The Green Bay Packers’ timeout provided quarterback Caleb Williams and receiver DJ Moore with time to talk. Williams saw something — a potential opening — in the Packers’ coverage on Sunday.
“They had DJ one-on-one with no over-the-top help,” Williams said.
The rookie quarterback figured the Packers would change that. So he told Moore that if the Packers showed press coverage again, run a vertical go route. If Green Bay played outside leverage, “we’ll run a glance (route) or a five-step and snap it off,” Williams said.
The latter happened. With the Bears in a stacked trips formation to the right, Moore was left in press coverage to the left, though a safety played nearly 20 yards over the top of him.
“We were on the same page,” Moore said. “The rest is history.”
It turned into an 18-yard completion over the middle. The Bears raced to the line of scrimmage, Williams spiked the ball into the cold, hard dirt of Lambeau Field and kicker Cairo Santos took the field for his 51-yard game-winning field goal.
“You couldn’t ask for a better way to end the season through all of what’s going on, through all of the coaches being fired, not playing well myself and us losing many, many games in a row,” Williams said after the Bears’ 24-22 win.
Williams’ fourth-quarter heroics — signs of his potential stardom — finally produced a victory. He didn’t get to celebrate after the Washington Commanders’ Hail Mary touchdown ruined his comeback in the fourth quarter, which included passes of 16 yards and 22 yards during what should have been the Bears’ game-winning 10-play, 62-yard scoring drive.
Three weeks later, Williams left Soldier Field defeated after the Packers blocked Santos’ 46-yard field goal as time expired but also after he completed consecutive passes of 16 yards on third-and-19, 21 yards on fourth-and-3 and 12 yards on first-and-10 in the final two minutes to put the Bears in position to win.
“Being able to put Cairo in that same situation that we put him in last game, him being able to relive that moment and not just relive it but obviously put it through the uprights — being able to have that moment was great,” Williams said.
It was a hope delivered against the playoff-bound Packers. And it was the Bears’ first win at Lambeau Field since 2015.
“Being able to be here and play on this field, being able to be here and see the history between the Bears and Green Bay and come out with the win the way that we did, it was great; it was awesome,” Williams said after the game. “Great moment and (I) can’t wait to keep growing and keep having more of those moments.”
Moments like that make you believe the Bears finally have their quarterback. General manager Ryan Poles is right to describe Williams as a hit. He managed to develop during a turbulent season. He wasn’t great in every game. He was sacked far too much. But he still established new highs for touchdowns, yards and completions for Bears rookie QBs.
Working and potentially winning with Williams is what makes the Bears truly appealing to head coaching candidates. The Bears’ business is still football — and they have Williams.
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The franchise’s decision to replace offensive coordinator Shane Waldron — whom Matt Eberflus hired after a wide-ranging search — with Thomas Brown had an immediate impact in the quarterbacks room.
“TB’s presence, it’s certainly felt,” backup quarterback Tyson Bagent told The Athletic during the season. “It’s very face-to-face, confrontational in a good way. And I think it’ll serve all of us well, especially with two rookies in the room. It’ll be good for Caleb to just hear and see exactly what he’s doing good, exactly what he needs to work on and just exactly how important every position on the offense is each play. TB takes that pretty serious. He says confrontation is just the truth head-on. That’s what we’ve been rocking with the last three weeks — and I think obviously numbers don’t lie.”
Those “last three weeks” would be the Bears’ three-game stretch against the Packers, Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions in November.
The Bears lost those three games by a combined seven points, including one in overtime. But their offense looked different with more motion and tighter formations. It functioned differently with Brown calling plays. It looked more Sean McVay-like.
In those three games, Williams was 75-for-117 passing for 827 passing yards, five touchdown passes and a 99.2 passer rating. He was sacked 11 times but also had 142 rushing yards. He didn’t throw an interception.
“It’s definitely been a direct result of (those) face-to-face interactions and just coaching,” Bagent said. “I’m a big fan of it.”
It was a shift from Waldron’s approach and tactics. Poles would later describe the issues with Waldron as “compatibility things” with Williams, a rookie quarterback who played in 37 college games. Waldron wasn’t working with veteran Geno Smith anymore.
“There’s some compatibility to make sure it’s being taught the right way, and I think there’s some hiccups there,” Poles said on Tuesday. “And again, that’s part of the ownership piece that I’ve got to take.”
Brown altered how Williams was evaluated. The process needed to be as important as the result — a factor that Poles later mentioned for his entire team.
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Williams could ad-lib amazing plays, but what if his eyes weren’t in the right place before them? What if he missed his checkdown or hot read? What if his footwork was awful? What if he didn’t need to be Superman on any given play?
“One hundred percent — 100 percent,” Bagent said. “Because that’s the only way to do things. There’s not always a black-and-white, always right, always wrong, but in that situation, you got a young guy and you’re going over just process, process, process. All TNTs — things that take no talent — (it’s) just making sure that’s right and then in Caleb’s situation especially to be able to react to the Superman plays.”
Chris Beatty, who started the season as the Bears’ receivers coach, said the process of evaluating Williams “came up quite a bit” during the season. How the Bears taught Williams and how his coaches demonstrated what he needed to do changed.
“Caleb is so talented, sometimes you forget that there’s a guy open right there when he throws the ball over here,” Beatty said in an interview with The Athletic before the season ended. “And at the end of the day, it’s about the process of taking the little things and then being special when it’s time to be special. But (it’s) being patient with that, because there is a process that’ll lead to where we want it to be.”
Caleb Williams helped the Bears win in Green Bay for the first time since 2015, one of the bright spots in a disappointing season. (John Fisher / Getty Images)
In the Bears’ locker room at Ford Field on Thanksgiving — not long after cornerback Jaylon Johnson and teammates passionately interrupted Eberflus’ postgame routine — Poles and president/CEO Warren cut through a crowd of reporters and players.
Both stopped by Williams at his locker stall, which was near the exit. Warren went first, while Poles lingered longer for a private moment with his quarterback.
“I promised you!” Williams replied loudly and smiling.
As Poles headed for the exit, Williams chased after him
The rookie seemingly wanted to ensure that his GM heard him.
“I promised you!” he repeated.
The Bears’ 23-20 loss against the Lions on Thanksgiving will be remembered for its disastrous final 31 seconds, what transpired in the locker room afterward and then Eberflus’ dismissal a day later after he spoke to the media over video conference.
But on the road in a raucous, deafening environment against the NFC’s best team, Williams went 15-for-24 for 222 yards and three touchdowns in the second half to rally the Bears after falling behind 16-0 to the Lions.
A week earlier, Williams rallied the Bears against the Vikings to force overtime. He was 12-for-17 for 110 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the Bears wiped out an 11-point lead in the final two minutes to force more time.
The Bears always seem to have a chance with Williams. Maybe, that’s his promise to Poles.
Ten of Williams’ 20 touchdown passes came in the fourth quarter this season. His 95.3 rating in fourth quarters was also his best mark.
Williams, utlimately, failed in Detroit. But so did Eberflus. The rookie needed more help from his third-year coach. And now, there would be more changes for Williams to navigate.
In less than three weeks, Brown was promoted from offensive coordinator to interim head coach. He moved from the booth to the sideline but still called plays. As one team source put it, “It took one of the positive, better moments and shortened it.”
Changes, though, were required after the postgame fireworks at Ford Field. Earlier in the season, Brown played nickelback for the Bears’ scout-team defense during installation periods. But Brown now oversaw everything. Beatty was promoted to interim offensive coordinator. And more was asked of other staff members on both sides of the ball.
“Everybody just kind of stepped in and we knew that we had to have each other’s back,” quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph said before the Bears played the Packers. “It’s not easy, but at the same time, like Thomas always says, ‘Nobody’s going to come save us and nobody really cares that it’s hard.’ Because guess what? Life is hard, and this game is hard, and all you can do is what? I ain’t going to say put your head down, but keep your eyes up and keep working.”
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When it came to changing the offense, Brown and Beatty could only do so much. They ran Waldron’s offense, even though they hadn’t worked with him previously. Time wasn’t on their side. NFL rules limit practice time. Brown and Beatty added new elements, but you can only do so much with a rookie quarterback playing behind an injured offensive line.
“You don’t have enough meeting time to make up for all you do in March, April, May,” Beatty said. “So it’s really just trying to make the most of what you have.”
Brown officially took over on the Tuesday before playing the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 8. The Bears then had three games in an 11-day span, against the Vikings, Lions and Seattle Seahawks.
“At the end of the day, it’s not either of our offenses,” Beatty said. “Because everything is already in, you just have to be able to tinker with some things here and there to make them fit what you want it to ultimately look like.”
The focus turned to the players, not the plays. The goal became to maximize their best players.
“That’s why you saw DJ get more catches and Keenan get more catches,” Beatty said.
Brown said after the season that his offense would be “a lot different” for Williams if he returned for another season. The foundation is built in the offseason. His messaging would also be different from what transpired early this season, starting in training camp.
“One of the difficult parts about the quarterback position that I’ve found is people baby the quarterback too much and they worry more about being liked by the quarterback than tell him what he needs to hear,” Brown said on Monday. “It is by far and away the most difficult position to play, we all know that. But to whom much is given, much is required. One of the things we connected on at the beginning is I was honest from the get-go about what I wanted to bring to the table but also what issues I saw in him with my overall goal being about making him the best he can be.”
Caleb Williams stayed about as upbeat as possible despite the challenges of his rookie season. (Daniel Bartel / Imagn Images)
On Monday, large white boxes were spread throughout the Bears’ locker room. It was time to move on and move out. Players packed their belongings and worked with the team’s equipment staff on shipping them.
In the middle of it all, offensive lineman Matt Pryor, who went from being a backup to starting 15 games, said he’d like to return after playing this season on a one-year deal.
But what about the Bears’ next head coach?
“I’d love to have TB back,” Pryor said. “Whatever position he’s in. He’s just a great mind. And he has a great mindset. And I feed off that.”
Three days later, the Bears announced their first official interview: Mike Vrabel, the former Tennessee Titans head coach. Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing and Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver were next. More are coming, too.
Poles promised to cast a wide net while acknowledging how important what comes next is for Williams.
“For a young quarterback, obviously, there’s an ideal fit,” Poles said Tuesday. “But at the end of the day, you got to look at all the characteristics of what you’re looking for in a head coach, and then you got to see what’s the best bundle of those to bring in the building. Obviously, we’re talking about leadership, accountability, some of those important things that carry over. Regardless of what the situation is, those have to be there.”
Williams, though, is already here. There is plenty for the Bears to learn and digest from what happened with Williams in his first season. It should affect their coaching search.
“I think, for all of us, but particularly for Caleb, this has been an experience that he can learn from and get better by,” Beatty said.
Williams struggled with Waldron but responded when Brown coached him hard. Would Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson provide the same? Does Vrabel have the best plan and vision for him?
With the season over in Green Bay and a win to celebrate, Brown said he had “extremely intense conversations over the last days, weeks” with Williams. He talked, Williams listened. It was needed. After being so close in other games earlier in the season, everything finally clicked late against the Packers in Green Bay. Williams later presented Brown with the game ball in the locker room.
“The way I grew up, I’ll always respond to challenges,” Williams said in Green Bay. “The way I grew up, I’ll always respond well to people that tell me the truth. I would say that’s what he did. Got to keep growing, got to keep going. No matter the situation and how I’m feeling, got to find ways to be better, got to find ways to have games like this where it’s tough and find ways to come out with a win at the end.”
(Top photo: David Berding / Getty Images)
