Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams lost his first playoff game in the divisional round against the Los Angeles Rams, but he also seems to have earned even more respect from one of his most accomplished NFL peers.
The Bears ran out of comeback magic against the Rams in overtime when Williams — who had seven passes picked off in the regular season — threw his third interception of the night on a miscommunication with wide receiver DJ Moore and sealed their fate.
The Rams needed just six more plays to get into field goal range, ultimately capping their 10-play overtime drive with a 42-yard boot from placekicker Harrison Mevis.
In the postgame, though, Stafford took multiple opportunities to praise Williams and the Bears for their efforts and the reputation they established over the regular season. He made it all the clearer when a reporter asked him if his and the Rams’ experience over the younger Bears’ staff and roster gave them an advantage late in the game.
“I don’t know, they’ve been pretty good late in games,” Stafford said after the Bears’ 20-17 loss on January 18. “They’re a tough out. There’s no question about that. I thought Ben’s done a helluva job this year. Obviously, Caleb has played great and did again tonight in some timely moments late in the game. So, they’re a tough out. They’re a really good football team — in this position, in this game, the No. 2 seed in our conference for a reason, and being able to go on the road and get it done was huge.”
Caleb Williams Made Incredible Throw to Force OT
Williams had a few ugly moments during the Bears’ season-ending loss to the Rams, namely his three interceptions. He threw one on the opening drive when head coach Ben Johnson elected to go for it on 4th-and-2 from the Rams’ 21-yard line. He tossed another in the midst of a sequence in which his defense forced three punts in 11 plays.
As he has seemed to make a habit of recently, though, Williams also threw another pass that could contend as the best throw of his career in a season full of contending throws.
On fourth down, with 27 seconds left on the clock, Williams snapped the ball and quickly felt the pressure closing in from the Rams’ pass rushers, driving him into the backfield in a desperate scramble. With three defenders bearing down, he steadied, looked downfield and threw a dart to a wide-open Cole Kmet for a game-tying score.
Williams also had another “Houdini” moment earlier in the fourth quarter, when he danced around multiple Rams defenders and shook loose for a 26-yard scramble.
Even though it won’t change how the Bears’ season ended in 2025, Williams has given fans plenty to look forward to in the coming seasons as he continues to develop.
Caleb Williams Outlines Plans for 2026 NFL Offseason
The season is freshly over, but Williams already has plans to get together with his wide receivers in the next few months before the Bears reconvene in the spring for OTAs.
He also knows that his accuracy — and, as a result, his footwork — must improve.
“Gotta go watch some film and talk to coach,” Williams said after the loss. “From there, it’s just work on accuracy, work on my footwork in the offseason. It’s get with the receivers and work with them throughout the offseason so that we’re on the same page and we’re starting off hot for training camp, OTAs and then going into next season.”
Williams seemed to solidify his status as the Bears’ franchise quarterback in 2025, but he undoubtedly needs to work on his accuracy. He came nowhere close to his personal goal of finishing the season with at least a 70% completion percentage, completing just 58.1% of his passes in 2025 — more than four full percentage points worse than 2024.
Williams also missed some of the easy, gotta-make throws that had commentators scratching their heads during several broadcasts, whether it was overthrowing one of his passing targets in the flat or zipping a ball too high for a wide-open receiver.
At least Williams knows the problem and plans to fix it.
Matthew Stafford Gets Honest About Caleb Williams After Bears Loss