After Jahdae Walker caught the game-tying touchdown pass during the Chicago Bears’ 22-16 overtime win against the Green Bay Packers, the undrafted rookie wide receiver broke into the Jubi Slide — and it looked like his was dancing on air.
Inside, he really was floating.
“It meant the world, just because I’ve been trying to stay locked in and just focusing on what I can control,” he said. Caleb Williams’ 6-yard scoring toss to Walker with 24 seconds left in the fourth quarter was one of Walker’s first two career catches on the night. “And it just meant the world to me. It meant the world because (coach) Ben (Johnson) trusted me.”
“Ah, I love that for Jahdae,” Josh Blackwell said.
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Added DJ Moore, who caught the walk-off touchdown pass in overtime: “I loved it, man. We put that in our rookie’s hands at the end of the game and sent us to overtime.”
Walker has joined a group of “find a way” Bears, some previously unheralded, by helping pull off the team’s sixth fourth-quarter comeback this season.
Josh Blackwell had played the hero before. The special teams ace blocked a field-goal attempt that clinched a win in Las Vegas in Week 4. On the other hand, Walker, inactive for eight games, had barely seen the field — much less a target — before Saturday night.
But during a critical fourth-quarter sequence, Blackwell formed the bookends to an eight-play comeback drive, recovering an onside kick that Walker later capitalized on with his end zone grab.
Here’s how it unfolded:
The onside kick: Just after the two-minute warning, Cairo Santos kicked it from the Bears 35 to the 47. Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs muffed the recovery and Blackwell scooped it up instead.
Blackwell said Doubs “just dropped the ball” and he was simply in the “right place, right time.
Bears recover the onside kick
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The drive: Williams completed five straight passes — including a 20-yard toss to DJ Moore — but a few incompletions set up a fourth-and-4 at the Packers 6.
The touchdown: Walker and Olamide Zaccheaus lined up to the right. Zaccheaus stopped just short of the sticks, baiting Nate Hobbs and Keisean Nixon to bite on the short throw. Walker ran between the Packers defenders, cut to the right corner and hauled in Williams’ pass.
Walker said, “Before the play OZ, was like, ‘You about to get it.’ And I saw the corners talking, they was trying to in-and-out us. So I went vertical, and I saw both of them go to OZ. So I ran straight to the back pylon. Caleb threw a great ball.”
Packers coach Matt LaFleur said he’d have to look at the film to determine what went wrong. “It was the Zero blitz. Obviously somebody let their man go,” he said.
Bears coach Ben Johnson said coverage dictated whether Walker or Zaccheaus would be the primary target.
“The play before they Cover-Zeroed us, and Caleb was aware of that, and they came back on fourth down and did the same thing, Cover Zero,” he said. “On that particular play, Jahdae was our Zero answer.”
Walker was a training camp darling, but he was buried on the depth chart. Still, he continued to impress teammates with his hustle and passion.
“We all love football, but you can just see it on his face,” Blackwell said. “He’s a little kid on the playground outside at practice, and he deserves that.”
When opportunities still didn’t materialize, Walker said his offensive coaches kept encouraging him.
Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, wide receivers/assistant head coach Antwaan Randle El, offensive assistant in charge of quarterbacks and wide receivers Robbie Picazo and “everybody, they always tell me, like, ‘Be ready. You’re one play away from 50 snaps,’” Walker said. “So I’ll just try to be ready and control what I control.”
This week injuries kept Rome Odunze (foot) and Luther Burden III (ankle) on the sideline and forced Walker into the offense. Johnson had no qualms about relying on an untested rookie in such a do-or-die situation, even in a huge game with playoff implications: For the winner, it’s their NFC North division to lose.
“I know to the people that haven’t been in the building, it’s like ‘Oh my gosh, you’re going to the undrafted rookie on fourth down,’” Johnson said. “Well, we see what he does every single week. We see how he goes about his business. There’s a reason why we didn’t want to expose him to the waiver wire and (have) someone poach him after the preseason. We see a bright future for this guy.
“He’s done nothing but steadily improve over the course of the season. The coaches trust him. Caleb trusts him.”
Williams gave no thought to looking elsewhere than to his receiver who was open.
“I didn’t second-guess,” he said. “I didn’t think Jahdae was out there — I knew he was out there.
“It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, Jahdae’s out there, I’m not going to (throw there). It was Jahdae’s out there and I’m going to throw this ball exactly where I’m going to throw it and he’s going to be exactly where he needs to be.”
That level of trust didn’t just form overnight. During camp, Williams and Walker lived together.
“When he first got here, I allowed him to stay at my house for a little bit until he found a spot,” Williams said of the 6-foot-3 undrafted rookie out of Texas A&M.
Williams and Walker have since studied the playbook and worked out together and just bonded as friends.
“It was fun,” Walker said. “I ain’t gonna lie, I ain’t never been in a place like that. It was fun, for sure. I love his dog. Little Supa. I love that little dog.”
Walker’s locker room stall at Halas Hall is just a few stalls away from Williams — and they’ve been tight-knit there as well.
“After practice, we play two-ball together and we haven’t lost yet,” Walker said emphatically.
“I love Jahdae, man,” Williams said. “His character, his energy is infectious.” And Walker’s “been working his tail off,” he added.
Williams said, “It wasn’t this week, but I told him a couple weeks ago, walking back from the indoor (facility), when your opportunity shows and presents itself, you need to go make the opportunity and secure your moment. …
“Go out there, make the plays for your career, for your life, for your family. And that’s something he did today.”