With 24 seconds left, the Chicago Bears faced fourth and 4 at the Packers’ 6 yard line. Win probability models gave Green Bay an 80.3% chance to close the door. And with the game on the line, Caleb Williams dropped back and lofted a high pass into the end zone to an undrafted rookie receiver by the name of Jahdae Walker…
The rookie hauled in the 6 yard touchdown (just the second catch of his NFL career) and saved the Bears’ season in real time, sending the game to overtime, where Williams found DJ Moore on a moon ball to seal the win.
The Moment the Bears Trusted the Unknown
GettyBears Undrafted Rookie WR Jahdae Walker
Just days before kickoff, the Chicago Bears were staring at a problem they couldn’t avoid. With Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III both trending toward missing time, Chicago’s wide receiver depth was thinning at the worst possible moment… A crucial rematch against their biggest rival, the Green Bay Packers.
All of a sudden, one uncomfortable possibility surfaced… The Bears might have to roll the dice on an undrafted rookie named Jahdae Walker.
Jahdae Walker balled out in the preseason with eight catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns, earning a spot on the 53 man roster. But this? This was the Bears most important game of the season.
By the end of Saturday night, what had felt risky and almost desperate became the reason the Bears came out victorious.
“I know to the people who haven’t been in the building, they’re saying, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re going to the undrafted rookie on fourth down!’” head coach Ben Johnson said afterward. “We see what he does every single week. We see how he goes about his business.”
“There’s a reason why we didn’t want to expose him to the waiver wire and someone poach him after the preseason. We see a bright future for this guy and he’s done nothing but steadily improve over the course of the season.”
Fun fact: Jahdae Walker now has more career touchdowns than Packers first round pick Matthew Golden (Jahdae has 2 career catches by the way).
Chaos, Survival, and the Final Swing
GettyBears WR DJ Moore
After the wild regulation finish, the game went to overtime where Packers backup quarterback Malik Willis fumbled a fourth and 1 snap at the Chicago 36, handing the Bears the ball in prime position.
Four plays later, Williams delivered a perfect deep strike to DJ Moore, who hauled in the walk-off touchdown with Keisean Nixon all over him, flipping the script completely on its head after Nixon sealed a Packers win with an end-zone interception just two weeks earlier.
But the story fans will remember is simpler. Cause with Odunze out for a third straight game and Burden unavailable, the Bears didn’t panic.They leaned into preparation… and into a player most teams would never trust in that moment.
Jahdae Walker went from preseason curiosity to rivalry hero in one night. Don’t be surprised if we see more of him in the future.
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