When Rome Odunze reviews the film of his clutch 21-yard catch on a critical third-and-9 during the Bears' final drive Thursday night, he hopes to be awed by how difficult the grab was.

Spoiler alert: he will.

Backed up 10 yards from their own end zone, the Bears offense faced a key moment with five minutes remaining and up just six points against the Patriots.

As quarterback Caleb Williams dropped back and hung in the pocket before firing a missile between multiple defenders to his receiver, Odunze may have been the only person inside Soldier Field who didn't realize how difficult both the throw and the catch were.

"I mean, people were saying the catch was crazy," Odunze told reporters. "I mean, it just felt like I needed to make a catch. And I made the catch."

While Odunze was lined up on the right side of the formation and ran his route toward the middle of the field, he had to reach back across the left side of his body to snag the whistling throw from Williams — an acrobatic move that veteran receiver Kalif Raymond described as "unreal" after seeing it in real time.

"It just felt like a big play, and he made an even bigger catch," Raymond said. "I mean, as a receiver, through two levels of players, behind you, that is an unreal catch. And KB (former Bears safety Kevin Byard III) almost hit it, so your eyes kind of go to that, like, 'Is he gonna hit it?' It was unreal.

"It was the third down to keep the momentum going to end the game. It was just about everything. It was an amazing play."

Odunze needed a play of that importance late in the game. After being flagged for an offensive pass interference penalty in the end zone midway through the second quarter, the third-year pro sought redemption.

"That was kind of me coming back to life there," Odunze said of his third-down reception. "I missed a play earlier in the game, so my mindset is just shake back, and that's exactly what I did.

"For me, I'm always going to shake back, and that was my opportunity to do so. [Caleb] made a great play, and I was able to make a great play as well."

After hauling in that third-down catch, Odunze shot up and let his emotions loose, fired up to have seized the opportunity and, more importantly, have helped his team in a gotta-have-it moment.

"It was just pent-up passion at the end of the day," Odunze said. "I feel like I was going to be called on at some point, and that's exactly what that was when I was called on to make a play like that. I'm going to show my guys that we're about to go win this game."

Williams stayed confident in Odunze even after the pass interference penalty. The quarterback recalled looking at his receiver and telling him, "I'll come back to you." While Williams didn't know when the time would come, he felt confident it would happen. So when the third-down play call came through, and the ball was snapped, Williams didn't hesitate to find Odunze.

"Be decisive, let it rip," Williams said of his mentality on that play. "That's something I always preach to myself each week, before every game. Decisiveness wins, so I was decisive about the throw, decisive about throwing it to Rome — believing in him, trusting in him. And then obviously the O-line and everybody else did a great job. From there, it was up to Rome to go make the catch."

Three of Odunze's four receptions Thursday night came in the fourth quarter, all 21-yard chunk plays. Just two snaps after his big third-down conversion, Williams went back to Odunze on second-and-12, bringing the Bears to midfield and ultimately leading to Cairo Santos' 58-yard field goal, which put the Bears up two scores late in the game.

The Bears also exhibited their trust in Odunze on the Patriots' onside kick attempt with 42 seconds remaining, sending him out to recover the kick and ice the game. Odunze, once again, delivered.

Odunze's fourth-quarter sequence earned him a game ball from coach Ben Johnson in the team's postgame locker room celebration. Johnson recognized receiver Luther Burden III first for starting the game off with 130 yards on four catches in the first half, then went to the third-year pro.

"Let me tell you who finished it now … Rome Odunze!" Johnson yelled.

Odunze's in-game redemption arc felt good personally, but helping the Bears secure their fourth win in five games, on a short week against a Super Bowl-caliber opponent, meant more to him than any individual accomplishment.

"I think it just speaks to us at the end of the day, who we are," Odunze said. "We're not going out there trying to prove any team wrong. We're just trying to prove our team right. And we believe we're a Super Bowl contender, can go out there and make a playoff appearance, and it takes these types of games and Ws to get that done."