With the rain pouring down in a familiarly ominous setting, Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears very well could have rewritten some dreadful history.
Instead, it was Williams and Co. who walked away from Northwest Stadium with a last-second triumph.
A season removed from a heartbreaking Hail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders, Williams piloted the Bears to a Jake Moody game-winning field goal with no time left for a 25-24 triumph on Monday.
“It felt great,” said Williams, a Washington D.C. native who threw for 252 yards and had two total touchdowns. “Back in the hometown, obviously. Being able to come out with a win like that is big for us. Big for us as a team, big for us as an offense, special teams, just overall big for us. That’s a hell of a team over there. So being able to come out victorious in a dogfight where things weren’t perfect, weather wasn’t perfect, being able to come out victorious is big for us. So, feel great.”
In Week 8 of last season, the Bears infamously squandered a three-point lead with 25 seconds left against Washington when Jayden Daniels connected with Noah Brown on a Hail Mary with no time left.
In Week 6 of this season, Williams and the Bears built 13-0 and 16-10 advantages only to relinquish them, falling behind, 24-16, in the fourth quarter. Williams connected with running back D’Andre Swift for a 55-yard touchdown with 10:26 to go, but the ensuing two-point conversation failed.
Fortune smiled on Chicago late when Daniels slipped up on a handoff and fumbled away the possession. With 3:07 remaining, Williams and the Bears set out from their 44-yard line. The 2024 No. 1 overall pick connected with Colston Loveland for a 6-yard third-down conversation on the ensuing nine-play drive, but it was his only attempt on the march.
“I wanted to make sure they didn’t have a rebuttal drive, either, so told Caleb on the headset, ‘Tell the big guys up front that we’re gonna ride the run game into the victory,’ ” Chicago head coach Ben Johnson said. “They came through for us.”
The plan was to drain the clock and secure a win. That’s precisely what the Bears did, winning their second consecutive game by a one-point margin. In contrast, Chicago lost six one-possession games in 2024, including its Fail Mary showing. Thus, while the storyline couldn’t be avoided, Johnson was clear this week that last year was last year, and this is a new team and season for the Bears.
“We didn’t talk about it as a team,” Johnson said. “What’s in the past is in the past. I wasn’t here. Probably half the team wasn’t here, so we’ve all moved past that. I think they all understand that. I know some guys spoke on it and gave their two cents, but beyond that it wasn’t a big deal.”
For Williams, he admitted that the sting of that defeat to the Commanders isn’t forgotten. But he’s moved on from it, just as the Bears are moving on from 2024 as a whole.
“I don’t think any of those memories necessarily go away, good or bad,” Williams said. “You move on from it, but it doesn’t ever necessarily fully go away. Being able to have this good moment is great, but we’ve got a big game coming up this week, so we’ve got to move on again.”
