Last week, while looking ahead to the Bears' wild card matchup with the Packers, Caleb Williams remembers sitting in coach Ben Johnson's office during one of their regular meetings and talking about rookie tight end Colston Loveland.

They were reflecting on the night of April 24, when Johnson sat beside general manager Ryan Poles in the war room at Halas Hall as the Bears selected the Michigan product No. 10 overall. Poles made the life-changing call to Loveland, who picked up from his hometown of Gooding, Idaho, before handing the phone to Johnson.

"Let's gooo! What we got, man? Tell me somethin'," Johnson said into the phone. "We're cookin' with hot grease now, man. I'm tellin' ya. Smart, tough, explosive — I know exactly what we're gettin', man."

Johnson's early vision of what Loveland could bring to a Bears offense already stacked with playmakers materialized Saturday night under arguably the brightest lights of the rookie's football career.

"We got a homerun with him, and that's something coach said the other day to me," Williams said after the game Saturday night.

During the Bears' seventh comeback victory of the season and first playoff win in 15 years, Loveland served as the go-to-guy for Williams, leading the offense with eight receptions for 137 yards, including 115 in the second half, while playing 81% of the snaps to help erase an 18-point halftime deficit and mount the largest postseason comeback in franchise history.

"It's Colston Loveland, you know what I mean? That's who he is," Williams added.

"One of the hardest workers on this team. He's there late, he's there early. His body language when he's on the field, all of that — I'm excited for what's to come. I'm excited for what we've got to show for these next couple weeks, and then what is to come in the future for our trust, our bond, seeing different concepts and seeing different defenses and just being on the same page 99% of the time."

Loveland's performance in his first playoff debut immediately went down in both the NFL and Bears record books. He recorded the second-most yards in NFL postseason history by a rookie tight end and became the first rookie tight end ever to have 8+ receptions and 100+ yards in a postseason game.

His eight catches were also the most by a Bears rookie in a postseason game since at least 1966. His 137 receiving yards were the second-most by a Bears pass catcher in the playoffs since at least 1933 and the most by both a rookie and a tight end.

"Tremendous player," receiver Rome Odunze said. "What he's been able to do in his rookie season is super impressive. It's not a surprise at the end of the day. I got to see him in college on the sideline in the national championship, unfortunately, and now I get to see him every day at practice going out there catching JUGS, being prepared, being on his Ps and Qs, being assignment sound.

"So when he goes out there and shines, it's really not a surprise."

Loveland's first playoff reception came late in the second quarter, a 22-yard reception to push the Bears into Packers territory. While Williams and Loveland couldn't connect on two more pass attempts in that final drive of the second half, which resulted in a turnover on downs, it created momentum between the two players.

During the Bears' first possession of the third quarter, Williams went to Loveland on back-to-back plays along the left sideline for gains of 29 and 19 yards, helping set up a 34-yard field goal by kicker Cairo Santos to cut the deficit to 21-6.

"That's just shoutout Caleb for finding me," Loveland told CBS sideline reporter Melanie Collins after the game. "Shoutout to the O-line blocking, Caleb delivering, all the receivers, everyone being in the right spot."

Williams continued to provide Loveland opportunities to catch the ball, directing three of seven plays his way on the Bears' first fourth-quarter possession. Loveland caught two of those throws for gains of 22 and 21 yards, pushing the Bears into the red zone. This time, those explosive plays resulted in their first touchdown of the game — a 6-yard run by D'Andre Swift that made it a one-score game with 10:08 remaining.

After Williams and receiver Olamide Zaccheaus connected for an 8-yard touchdown to pull the Bears within 27-22 at the 4:21 mark, Johnson signaled for a two-point conversion attempt, which went to none other than Loveland, who hauled in a laser from Williams just inside the left pylon to make it a 3-point game. Not only did that mean the Bears could tie the game with a field goal, but once the offense executed another touchdown drive a few minutes later to give the Bears a 4-point lead, the Packers were forced to try for a touchdown on their final possession rather than a field goal.

For Johnson and Williams to trust Loveland in a moment that monumental to the Bears' comeback efforts is something the rookie has worked for since he was drafted.

"That's something that I take pride in and took pride in early," Loveland said Jan. 7. "That was the biggest thing for me, just earn the trust, build that relationship with the coaching staff and the team so I can be put in positions to make a play."

Loveland not only benefited from that trust Saturday night, but earned the recognition to go along with it after Johnson awarded him with one of three game balls in the postgame locker room celebration.

Even after his historic performance, one of the first things Loveland brought up in the locker room after the game was having "some things to clean up, some balls dropped," referring to his eight catches on 15 targets.

That type of mentality and accountability is exactly why Loveland has built such a strong rapport with both Williams and Johnson in his rookie season, despite missing OTAs and part of training camp this summer while rehabbing a shoulder injury he sustained at Michigan last season.

In the Bears' past three games, Loveland has totaled 322 receiving yards, making him the first rookie tight end since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger to record 90+ receiving yards in three consecutive contests. While the rookie didn't have his breakout performance until Nov. 2 against Cincinnati, when he led the Bears with 118 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a wild 47-42 victory, he still finished the regular season as the team's leading receiver with 713 yards.

Still, this is just the beginning for the 21-year-old, who last week told reporters he feels he is "just breaking the seal." Williams and Johnson could not agree more.

"It did take a little bit of time before we built that trust with him," Johnson said Saturday. "A little bit of a slower start early in the year, and then it's just kind of picked up and it's clicked for us. I know Caleb has an immense amount of trust in him. He's a guy that [is] one of the first ones in the building every single day. He is always studying his playbook while he's eating breakfast. He is always the last one off the practice field, doing the JUGS machine.

"[He's a] model of consistency, which for a rookie speaks volumes. As a coaching staff, I know we really believe in him, and he is really just scratching the surface of what he's going to become."