Two plays during Sunday’s NFC divisional playoff game not only defined whether Caleb Williams could pull off another miracle performance for the Chicago Bears, but they also illustrated the very hot-and-cold nature of his season.
On fourth-and-4 from the Los Angeles Rams 14-yard line, Williams backpedaled to the 40-yard line, launched a moon shot into the night sky and snow flurries blanketing Soldier Field, and dropped it into the waiting hands of tight end Cole Kmet for a game-tying touchdown with 27 seconds left in regulation.
Then, in overtime — after the Bears drove to the Rams 48, tantalizingly 10 yards or so short of field-goal range — Williams threw deep to DJ Moore, but Rams safety Kam Curl dove in front of the pass and intercepted the ball.
The Rams drove down the field in 10 plays and Harrison Mevis booted the game-winner from 42 yards.
There would be no Houdini act this time, no eighth come-from-behind win for Williams and company.
Williams finished his second professional year with a 1-1 record in his first postseason: A spectacular 31-27 rally against the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round, followed by a disappointing three-interception game in Sunday’s 20-17 divisional loss to the visiting Rams.
Williams was stoic in his postgame address, but on the inside, “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. 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.”
Here’s a breakdown of both plays.
The touchdown
At times this season, Williams had made the seemingly impossible pass look routine, and the scoring lob to Kmet was no exception.
The Bears defense forced the Rams to punt after five plays and Rams punter Ethan Evans shanked a 33-yarder that landed at midfield.
The Bears drive started well with an 18-yard pass to Colston Loveland and stalled after a 6-yarder to Luther Burden III on first-and-10.
Williams threw incompletions to Burden and Moore, then faced a fourth-and-4 from the Rams 14.
The Rams’ rush broke through, and Williams turned tail and ran backward as Jared Verse and two other Rams gave chase. Williams planted at the 40-yard line and heaved a pass to Kmet in the left corner of the end zone.
“It just felt like a pop fly in center field,” Kmet said. “A lot of those DBs have a tough time tracking it. I don’t know what happened to the guy kind of guarding me.
“But it just felt like a pat-and-go situation that we do every Friday. Felt like a pretty easy pitch and catch, kind of felt like it was in slow motion.”
Bears coach Ben Johnson said, “Ridiculous. That’s ridiculous.”
The ball dropped in behind cornerback Cobie Durant and arrived before safety Quentin Lake could help.
Williams said he felt the pressure and tried to break contain to slow down the pass rushers and give himself some depth when he did turn around to throw.
“I saw Cole one-on-one over there with everybody else on the other side, at least near the goal post, and understanding that (Durant) was on him, he’s a little bit of a smaller guy, and Cole is obviously a 6-foot tight end. I just wanted to give him my best ball and give him a shot, understanding it’s fourth down and game’s on the line.”
Williams pulled off similar theatrics against the Packers in the wild-card round, when he made his now iconic “Jumpman” throw to Rome Odunze on fourth-and-8 to preserve a rally.
He had several highlight-reel plays before that game, too.
“You talk about that fourth-and-8 from last week and how outstanding that was, and I think this one was probably even another level ahead of that,” Johnson said. “There’s some things that you just can’t coach. He’s got that bottom, he’s got a knack, he’s clutch.”
Kmet added, “Can’t believe Caleb, again, just the nutty throws he can make. Obviously (we were) glad to send it into overtime there but just came up short.”
The interception
The Bears defense had forced a three-and-out, and the offense started its fateful drive at the 16-yard line.
The march started well enough with Williams’ 12-yard connection with Kmet.
Williams later picked up a first down on a 4-yard scramble on third-and-4, and plowed for 3 yards on fourth-and-1 to reach midfield.
Kyle Monangai picked up two yards to cross into Rams territory.
On second-and-8, Williams dropped back into shotgun and spied Moore deep right. But the two weren’t on the same page.
Williams threw for a sideline route and Moore kept going, clearing the way for Curl to snag 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.”
Johnson said he was standing beside the defensive players, so he didn’t get a full view.
“I did see space. I saw grass,” he said. “I didn’t see that (Rams) defender from my perspective, so I’ll have to see it (on film). But I did think as the play was going on, ‘Oh, crap, we’ve got something.’ But great play by that player.”
It was one of three picks Williams threw on the night. He had never thrown more than one interception per game this season and never more than two in his career.
Johnson said, “I’ll go back, and I’ll look at all three interceptions, but no, I didn’t think he had any jitters or anything like that.
“I thought he was the normal Caleb that I’ve grown accustomed to. Like I said, those guys made plays, and we didn’t.”
Williams also completed 23 of 42 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns, and had a 59.3 rating.
He had a total of 618 passing yards and four passing touchdowns in two playoff games. Both marks ranked second all-time in franchise history in the postseason.