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Chicago Bears 🐻⬇️

Iceman, Superman, Him: Caleb Williams delivers more late-game heroics in overtime win versus Green Bay

Bears Breakdown 2025 Week 16 16x9 - 1 PHOTO

Nearly 10 minutes after quarterback Caleb Williams delivered a perfect 46-yard touchdown pass to receiver DJ Moore, putting a bow on the Bears' most dramatic comeback win of the season, he had yet to leave the field.

Instead of rushing to the locker room to celebrate the 22-16 overtime victory over the Packers with his teammates, Williams chose to first give Bears fans one more unforgettable moment from Saturday night's NFC North showdown.

From 10:35 to 10:38 p.m., Williams ran a lap around the entirety of Soldier Field, using his last bits of energy following a 65-plus minute game to high five and thank the fans who once again braved a frigid Chicago evening to cheer their team on to its 11th win.

"We put it out there this week that we needed the fans, that we want the fans to be proud to be a Chicago Bears fan, and so I wanted to give my thanks," Williams said. "They were a big part of the game today. Like I said, when we go on the road or we're home, I want them to travel well, I want them to be here, I want them to show out and I want them to be proud.

"I wanted to go around and give my thanks to them."

There's no doubt that the Bears fans who were at Soldier Field for the highest attended game of the season wished they could express their gratitude back to Williams for his improbable heroics after the second-year quarterback completed the team's sixth comeback win of the season, the most in the league this season and in franchise history.

While the fans may not have been able to speak their praises to Williams directly, his teammates did it for them.

"What do they call him? The Iceman," Moore said. "He just was cool, calm and collected all game and when we needed a big play, he was there to put it on the money."

"They call him Iceman for a reason," rookie receiver Jahdae Walker added.

"He's a playmaker," right tackle Darnell Wright said. "He's him. He's definitely him."

"I mean, the guy just has ice in his veins, obviously," safety Kevin Byard III said.

Call Williams what you want — Iceman, Superman, Him – it all means the same. He said it best himself about his mindset late in the game.

"There was too much time on the clock."

Williams' Superman cape appeared with 4:57 remaining in regulation, just after the Packers had kicked a 28-yard field goal to take a 16-6 lead. He led the Bears down to the Green Bay 25-yard line in a little over three minutes, putting kicker Cairo Santos in position to make a 43-yard field goal and cut the deficit to one score just below the two-minute warning. Still, per Next Gen Stats, the Bears' win probability remained as low as 0.5%.

The Bears' late-game heroics weren't limited to Williams Saturday night. Special teams also played a huge factor thanks to Santos executing an onside kick, which was recovered by cornerback Josh Blackwell at the Chicago 47. When Williams and the offense ran back onto the field, that win probability crept up. His teammates had full confidence in his abilities.

"He was just making plays," Wright said of Williams. "When it's crunch time and he has the ball in his hands, I know he can make a play. So I just trusted him, we trusted each other, and he did what he had to do."

In just 95 seconds and on eight straight pass attempts, Williams executed the inevitable. On fourth-and-four from the 6-yard line, Williams dropped back and immediately faced pressure from Packers defensive end Brenton Cox Jr.

Just before Cox landed a hit on Williams, the Q let the ball fly to the back right corner of the north end zone, where a wide open Walker leapt up to snag the ball before tapping his toes in the navy-painted grass to secure his first career touchdown and the tying score with just 24 seconds remaining.

"It just meant the world to me," Walker said, "and it meant the world that [coach] Ben [Johnson] trusted me … It's funny because pregame, I dropped two passes. I'm like, 'yeah, it's gonna be a good game for me,' because whenever I drop a pass pregame, that's my one drop. I dropped two. I'm thinking, 'Oh, I'm gonna catch two.' So that's really that's pretty much what I was thinking, and just trying to be confident and keeping my poise."

Santos hit the extra point to officially tie the game at 16-16, and after a sack by defensive end Montez Sweat on Packers quarterback Malik Willis on the Packers' next offensive play, the game went to overtime. From Williams to Johnson and everyone in between, the confidence to secure what would be the fifth most improbable win in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016) radiated across the sideline.

"We just know we're never out of the fight," Moore said.

The Bears didn't just hang in the fight, they took control of it. Following a fourth-down fumble by the Packers, the offense took over at the Chicago 36-yard line. Four plays later, following a 7-yard run by running back D'Andre Swift and an 11-yard carry by back Kyle Monangai, Williams delivered the knockout punch to Moore.

On first-and-10 from the Green Bay 46, Williams faked a handoff to Monangai and proceeded to drop back about 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage. As soon as Williams let the football fly into blustering winds, the next few seconds felt like cinema.

"I was sitting on the bench, and I remember, as soon as the ball went up in the air, it was like a movie where it was like slow motion," Byard said, "We just stood up. I was looking up at the screen. Then I just start looking at the ball fly and I just watched.

"It was incredible. I've been a part of some really cool games, special games in the league, but that's probably number one."

After what seemed like forever, the football landed right in the arms of Moore, who caught it over his shoulder with Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon tight in coverage.

"DJ made a crazy catch, like a guy draped over him," receiver Olamide Zaccheaus said. "I think if you look at the pictures, his right arm was in his eyes, so crazy catch, crazy play."

As soon as Williams let the ball fly, he knew it was a good one. That play was one Williams and Johnson first installed during one of their film sessions in the coach's office early last week. The offense successfully repped it in practice, but to hit it in the biggest moment of the season was "amazing," according to Moore.

Once the official in the end zone signaled touchdown, chaos ensued throughout Soldier Field. On the FOX TV broadcast, six-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady shared praise for both Williams and Moore, saying, "10 out of 10, A-plus throw. The throw of Caleb Williams' life, the catch of DJ Moore's life … what a scene."

A scene it was, with players like Kmet and Zaccheaus rushing to Williams, while many on the Bears sideline threw their helmets off and sprinted to Moore, who remained on his back in the end zone until his teammates picked him off the ground.

Even 15 minutes after the unbelievable comeback, Bears players were still processing the final sequence. However, there was no question how it came to fruition. The answer was Williams, just like it's been multiple other times this year.

"Caleb put a ball up in the air," Zaccheus said. "I'm talking about, that was a ball. That was a ball. I'll say it again, it was a ball."

"He's got an epic arm," Kmet added. "To be able to put touch like that, get it through the wind, I don't know. It's pretty epic."

Said Johnson: "I really do think he is playing some of his best football right now of the year."

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