Caleb Williams’ last throw of the season was a heartbreaking overtime interception on a pass intended for DJ Moore that led to the Rams kicking a field goal to win the game. But many were left asking, what exactly happened on the play-gone-wrong?
The pass came during a promising drive from the Bears, who appeared to be riding momentum after Williams threw a breathtaking fourth-down, fourth-quarter shocker to tie the game.
But his last throw of the game was the beginning of the end for Chicago’s surprising season.
Williams was picked off by Rams safety Kam Curl on a deep ball intended for Moore.
The Bears quarterback was asked about the throw Sunday night, calling it a “miscommunication.”
“In the moment, saw the front side safety down, the front side of the concept, ended up getting hemmed up a little bit, so I moved on and had DJ (Moore) going over the top of all of it. Just a miscommunication between him and I,” Williams said. “Tried to flatten him off under the safety, and he kept it vertical from what I saw, obviously, in the moment.”
He told reporters Monday he has yet to speak to Moore about what happened, but acknowledged that Moore’s “route is to go deep and attack that angle, which he did.”
“We thought we were going to go under the safety at that point, and it didn’t happen that way,” he said.
Bears coach Ben Johnson said he didn’t see the interception coming.
“I stand behind the defense a little bit, so I did see space. I saw grass. I didn’t see that defender from my perspective, so I’ll have to see it. But I did think as the play was going on, ‘oh, crap, we’ve got something.’ But great play by that [Rams] player,” he said.
Former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel, who previously played for the Bears, criticized Moore in the play.
“You can’t blame Caleb Williams for the INT in OT….. the Bears have the absolute perfect play called,” Daniel wrote on X. “The lack of effort by #2 is really telling….you can’t give up on this route like this.”
Williams said he does plan to talk with Moore and “all the other wide receivers coming up in the future, next year.”
“Being able to just get on the same page in those moments. It’s small things like that, that show up in those moments that you may not have talked about, but being on the same page or talking about it, maybe Week 1 or Week 6, it shows up in Week 18, or whatever week we’re in,” he said. “And so, it’s something to learn from for myself, a learning experience. It’s something for us to learn from as an offense and as a team. And we will go do that at some point.”
The 24-year-old Williams led Chicago to an NFL-record seven wins this season when trailing in last 2 minutes of regulation. He threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Moore with 1:43 left in a 31-27 victory over Green Bay in the first round of the playoffs.
“It’s tough. In these moments, you feel that you let your team down,” Williams said. “You feel this or that. It’s a good lesson learned for us, first time being in this situation for me and for us as a team. I’m excited for what’s to come. But obviously going to go back and watch this and figure out how I can be better, and that’s the exciting part.”
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