The play was designed to go to D’Andre Swift.
The Bears led by eight halfway into the fourth quarter Friday when Caleb Williams took a snap from under center and rolled left, where he was supposed to throw to his running back in the flat. With Swift four yards in front of him, Williams felt Eagles safety Sydney Brown crashing toward the line of scrimmage.
That left the other safety, Reed Blankenship, as the only person covering tight end Cole Kmet, who ran a corner route. With no help behind Blankenship, Williams could loft a pass into the blustery sky and into the left corner of the end zone — so long as he led Kmet.
“That’s the fun part about playing QB — it’s dealing with conditions and then finding ways to try to calculate where you need to put the ball …” Williams said Friday night. “I wanted to kinda lay it out there and let the wind kind of push it back to him. Cole made a great catch.”
Williams, who has a tendency to overthrow the ball on the run, put it in the perfect spot. The 28-yard touchdown was the dagger, giving the Bears a 15-point lead in a game they’d eventually win 24-15.
“It felt like the wind got the better of us on a couple throws,” coach Ben Johnson said. “[Williams] made some huge ones down the stretch. That throw to Cole was enormous. He’s rolling out to his left, to be able to throw a dime like that at that point in the game, that was really big for us. ..
“He felt that, he saw it and he delivered a good ball and made ’em pay.”
It might have been the only truly elite throw Williams made all night. His second-biggest completion was a fourth-and-five completion to Colston Loveland late in the third quarter in which the rookie tight end popped open when Blankenship slipped down. Williams noticed him fall and adjusted his throw as he was just about to release it. Loveland gained seven yards to get to the Eagles’ 30, and the Bears scored a touchdown four plays later.
Otherwise, the Bears’ most consequential win since 2018 was bereft of wow throws from their second-year quarterback. Johnson resorted to praising how efficiently Williams got the Bears in and out of the huddle.
Williams struggled for most of the game, finishing 17-for-36 for 154 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a lowly 56.9 passer rating. His 47.2 completion percentage was his worst of the season — and the second-worst of his career.
The Bears were hoping for more balance in a game in which they averaged 6 yards per carry and ran a whopping 85 plays, their most in regulation this century. They held the ball for 39:18, their longest time of possession this year. Afterward, though, Johnson said he probably threw too often.
“I was hoping we’d hit a couple more [passes] just to loosen them up a little more and keep that run game going,” he said.
But Williams did what he’s done all year — close the game. He went 5-for-6 for 57 yards and the Kmet touchdown in the fourth quarter. His lone incompletion came on the Bears’ fourth down play with 1:15 to play and a nine-point lead. Williams also ran for four yards on third-and-three.
It’s hard to square Williams’ final numbers when the outcome on the field. In the last 10 games, Williams has had a passer rating above 84 only four times. He’s completed more than 60% of his passes only three times, too, a remarkable stat for someone whose coach wants him to complete 70%.
The Bears, though, are 9-1 in that span.
Williams acknowledged that he expected better play from himself, even in a win.
“In the moment, you want to hit those [passes],” he said. “You want to have these moments and hit on all cylinders. That’s coming.”
The Bears won’t win playoff games until it does. If Friday night’s wind was problematic for Williams, the rest of the season won’t be any easier — the Bears play outdoors in every remaining game, starting next week at Lambeau Field.
Williams feels the weight of what could be.
“We can do something special for Chicago,” Williams said. “The frustration comes in just because you want to maximize. You don’t wanna waste time. You don’t want to waste a year or anything like that. …
“That’s why we get up every day. We haven’t hit our pinnacle yet in the sense of the team and execution on offense. We’re still winning these games. That’s really important. That’s why I’m extremely excited.”
