Regardless of the outcome, Caleb Williams delivered a throw for the ages against the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Playoffs, and he drew plenty of attention for it, including from Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
On fourth down and goal to go, with the Bears trailing 17-10, Williams found tight end Cole Kmet for a touchdown.
The play technically gained 14 yards, but travelled substantially farther than that.
Caleb Williams Draws Patrick Mahomes’ Attention With Historic Play
Bears QB Caleb Williams Stuns With TD Pass
“[Hysterical laughing emojis] awesome!” Mahomes posted on X after Williams’ throw during the Bears’ contest, expressing sentiments widely shared across the football world.
Underdog’s Brett Kollman concurred, posting, “Caleb might make the easy stuff look hard sometimes but I’m not sure there’s more than three other humans alive that make the hard stuff look that easy.”
The play, at the very least, made modern NFL history.
“Caleb Williams’ 14-yard game-tying touchdown pass to Cole Kmet traveled 51.2 yards in the air, the longest completed pass by air distance in the red zone in the NGS era (since 2016),” Next Gen Stats posted after the throw.
NGS noted the play had a 17.8% chance of being completed. Williams finished with 257 passing yards, but threw just 2 TDs to 3 INTs, including on his final throw of the game, on 54.7% completion. That throw, though.
“Preposterous play,” NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt posted. “Stunning.”
Williams and the Bears head into the offseason disappointed by the result of Sunday’s contest. They were also excited about what they were able to accomplish in their first year under head coach Ben Johnson. Johnson uplifted his QB postgame and as they exchanged places at the podium.
Players will be back at Halas Hall to clean out their lockers this week. Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles are likely to address the media as well to officially end the campaign.