Le Journal

For all the things Caleb Williams still needs to learn, and he’d be the first to say there are empty boxes on his checklist, he has solved one of the Bears’ most maddening problems. They have a franchise quarterback capable of heroics few in the NFL can match.Williams was magical with the game on the line again Sunday in a divisional-round playoff game against the Rams. He threw an unforgettable touchdown pass to force overtime but also had a costly interception that allowed the Rams to win 20-17 on Harrison Mevis’ 42-yard field goal.The Bears’ dream season is over. They’ll spend the offseason intent on building themselves into a championship contender. The Rams moved on to the NFC Championship Game at the Seahawks to play for a trip to the Super Bowl.“It’s a frustration and a fire,” Williams said as he processed the loss. “Not happy about the outcome. Frustrated. But that’s over with, and I can’t go back and change it.‘‘I’m going to go back and watch and figure out how I can be better in the near future and help this organization get where we want to be.”He struggled for a lot of the game but surged late. Sound familiar? And for a brief stretch near the end, it looked like another fairy-tale finish.The Rams took a 17-10 lead with 8:50 left on Kyren Williams’ five-yard run. After the teams traded uneventful possessions, Williams got his opportunity for another daring escape.A shanked punt gave the Bears the ball at midfield with 1:50 left, but their chances dwindled as they hit fourth-and-four at the Rams’ 14-yard line with 27 seconds left.The next play looked like a disaster from the start.Williams was under pressure immediately and scrambled backward to keep it alive. He ran with his back to the play for at least 10 yards and turned around as he backpedaled to the 40-yard line. With three Rams closing in on him, he heaved the ball to the end zone off his back foot.It sailed to tight end Cole Kmet, who was wide open in the back left corner as defensive backs Cobie Durant and Quentin Lake trailed.“That’s ridiculous,” coach Ben Johnson said of the tying touchdown pass. “We talked about the fourth-and-eight [against the Packers], and this one was even another level ahead of that. There’s some things you just can’t coach. He’s got that.”Moments like that make all the growing pains worth it. Williams has made some of the most difficult clutch plays in the NFL this season. Next, he needs to master more of the basics, and he mentioned accuracy and footwork as priorities for this offseason.Williams had a shot to win it after the Bears forced the Rams to punt on the first possession of overtime, making it a sudden-death game. He went 4-for-4 for 32 yards and drove the Bears close to field-goal range at the Rams’ 48-yard line. Then he went deep to DJ Moore, but his throw was short, and Rams safety Kamren Curl dove to pick it off.Williams had a rocky line of 23-for-42 for 257 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions for a 59.3 passer rating.The interceptions stung — he had never thrown three in a game — and the disappointment was deflating. But the reality for Williams and the Bears was that this was clearly the start of something bigger. Winning the NFC North and making it to the divisional round of the playoffs signified progress toward contending next season.“[Williams has] gotten so much better over the course of the season,” Johnson said. “He’s going to continue to ascend.”He said Williams’ increased comfort level in the offense is evident and “he brings it to life on game day.” It’s not perfect, but this was only Year 1.The most important thing the Bears did this season was to solidify their coach-quarterback pairing. After years of getting that horribly wrong, they have it exactly right with a hard-nosed offensive wizard in Johnson and an ultra-talented, multifaceted weapon in Williams.Johnson has flourished where his wayward predecessors Matt Eberflus, Matt Nagy and John Fox couldn’t, and everything about the way he…

They call Bears quarterback Caleb Williams ‘‘Iceman.’’ Rearrange the letters, however, and you find a more apt description for the Bears’ 20-17 playoff loss Sunday to the Rams in a Soldier Field snow globe: ‘‘Cinema.’’’It was out of a movie, a thriller that turned from a feel-good hit into a heartbreaker in overtime. Williams, who had done the improbable all season, did it again Sunday. But it wasn’t enough.Blame his interception in overtime. The Bears had gotten to the Rams’ 48 when Williams’ deep shot to wide receiver DJ Moore was picked off by safety Kam Curl at the 22. Williams chalked it up to ‘‘just a miscommunication’’ between him and Moore. He thought Moore, who was running a crosser from left to right, would flatten his route more toward the sideline.Six plays later, on third-and-six from the Bears’ 43, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford found wide receiver Puka Nacua for a 16-yard gain. Four plays later, after Bears coach Ben Johnson declined to take a timeout in an effort to ice him, Rams kicker Harrison Mevis made a 42-yard field goal to win the game.‘‘I thought he was going to miss the field goal and someway, somehow we’d win the game,’’ safety Jaquan Brisker said. ‘‘But it didn’t go like that.’’That the Bears even made it to overtime was a miracle. Trailing 17-10 and facing fourth-and-four at the Rams’ 14 with 27 seconds left in regulation, Williams was chased backward by a phalanx of defenders. When he ran out of options — and time — Williams planted his right foot and heaved the ball from the 40-yard line. Tight end Cole Kmet was the only Bears’ player on the left flank of the north end zone, with cornerback Cobie Durant, who had two interceptions, standing in front of him.‘‘I just wanted to give him my best ball and give him a shot,’’ Williams said.Williams’ throw sailed over Durant’s head and into Kmet’s arms.‘‘Just felt like a pop fly to center field,’’ said Kmet, a former Notre Dame baseball player.Soldier Field erupted in disbelief. A season full of improbable moments had produced the most unbelievable one of all.‘‘It was the most special throw I’ve ever seen,’’ said safety Kevin Byard, who just finished his 10th season. ‘‘That was insane. Left us speechless on the sideline.’’Johnson thought about going for two but settled for the extra point by Cairo Santos.‘‘Our goal-to-go situations hadn’t been very clean,’’ he said. ‘‘Our inside-the-five plan hadn’t worked out like we hoped. I just felt better about taking our chances in overtime.’’The Bears were 4-for-6 on third-and-one and 1-for-2 on fourth-and-one in the game.The Rams went three-and-out to start the extra period before Williams got the Bears past midfield, then threw his third interception. Taking over at their 22, the Rams went 54 yards on 10 plays to set up the winning kick.The Bears tying the score in regulation took a shanked 33-yard punt to give them the ball at midfield with 1:50 left and the Rams leading 17-10. The Bears were out of timeouts.An 18-yard pass to tight end Colston Loveland and a 12-yard run by running back D’Andre Swift got the Bears to the Rams’ 20. A six-yard pass to wide receiver Luther Burden made it second-and-four at the 14. After two incomplete passes, the Bears faced fourth down with 27 seconds left. That’s when Williams took the snap and began running backward.Williams went 23-for-42 for 257 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions and a 59.3 passer rating.Entering the game, Williams had led the Bears to seven fourth-quarter comebacks this season, one off the all-time NFL record held by, among others, Stafford.The Bears’ defense harassed Stafford, the presumptive MVP favorite, most of the night. He finished 20-for-42 for 258 yards and a 67.4 passer rating and was sacked him four times.With the score tied 10-10 after the third quarter, tight end Colby Parkinson’s 35-yard catch-and-run moved the Rams from their 20 to the Bears’ 45. Three plays later, on third-and-six, Stafford threw a slant to Nacua on a blitz…