Caleb Williams and the Bears: A Season Full of Excitement that Ends in the Divisional Round
Chicago — Caleb Williams showed his magic in the final moments, leading a comeback that kept the Chicago Bears alive until the divisional round of the playoffs, where their season came to an end. Despite throwing an impressive touchdown pass on fourth down with only 18 seconds remaining to force overtime, an interception in extra time proved costly, sealing the 20-17 defeat against the Los Angeles Rams and ending a season marked by epic victories.Williams, despite the frustration over the abrupt end of the season, was optimistic about the future. He became the first quarterback in franchise history to lead seven fourth-quarter comebacks in a season, and also the first NFL quarterback to throw three touchdowns in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter in the postseason. The quarterback was on the verge of achieving his eighth comeback in the final quarter, which would have tied the most in NFL history.Right now, you feel like you let your team down. It’s a good lesson for us; the first time we’re in this situation for me and for us as a team. I’m excited about what’s coming.
Caleb Williams
The Bears underwent a notable transformation in Ben Johnson’s first season as coach, going from five wins in 2024 to eleven in 2025, earning them the NFC North title. Furthermore, they won their first playoff game in 15 seasons by defeating the Green Bay Packers in the wild card round on January 10th.We’re going to be here for a while. I’m excited about that. I’m excited about the growth. I’m excited to be able to come back and see this. I’m excited to be able to come back and next year be able to learn more than I learned this year, keep growing, and we as a team and organization be able to keep growing.
Caleb Williams
Several players, after the defeat, did not perceive discouragement among their teammates.We had a hell of a year. Nobody at the beginning of the season picked us to be where we were. Being in the position to almost win the game at the end, it just didn’t work out for us this year, but I’m very proud of the group. We have no reason to hang our heads. We don’t believe in moral victories, but at the same time, this is a special group and the culture has been established, and we expect to be successful in the future.
Kevin Byard
In the game, the Bears were losing by seven points in the final moments when Williams, evading several defenders, threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cole Kmet in the corner of the end zone on fourth down and 4 to force overtime. According to Next Gen Stats, Kmet’s touchdown catch had a 17.8% success probability. Williams has thrown three touchdown passes with a success probability below 20% since entering the league in 2024, tied with Justin Herbert and Jayden Daniels for the most in that span.When you have a season like this, when you have so much fun during the season, when you win so many games, you can’t let all that go to waste… after a season-ending loss. We had a hell of a ride, and every man individually has had a hell of a ride. We can really be grateful and have a lot of gratitude for what this season has done and how we’ve grown as men and grown as a team.
Jaylon Johnson
However, despite Williams’ ability to perform in key moments, his struggles in the second half were evident in the defeat. Williams completed 10 of 23 passes after the break, with two interceptions, including the one on the extra point which, according to Williams, was a miscommunication with wide receiver DJ Moore. The Rams won with a field goal on the next possession. I know he’s feeling it because we didn’t win and there were some turnovers mixed in there, and he’s feeling it. But he’s one of those guys I’m talking about who will remember this feeling, and he’ll be stronger for it. Williams plans to focus on improving his accuracy and footwork during the offseason. As the Bears close out their 2025 campaign, the goal of returning to this postseason phase and going further provides an early dose of motivation, but it faces reality, especially for veteran players.Ridiculous. That’s ridiculous. You talk about that fourth and 8 from last week and how outstanding it was, and I think this one was probably even another level above that. There are some things you just can’t coach. He has that down, he has a gift, it’s crucial. He does a lot of good things. He’s a draft pick. I have a lot of bad calls every week, and he helps me fix it.
Ben Johnson
You can’t take for granted the opportunities you have in this league to get to this opportunity and have the chance to get to the NFC Championship, and then who knows from there. Thinking it’s going to happen again, that’s very delusional, very delusional. And we play in a tough division. I know we won the division, but we also finished with a 2-4 record in the division this year. And those teams are going to come back hungry. It’s a lot harder. And that’s why it hurts when you have the opportunity now and come up a little short. It sucks because there’s a lot of work to do to get to this point.
Cole Kmet
