The following is the first of nine position reviews from the Bears' 2025 season.
Quarterback Caleb Williams excelled in his first year working with coach Ben Johnson, leading the Bears to the NFC North title and a playoff win over the Packers while setting a franchise single season passing record with 3,942 yards.
Williams helped the Bears rally to win seven games they trailed in the final 2:00—six in the regular season and one in the playoffs—the most by an NFL team since at least 1970. Two of the comeback victories came against the rival Packers three weeks apart—one in the regular season and one in a thrilling wild card showdown—in which the Bears twice erased double digit fourth-quarter deficits.
Williams was at his best in crunch time throughout the season, regularly displaying his clutch gene with remarkable highlight throws that had to be seen to be believed. He also earned comparisons to famous escape artist Harry Houdini for his remarkable ability to elude pass rushers and extend plays.
"When you watched his college tape, you knew that some of those wild throws were part of his game," said general manager Ryan Poles. "I would say the one thing that stands out that I was happy to see come back was his pocket presence, his ability to escape. I think that is a rare trait that he has. You saw that come alive."
On Nov. 2 in Cincinnati, Williams rifled a 58-yard touchdown pass to tight end Colston Loveland with :17 remaining to give the Bears a thrilling 47-42 victory.
That would have been the play of the year until Dec. 20 when Williams hit receiver DJ Moore in stride for a 46-yard TD in overtime to beat the Packers, putting the Bears in position to clinch the NFC North a week later.
That play was named the 2025 Next Gen Stats Moment of the Year at NFL Honors, chosen as the best throw of the season by future Hall of Famer Tom Brady and tabbed the Bears' No. 1 play of the year by ChicagoBears.com.
Williams donned his Superman cape again less than a month later in a playoff rematch versus Green Bay. Scrambling to his left, he completed an incredible off-balance throw to receiver Rome Odunze for a 27-yard gain on fourth-and-8, keeping the Bears' hopes alive. On their next possession, he hit Moore with a game-winning 25-yard TD pass.
Williams topped himself again in a divisional playoff loss to the Rams. Trailing 17-10 and facing fourth-and-4 from the Los Angeles 14 in the final minute of regulation, he retreated under heavy pressure and flung a pass 50 yards off his back foot from the 40 to the back left corner of the end zone, where Cole Kmet snared the ball, tying the score 17-17 with :18 to play.
"The things that we highlighted for Caleb to start the season, I did think they improved as the season went along," Johnson said. "We revamped the footwork a little bit last spring, and I think the comfort level grew from that. He certainly got more comfortable with the concepts that we were running over the course of the season.
"That's something that we can build upon, and yet there's still a lot more that we can push through in that regard. And so, I'm really encouraged about the steps he took this year. I'm Caleb Williams' No. 1 believer. I have a lot of faith in him, what he's capable of doing, and the player that he's still striving to become."
Williams started every game for the second straight season, the first Bears quarterback to accomplish that feat in back-to-back years since the NFL expanded from 14 to 16 games in 1978. The previous two Bears quarterbacks to make every start in two straight seasons were Bob Avellini (1976-77) and Bill Wade (1962-63).
Williams' 361 yards passing in the wild card win over the Packers is the most by a Bears quarterback in a postseason game, topping Mitchell Trubisky's 303 yards Jan. 16, 2019, against the Eagles. It was the second most yards in Williams' career, trailing only the 363 yards he compiled Sept. 22, 2024, in Indianapolis. His 618 yards in two playoff games are the second most by a Bears quarterback in a single postseason behind Jim McMahon's 636 yards in 1985.
In addition, Williams ranked fifth in the NFL with a 27-to-7 TD-to-interception ratio and has now played 23 career games without throwing an interception, the most by a quarterback in his first two seasons in NFL history.
Throughout the season, Williams was supported by backups Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum. Bagent played sparingly in three games, completing 3 of 4 passes for 47 yards. One of his completions was a 20-yarder to Williams on a trick play in a win over the Bengals. Keenum did not see any game action.
