For a few heady moments Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field, as the Chicago Bears sideline watched kicker Cairo Santos line up for his 46-yard field-goal attempt, it appeared that Caleb Williams might be the quarterback to finally break the streak.
Six years, 10 games. Two other Bears first-round pick quarterbacks. Three other Bears offensive coordinators. That’s what the life of the Bears losing streak to the Green Bay Packers looked like when Williams authored his first entry into the rivalry in his 10th career start.
And there was Williams late in the fourth quarter, overcoming a disastrous start to a potential winning drive by completing three straight passes of 12 yards or more to help the Bears get to the Packers’ 28-yard line to set up Santos’ kick.
But then, in a blink, Williams was introduced to the heartbreak that has come with the rivalry. Packers defensive lineman Karl Brooks pushed his way forward through the Bears line, leaped with his hand raised and blocked Santos’ kick.
The Packers escaped with a 20-19 victory. And instead of being celebrated as a hero, Williams watched Jordan Love rush the field in celebration of a win that is commonplace for Packers quarterbacks these days.
Afterward, Williams was matter-of-fact about his emotions at the end of the game.
“Not a loser. A situation to learn from,” Williams said, noting how the offense could have done more on its scoreless second-to-last drive to extend its lead.
Tight end Cole Kmet, now in his fifth season of losing to the Packers, explained the sting a little deeper.
“Devastating,” Kmet said. “This is one I’ve wanted to win for a while now, and I haven’t won this one yet. Obviously, we get them one more time this year, but definitely a hard one especially when you feel like we had it in the bag there at the end.”
Williams has had well-documented struggles over the last month. But Sunday’s loss was the second time in three weeks Williams put the Bears in good position to win and then had to watch from the sideline as his team blew the game.
On Oct. 27, he engineered a go-ahead touchdown drive against the Washington Commanders with 27 seconds to play — and then watched as quarterback Jayden Daniels threw the winning 52-yard Hail Mary.
On Sunday, he started the Bears’ final drive by taking two sacks — for losses of 1 and 8 yards. But then he hit rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze with a 16-yard pass on third-and-19 and a 21-yard pass on fourth-and-3. He added a 12-yarder to Keenan Allen to get the Bears to the 30.
“At that moment, it was time to make plays,” Williams said. “We did a good job with finding Rome, and Rome finding space and sitting right there making sure I saw him. Just let it rip and let him make plays. Then on the fade ball (on the second play), just a good call by (offensive coordinator Thomas Brown). I think they would be expecting a run or getting something there to the sticks.
“This is a matchup league. To be able to have my guy Rome one-on-one with somebody, won off the line, kind of knowing that the (defensive backs) are in catch-up mode, give him a back shoulder ball, he’s either going to get a (pass interference call) or he’s going to catch it. He did just that, made the catch — great catch, unbelievable catch — and got us going.”
Those final three passes were part of a better showing for Williams, who completed 23 of 31 passes for 231 yards and rushed for 70 yards, taking advantage of rushing lanes the Packers gave him.
Bears coach Matt Eberflus shook up his coaching staff this week by firing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and promoting passing game coordinator Thomas Brown to take his place.
Eberflus said he wanted more creativity and better in-game communication and adjustments from Brown. Players said they wanted a coordinator who would command better focus and attention to detail from them.
And while it should be stressed the Bears still only scored 19 points, Brown received some positive results — and player reviews — for his first try at running the Bears offense.
The Bears’ horrendous showing against the New England Patriots in Week 10 — in which they scored 3 points and had 142 net yards — was the turning point in the Eberflus’ decision to part with Waldron.
On Sunday, they outgained the Packers with 391 net yards to 366. They went 9-for-16 on third down and 3-for-3 on fourth down. Williams spread the ball out to his playmakers — with DJ Moore grabbing seven catches for 62 yards, Odunze totaling six for 65 and Allen snaring four for 41. The Bears utilized quick and screen passes to help Williams, who was sacked three times — six fewer than against the Patriots.
And the Bears simply got in the end zone.
That’s something they hadn’t done in 25 possessions and nine quarters before Roschon Johnson scored on a 1-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter. D’Andre Swift also broke for a 39-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.
“We got in a rhythm quicker with running the ball, passing the ball, getting the ball to our playmakers,” left guard Matt Pryor said. “(Brown) did a great job distributing the ball, and offensively we did a good job of getting in a rhythm quicker.”
More than one player complimented Brown unprompted. Kmet said he felt like the week leading up to the game was “a turning point” for the Bears offense as Brown put their plan together and asked “a little bit more of everybody this week.”
During the game, Kmet said he thought the “no-nonsense” Brown got the Bears “moving” with his play calling, and Williams agreed. He said he felt the difference through “us being in control.”
“Thomas being in control, just getting a few calls in super fast,” Williams said. “As soon as a play happened, Thomas was right on the headset giving me the play. From there, he just strung plays together pretty well and formations and motions and everything looking the same. The guys’ mindset started earlier this week when Thomas got the job, and he went in front of everybody and talked about how this was going to be. It was going to be a battle this week, but when we’re out there, we’re going to fight. We’re going to execute. We’re going to have that mindset of go out there and kick some tail.”
And so despite an outcome that Pryor called “a gut punch” and the extension of a four-game losing streak, the Bears offense left feeling they made some progress Sunday.
Not that it was consolation in the immediate aftermath of another stunning last-second loss.
“This team is not full of a bunch of guys who are OK with losing, so it’s going to sting and hurt every time those things happen,” Odunze said. “It’s about learning from our mistakes and continuing to grow and get better so we can get in the win column and feel better coming into this locker room.”
Williams said USC coach Lincoln Riley called him to check in during a strange week at Halas Hall amid the coordinator change. Williams was reminded of what Riley told him when they were both at Oklahoma, and Williams started as the backup quarterback as a freshman.
Keep going.
He’s keeping that message in mind as he navigates a rocky stretch with the Bears.
“I use those words to this day,” Williams said. “That’s all you can do. That’s all we can do is keep going, keep our head down and find ways to win. We’re going to keep doing that.”
