The magic ran out on the 2025 Chicago Bears.
Ben Johnson’s squad nearly pulled off yet another miraculous comeback, with Caleb Williams’ fourth-down heave with 18 seconds remaining sending the game to overtime. However, a Williams third interception doomed the Bears, who watched the L.A. Rams kick a walk-off field goal for the 20-17 OT victory at Soldier Field.
Seven times during the season, the Bears pulled a rabbit out of the hat, turning a would-be loss into a victory. Those close wins steadied Johnson’s crew, and they had a chance to steal another victory, but a trove of missed opportunities will sting Chicago heading into the offseason.
“It’s a frustration. It’s a fire,” Williams said of how he feels on the inside after the season-ending loss. “Those are the two words that I’d go with. I’m excited, though, also. Obviously, not happy about the outcome. Obviously frustrated about the outcome. But that’s over with, and I can’t go back and change it. Going to go back and watch, figure out how I can be better for the near future and help this organization get to where we want to be.”
The Bears got down early, allowing L.A. to march down the field for an opening-drive touchdown. As they have all season, Chicago battled back, rattling MVP candidate Matthew Stafford into 20-of-42 passing for 258 yards with four sacks and zero touchdown passes. The Bears’ defense smothered L.A. receivers, with no single Ram generating more than 56 receiving yards.
Trailing 17-10 with 1:50 remaining, Williams led a 7-play, 50-yard TD drive that culminated in a fourth-down heave under pressure off his back foot that traveled 51.2 air yards and landed in Cole Kmet’s hands to send the tilt to an extra frame.
After the Bears’ defense forced a 3-and-out to open OT, Williams had a shot to keep the season alive, but a “miscommunication” with receiver D.J. Moore led to a third INT of the night. Chicago’s defense couldn’t get another stop.
“That’s part of the shame. Our defense played their tails off,” Johnson said of a unit that played its best game of the year. “They did. I thought they did a great job. That’s the number one offense in football, both yards and points, and I thought (Defensive Coordinator) Dennis (Allen) and the defensive coaching staff, they had a great plan. They got weapons all over the place on the perimeter, but also that running game is very efficient, and it can wear on you. They pose a lot of problems, and yet our guys did a nice job taking the plan, bringing it to life. I thought they played with great emotion. I thought they played hard throughout that game, and they certainly had us in it the whole time.”
The Bears will rue the missed chances on Sunday. Chicago drove up and down the field against L.A., gobbling up 417 yards. However, they went 3-of-6 on fourth downs, and Williams threw three interceptions – two in plus-territory – as the Bears came up three points shy.
After Williams’ miraculous heave, Johnson said he’d considered going for two points and the win, but given that the Bears had been rejected on four plays from the 5-yard line on the previous drive, he elected to send the game to OT.
“Thought about it,” Johnson said. “Probably what played a little bit of a factor was our goal-to-go situations hadn’t gone very clean. Our inside-the-five plan hadn’t worked out quite like we had hoped. Just felt better about taking our chances there in overtime.”
The disappointing loss stings, but in Johnson’s first season, with Williams showing mettle in big moments and a defense that coalesced after getting players back late in the season, the future looks bright in the Windy City. There are no guarantees the Bears can replicate their magical run, but with Williams and Johnson, the future is brighter than it’s been in decades in Chicago.
Even with all the highlight plays, Williams knows there are ways he can improve heading into Year 3.
“Got to go and watch some film and talk to Coach, and then from there it’s just work on accuracy, work on my feet in the offseason,” he said. “It’s get with the receivers and work with them and things like that throughout the offseason so that we’re on the same page, that we’re starting off hot for training camp, OTAs and then going into next season.”
