With 8:46 remaining in the third quarter of Sunday's bitterly cold Bears-Browns matchup at Soldier Field, quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense lined up facing the north end zone, which was almost entirely shaded by the setting sun.
Just a sliver of sunlight remained on the right side of the blue-painted end zone. That was all the space receiver DJ Moore and quarterback Caleb Williams needed to create what appeared to be magic on a 22-yard touchdown pass that gave the Bears a firm 21-3 lead, which snowballed into an eventual 31-3 win.
On first down — the play after linebacker D'Marco Jackson intercepted Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders — Williams faked a handoff to running back D'Andre Swift before rolling right, his eyes toward the end zone. Tight end Cole Kmet was the first read on the play, but after he was taken out of the play by a Cleveland defensive lineman, Williams scanned his other targets before focusing on Moore, who was flying across the field from left to right.
Williams' window to throw was shrinking as he neared the right sideline, but he felt there was space in the back of the end zone. If he gave Moore a good ball, Williams knew the veteran receiver would come down with it.
And come down with it he did, in between a pair of outstretched Browns defenders.
The nearly full crowd at Soldier Field literally froze for a split second as the ball left Williams' right hand. With three Browns defenders along with tight end Colston Loveland in the vicinity, it looked as though anyone but Moore would emerge out of the end zone with the ball. But as No. 2 landed on his feet and flipped the ball forward in celebration, the stadium thawed out and fans erupted in cheers while Moore sprinted across the field to chest bump Swift.
"He beat his defender, beat the corner pretty bad," Williams said, "and all I had to do was throw a high back five is what we call it, back of the end zone, and he went up and made a great play for us in that moment, and it was needed."
Williams and Moore may have been the only two people on the field who knew where the ball would land. Kmet even joked in postgame interviews, "Isn't that like an ill-advised throw?"
At the podium minutes later, Williams answered that question, confidently stating: "No, I can make any throw."
"I would say 99 percent of the quarterbacks, you tell them don't even waste your time looking back there and trying to make that throw," coach Ben Johnson said. "There are usually bad things that happen. Yet [Williams] has got the ability to make that throw, and DJ made a heck of a play there right on the back line as well.
"Yeah, that was one of those highlight moments there."
While the throw could have appeared risky to some, Williams wasn't just throwing to an empty spot in the end zone in hopes that someone would be there. And Moore wasn't streaking toward that spot to simply complete his route. They each trusted that the other would hold up their end of the bargain.
"He can make a lot of throws that other people can't," Moore said. "When we got to the sideline, he was like, 'I'm just gonna give you a chance,' and that's what he did with a high back five ball, and the rest is history."
The duo was in sync through all four quarters of the Bears' 10th win, as Moore caught four passes for 69 yards and two touchdowns. His performance earned him a game ball from coach Ben Johnson in the locker room after the game for the first time this season.
Moore's first score came at the end of the first quarter and capped off a 7-play, 80-yard drive. On third-and-3 from the Browns' 3-yard line, Moore ran what the Bears refer to as a "hero post" along the end line, creating separation from his defender and allowing Williams to float a perfect pass to the back left corner of the end zone.
"It was man-to-man," Moore said. "I just had to beat my man to the other side of the field and we connected."
About nine minutes later in the second quarter, Moore produced another sensational play, securing a 15-yard reception from Williams with an impressive toe tap along the left sideline to bring the Bears to the Cleveland 18. Williams and Moore then connected once more before the first half ended, a 25-yard gain in the middle of the field.
After the game, Moore said "it felt good" to put together a highly productive outing, especially at home and following the Packers game last Sunday, when he caught just one pass on three targets. Despite seeing a dip in his personal production this year, the eighth-year veteran has remained locked in on helping the offense succeed in any way possible.
Still, everyone knows Moore remains dominant with the ball in his hands. Johnson and Williams both reiterated last week that they'd like to get Moore the ball more consistently. That came to fruition on Sunday.
"He's been playing this way every week," Johnson said. "It's just we haven't been able to get the ball in his hands. We were able to target him a few more times, and he came through with some big plays for us.
"Sometimes these things come in bunches. You kind of have a dry spell, and then all of a sudden he could come on hot here over the next three games and just really take off."
