago’s surprising season.
Williams almost rallied the Bears to another memorable win on Sunday night. But he threw his third interception in overtime and Matthew Stafford drove the Los Angeles Rams to Harrison Mevis’ winning field goal in a 20-17 victory in the divisional round of the playoffs.
“It’s tough. In these moments, you feel that you let your team down,” Williams said. “You feel this or that. It’s a good lesson learned for us, first time being in this situation for me and for us as a team. I’m excited for what’s to come. But obviously going to go back and watch this and figure out how I can be better, and that’s the exciting part.”
The 24-year-old Williams led Chicago to an NFL-record seven wins this season when trailing in last 2 minutes of regulation. He threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore with 1:43 left in a 31-27 victory over Green Bay in the first round of the playoffs.
This time, the Bears (12-7) were losing 17-10 when they got the ball back with 1:50 left in the fourth quarter. And, just like before, Williams delivered.
Facing a fourth-and-4 at the Rams 14 with 27 seconds left, Williams took a shotgun snap and surveyed the field. The No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft was forced to backpedal as the pocket collapsed, and he scampered all the way back to the 40 with Jared Verse, Josaiah Stewart and Braden Fiske all in pursuit for the Rams.
Williams turned, saw Kmet in the end zone and threw the ball in his direction just as Verse and Stewart got to the second-year QB.
“I ended up getting a little bit of pressure, so try and break contain and just break angles and slow those guys down so that when I do turn around, I can have a little bit more time possibly to find somebody,” Williams said, “and they did a good job containing me, so I just gained a little bit more depth, and I saw Cole one-on-one over there.”
Kmet wrestled with Rams cornerback Cobie Turner before hauling in the pass, sending a charge through the crowd of 60,253 on a frigid night at Soldier Field.
“It felt like a pretty easy pitch-and-catch and kind of felt like it was in slow motion,” Kmet said. “I can’t believe Caleb.”
Bears coach Ben Johnson called the throw “ridiculous.”
“There’s some things that you just can’t coach. … He’s got a knack, he’s clutch,” Johnson said.
According to Next Gen Stats, Williams’ pass traveled 51.2 yards in the air for the longest completed pass by air distance in the red zone since at least 2016. He made the throw from 26.5 yards behind the line of scrimmage; no quarterback since 2016, according to Next Gen Stats, had completed a pass from a depth of more than 22 yards.
It had a completion probability of 17.8%.
“It was the most special throw that I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen him do that so many times this year,” Bears safety Kevin Byard said.
Williams also threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Moore on fourth down on the first play of the second quarter. But his three interceptions were costly.
The Bears had a chance to win the game in overtime. They drove to the Los Angeles 48 before Williams was picked off by Rams safety Kam Curl on a deep ball intended for Moore.
“I’ve got to go back and watch it. Obviously haven’t seen it and don’t really know, but in the moment, saw the front side safety down, the front side of the concept, ended up getting hemmed up a little bit, so I moved on and had DJ (Moore) going over the top of all of it. Just a miscommunication between him and I,” Williams said. “Tried to flatten him off under the safety, and he kept it vertical from what I saw, obviously, in the moment.”
Williams said he’s ending this season with two major feelings.
“It’s a frustration. It’s a fire. Those are the two words that I’d go with. I’m excited, though, also. Obviously not happy about the outcome,” Williams said. “Obviously frustrated about the outcome. But that’s over with, and I can’t go back and change it. Going to go back and watch, figure out how I can be better for the near future and help this organization get to where we want to be.”
Johnson’s message after the game shared a similar sentiment.
“Our guys are feeling it right now. They all believed, man. They all believed all year long that we could find a way to win each and every week,” he said. “So it’s disappointing like that. But I am proud of the group. It’s a special group. I said that a few weeks ago. I believe that to my core, that when you’re with a group of men for the last time in the locker room and you know it’s just not going to be the same going forward that — I appreciate all of them, the men and the women, coaches, players, support staff, everybody that had a role this season. It was a special year. This will be hopefully a feeling in this locker room that we won’t forget, and we’ll be able to use it as fuel going forward.”
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