Thomas Brown didn’t hesitate. Fourth-and-3, a minute remaining, game on the line.
The Chicago Bears trailed the Green Bay Packers 20-19 on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field. And in his first game calling plays, Brown dialed up a little number called “Vegas,” an ultra-aggressive, big-moment play that expressed ultimate trust in the players he had on the field.
Brown’s call came in so quickly and decisively to quarterback Caleb Williams that the Bears offense immediately perked up. Tight end Cole Kmet called it a “badass” decision in such a high-stakes moment.
Still, the offense needed to make the dice roll pay off.
With four vertical routes designed to threaten Green Bay’s man-to-man coverage, Williams scanned quickly before the snap and recognized the matchup he loved most — rookie receiver Rome Odunze, with a 5-inch height advantage, against Packers corner Keisean Nixon. And when Odunze quickly beat Nixon off the snap, it was on.
“He gave me a little jump jam,” Odunze said. “And when I cleared it, I felt like I had a big opportunity to create some space. I’m glad Caleb saw that too.”
Before Williams hit the top of his drop, he saw Odunze’s right hand in the air and didn’t hesitate.
Sideline, back shoulder. “Just let it rip and let him make a play,” Williams said.
At a minimum, with Nixon’s back turned, the Bears quarterback was confident Odunze could draw a pass-interference penalty. But Williams put a gorgeous ball inside Odunze’s catch radius. And Odunze delivered the payday, reaching around Nixon to haul in a 21-yard catch.
The explosion of enthusiasm at Soldier Field was undeniable. The Bears, in a high-leverage moment down the stretch of a rivalry game, kept a potential game-winning drive alive with two top-10 picks connecting with impressive confidence and synchronization.
“That’s us believing in one another to make that play,” Odunze said. “It’s me running the best route possible and Caleb making a throw. And I think you saw the belief on that connection for sure.”
Had it not been for Sunday’s galling conclusion — a blocked 46-yard field-goal attempt as time expired, allowing the Packers to escape with a one-point win — that Williams-to-Odunze fourth-down completion likely would have played on a loop and discussed all week, both here in Chicago and on all the national sports-talk shows. The play would have been exalted as evidence that the Bears may have a big-time quarterback paired with a playmaking receiver who’s fearless in the clutch. Both are rookies.
That highlight would have been accompanied, too, by footage of the previous snap, a third-and-19 completion from Williams to Odunze. That one came off script but in sync with Williams ducking away from a sack, scrambling right, then throwing a fastball to Odunze, who had sat down in open space while keeping himself in his quarterback’s vision.
On the Fox broadcast, color analyst Tom Brady called Williams’ throw “an absolute missile.”
Added Brown: “If that was a spear, Rome would probably be dead. It would have went right through his body.”
Instead, Odunze brought it in, again showcasing his ability to be a reliable go-to weapon when his quarterback needs him most.
Through the biggest-picture lens, even in a gut-wrenching loss, those two final-drive catches remain significant as the Bears grind toward a brighter future while preparing to play the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. After 10 games, Odunze leads the Bears in receiving yards (479) and feels encouraged by his final-drive contributions and connection with Williams.
“I mean, we definitely build confidence off those moments,” he said. “But at the end of the day, not getting the job done and not getting the win, it tells you there’s much more we need to do.”
‘I just did my part’
Last November, two days after Thanksgiving during a scouting visit to Seattle, Bears general manager Ryan Poles was in the press box for Washington’s “Apple Cup” rivalry game against Washington State. Poles had already found himself drawn to Odunze’s contested-catch ability, fluid route running and top-end football IQ. All of that was on display as Odunze racked up seven catches, 120 yards and two touchdowns that afternoon at Husky Stadium.
But Poles also experienced firsthand Odunze’s big-moment hunger and poise. With 1:14 remaining and Washington protecting a 24-21 lead, the Huskies opted to go on fourth-and-1. From their 29.
Even with an eventual Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback in Michael Penix Jr., an 1,100-yard rusher in Dillon Johnson and two other receivers (Ja’lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan) who were drafted last spring, the Huskies put the ball directly into Odunze’s hands — on a gadget-play end-around.
Open space. Acceleration. Twenty-three yards.
“Got to do everything you can to beat the rival, right?” Odunze said this summer. “On that play, I just did my part.”
Ballgame.
If would be one thing if that had been an isolated incident. But all throughout Odunze’s junior season at Washington, he delivered big plays in big moments as the Huskies racked up 6,931 total yards, 540 points and 14 victories, marching all the way to the College Football Playoff national championship game.
JaMarcus Shephard, Washington’s receivers coach last season, absolutely loved Odunze’s 19-yard, back-shoulder, third-down catch in the rain on the final drive at Oregon State.
Closer’s mentality.
“Caught it,” Shephard said, “and then he got up and waved goodbye to the crowd. Obviously he thrives on those moments.”
Washington 22, Oregon State 20.
Odunze’s favorite game-on-the-line moment? His 18-yard go-ahead touchdown in the final two minutes to stun Oregon in a midseason top-10 matchup last fall.
Shephard points out that the ball wasn’t even supposed to go to Odunze on the play that was sent in. Until Penix Jr., with his favorite target isolated to the short side of the field, ad-libbed.
“Mike looked at me and gave me the little fade signal,” Odunze said. “And I was just like, ‘A’ight. Let’s go get it!’”
Sideline, back shoulder.
And get it Odunze did, reaching around Oregon cornerback Trikweze Bridges to pull the football in.
“For all of us (coaches), it was like, ‘Great call! I’m glad that’s what the call was going to be,’” Shephard said. “Because we’d rather put it in Rome’s hands at that time, in that moment, and see what would happen. And there was never a doubt from us at all that he would make the play.”
‘It’s something you prepare for’
Odunze smiled this week when asked to recall the first time he made a big play in a big moment of a big game.
“I was at the national championships of peewee football,” he said. “In San Diego. I’m playing quarterback for the Henderson Jaguars against the Arizona Wildcats. Had a bootleg play. And I went 80 yards for a game-winner.”
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Perhaps much of Odunze’s calm confidence in the clutch was God-given. But he has also sharpened his mentality for such moments, drawing inspiration as a kid from Kobe Bryant.
“It’s something you prepare for,” Odunze said. “Like Kobe always said, he never took a shot in the game that he hadn’t taken a thousand times in practice. I think that’s really true.”
Odunze constantly works on heightening his presence and staying detailed with his responsibilities no matter the circumstances. First drive of the game or last possession, he aims to keep the mentality the same.
“It’s all about being homed in on the execution of your responsibilities on that given play. That’s it,” Odunze said. “When you put your focus fully on the play you’re in, it allows you to forget the pressure of the situation. That’s the mindset I lock in with on every play as much as I can. So when you get yourself into those big moments and everybody else is feeling (anxious), like, ‘Whoa! This is a huge third down. This is the fourth quarter. This is the last play,’ for me, it’s, no, this is just ‘Trio Left Dah Dah Dah.’”
A strengthening bond
Back to “Vegas” now just for a minute and the trust Williams put in Odunze to respond under pressure on last weekend’s final drive.
Williams said Wednesday that the bond he and Odunze have been strengthening since the predraft process has proved meaningful. And while the two continue working on their on-field timing, some of their off-field interactions — going out to eat, playing “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” — pays off too.
Said Williams: “Being able to have all these little moments (together), when those big moments happen, you kind of have an idea, a trust and belief that you’re on the same page.”
Fourth-and-3. A minute remaining. Game on the line.
“Right then and there,” Williams said, “it showed up.”
Which is why Brown didn’t hesitate with his dice roll Sunday. With Odunze, Kmet, DJ Moore and Keenan Allen, he knew the Bears had an advantage.
“This is a matchup league,” Brown said. “So you find your best matchup and roll. And really, we couldn’t go wrong with the guys we had out there. We had Rome, Cole, Keenan, DJ. All one-on-one. Good luck to whoever is covering them.”
Nixon had Odunze. Williams noticed.
“Rome is a baller,” Brown said. “For me, the greatest predictor of how a player is going to perform under pressure is what they do at practice. And every day since he got here, Rome has been here absorbing information. He makes himself coachable. He rarely if ever makes the same mistake twice. He doesn’t cry or complain when he’s not getting the ball. And when we call his number, he makes plays.”
The hope inside Halas Hall is that many more big moments are ahead. And the belief is that Odunze will be ready to meet them.
