Every year I rank the Bears' top 10 plays of the season. But I didn't think that would do justice to a magical 2025 campaign that was filled with incredible, unforgettable moments. So, this year I decided to rank the top 25 plays of '25.
I'm counting down those plays this week, five per day. After covering Nos. 25-6 Monday through Thursday, the following are my top five plays of the season.
Not surprisingly, all are highlight-reel passes by quarterback Caleb Williams.
No. 5
Wild card playoff game (Jan. 10)
Williams makes "Jumpman" throw to Rome Odunze
Williams produced a slew of amazing plays in leading the Bears to the NFC North title in 2025. Among the most impressive was a 27-yard completion to Odunze in a thrilling 31-27 wild card victory over the Packers.
Trailing 27-16 with just over five minutes remaining and the Bears facing fourth-and-8 from their own 43, Williams was flushed out of the pocket to the left, leaped in the air and somehow lofted a perfect pass to Odunze in traffic, sustaining the drive and keeping his team's hopes alive.
After the Bears completed their biggest postseason comeback in franchise history, the iconic play went viral on social media, with fans and media comparing the silhouette of Williams throwing back across his body while in the air to Nike's famous Jumpman logo featuring Michael Jordan.
Former NFL players-turned-analysts marveled at the play on Twitter, with Matt Leinart writing: "Caleb's 4th down throw given the situation may be one of the greatest throws we've ever seen in the NFL," and Booger McFarland tweeting: "When u factor in the difficulty, the moment, the playoffs, may have been the greatest throw I've ever seen."
No. 4
Week 9 (Nov. 2)
Williams connects with Colston Loveland to beat Bengals
A seemingly safe 41-27 lead in Cincinnati evaporated as the Bengals generated a touchdown and two-point conversion with 1:43 left, recovered the subsequent onside kick and then scored another TD to take a 42-41 lead with just :54 to play.
But as they did throughout the season, the Bears answered in dramatic fashion, pulling off a scintillating 47-42 victory on Williams' 58-yard TD pass to Loveland with :17 remaining. Out of timeouts, Williams rifled a pass on a seam route to the rookie tight end, who caught the ball at the Bengals' 35, bounced off one defender and outraced two others to the end zone.
"Caleb delivered it right on the money, right on my chest," Loveland said. "I spin around, I'm still up, and I may as well and go and try and score this thing. It was tough, because if I get tackled, we might not have enough time to clock it or do that, it was kind of just in the moment thing."
No. 3
Wild card playoff game (Jan. 10)
Williams hits DJ Moore to win wild card game
The Bears rallied from deficits of 21-3 at halftime and 21-6 entering the fourth quarter to stun the Packers 31-27 in a wild card showdown at Soldier Field. The go-ahead TD came on Williams' 25-yard pass to Moore with 1:43 remaining. Williams faked a receiver screen to Luther Burden III. Cornerback Carrington Valentine bit on the fake, freeing up Moore downfield.
"It was a perfect call," Williams said. "We ended up throwing a screen earlier in the game. It sets up to the same side. And then being able to have that play call that we worked for, I think, the past three or four weeks and just didn't use it in those other games, and then in the right moment at the right time coach calls it just as he does. The guys did a great job selling it. DJ made a great catch. Just put the ball out there for him to go out there, make a catch for us, and go win the game."
It was the second time in three weeks the Bears rallied from a double-digit fourth-quarter lead to beat the Packers on a Williams TD pass to Moore at Soldier Field. (More on the first one below!)
No. 2
Divisional playoff game (Jan. 18)
Williams completes miraculous TD pass to Cole Kmet
The cardiac Bears staged another dramatic late fourth-quarter rally before losing their NFC Divisional Playoff game to the Rams, forcing overtime with one of the most incredible touchdowns in franchise history.
Trailing 17-10 and facing fourth-and-4 from the Los Angeles 14 in the final minute of regulation, Williams 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 Kmet snared the ball, tying the score 17-17 with :18 remaining.
Coach Ben Johnson described his quarterback's individual effort on the play as "ridiculous."
"We talked 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 are some things that you just can't coach."
According to Next Gen Stats, the pass traveled 51.2 yards in the air, the longest completed pass in the red zone in the NGS era (since 2016), and had a completion probability of 17.8%. In addition, the pass was thrown from 26.5 yards behind the line of scrimmage, also the furthest behind the line in the NGS era.
No. 1
Week 16 (Dec. 20)
Williams connects with Moore for winning overtime TD
Trailing their first-place showdown with the rival Packers 16-6, the Bears scored 10 points in the final 1:59 of regulation and then won the game 22-16 in overtime on Williams' 46-yard TD pass to Moore, igniting a raucous celebration at Soldier Field.
"That was one that we put in and we ran in practice on Thursday, and it almost looked identical to that," Johnson said. "Caleb threw a dime in practice and DJ came down with it. We timed that one up right [in the game]. DJ ran a great route, and Caleb threw him a great ball.
"It's also a testament to our preparation over the course of the week. The coaches do a great job of coming up with good ideas to put our guys in good spots, and when you go out and execute it on the practice field, it does become game day reality for us."
The play was named the 2025 Next Gen Stats Moment of the Year at NFL Honors, with Moore being presented a trophy by WWE superstar and Bears superfan Seth Rollins.
Moore hauled in the pass despite being blanketed by cornerback Keisean Nixon. Future Hall of Fame quarterback and Fox analyst Tom Brady ranked the TD as the No. 1 throw of the NFL season, saying: "Keep in my mind, it was about 15 degrees out and there was about a 20 mile-an-hour wind. The longer the ball is in the air, the harder it is to throw it accurately and the harder it is to catch it. DJ Moore gets a step on the corner, Keisean Nixon, and Caleb throws it back across the field 60 yards in the air. It was an absolutely perfect throw, A-plus throw, a moon ball, for a walk-off win …"
According to Next Gen Stats, the pass traveled 56.9 yards in the air, Williams' third-longest completion of his career up to that point. In addition, Moore had only 0.6 yards of separation from Nixon when the pass arrived."
