Caleb Williams peeled himself off the ground after yet another sack, signaled to his receivers and, with 15 seconds left and the Bears trailing by three, stood behind the center. The clock ticked, and coach Matt Eberflus, despite owning a timeout, did nothing to stop it.
With five seconds left, Williams took the snap, heaved a deep pass. The ball fell incomplete as the play clock reached zero.
The Bears’ Thanksgiving loss to the Lions was the nadir of Eberflus’ tenure and Williams’ career. The head coach was fired the next day. The quarterback, though, will be in an entirely better place when he takes the field Friday in Philadelphia, exactly 365 days after the loss at Ford Field.
He’s being sacked less than half as often as last season. He had more wins by Veteran’s Day than the Bears did all last year. He’s riding a four-game win streak for the second time this season.
Amazingly, the same quarterback who contributed to the league’s biggest game clock gaffe last year has been at his best with the game in its final seconds. The Bears have won games by one point (twice), two points, three points, four points and five points en route to a surprising 8-3 record.
Williams has been spurred on by the man on the opposite sideline last Thanksgiving — coach Ben Johnson, who was then the Lions’ offensive coordinator.
“We have belief in each other out there, but you have belief in your coaches,” Williams said. “Between us, you do a lot on the field and we’re coming out with these wins. These recent ones have been a little bit closer than we want them to be. but that’s what the NFL is.“
Johnson joked that he doesn’t have much of a long-term memory — “It was a good one for Detroit” was the best memory he could muster — but he can appreciate how far he’s come in the last 365 days. Or will appreciate it one day.
“Those are things, during the summertime, when I get a chance to have a beer on a nice, warm day, I can think back and reflect on things of the past,” he said.
It seems like forever ago, both for Johnson and the franchise.
“That was a long time ago, it feels like … ” he said. “[I’m] really happy with where we are here and what we’re building right now.”
The Bears’ schedule is built for Williams to take the next step. They’ve yet to beat a team this season that has more than six wins; every opponent on their schedule moving forward has at least seven, starting with the 8-3 Eagles.
Playing the Super Bowl champions in a prime spot — the Bears are the only NFL game on “Black Friday” — doesn’t change the calculus for Williams.
“You don’t look over there compare yourself to their record, their team, their coaches, their players or anything like that,” Williams said. “We focus on us. We focus on ourselves. We focus on our details …
“When you do that consistently, you’ll come out with the right outcome at the end of it. So that’s what we focus on.”
Last year felt like anything but that.
“At that point last year, definitely couldn’t see this far [ahead] …” safety Kevin Byard said. “It’s definitely one of those scenarios where you face all that adversity and come out on the other side of it. It feels very good.”
Last Thanksgiving was a “terrible feeling for everybody involved in our organization,” receiver Rome Odunze said.
Whether Friday marks the continuation of a playoff push or the beginning of the end, the Bears and their quarterback are light years ahead of last year.
“It definitely makes you grateful for the work we’ve put in and the people that are in this building and the organization,” Odunze said. “And where we’re at now.”