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Bears Avoid Disastrous Collapse vs. Bengals With Caleb Williams's Incredible Last-Gasp TD Pass

The Bears avoided heartbreak in Cincinnati thanks to a big day from rookie tight end Colston Loveland.

Eva Geitheim

Bears rookie tight end Colston Loveland caught two touchdowns to help Chicago ward off the Bengals on Sunday.
Bears rookie tight end Colston Loveland caught two touchdowns to help Chicago ward off the Bengals on Sunday. / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
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The Bears avoided absolute disaster in Cincinnati.

Like many other teams facing the Bengals and their star receiving duo, Chicago became wrapped up in a shootout with Cincinnati in the early window on Sunday. The two teams traded scores for much of the afternoon until the Bears took a two-possession lead with under five minutes to go in the fourth quarter and intercepted Joe Flacco on the ensuing drive.

Turns out, the game was far from over. The Bengals fought back with Flacco hitting tight end Noah Fant on a 23-yard touchdown to lower the Bears’ lead to 41-35 with 1:43 minutes remaining in the game. That still should have been enough for Chicago to whittle down the clock, but the Bengals recovered an onside kick and ensured a second straight possession for their offense.

Flacco got the Bengals down the field on another remarkable catch from Tee Higgins, who finished the game with 121 yards and two touchdowns, and then gave Cincinnati a one-point lead with a nine-yard touchdown to Andre Iosivas.

The Bengals, however, left too much time on the clock for the Bears, who had 54 seconds remaining when they took over. Caleb Williams scrambled for a first down on third-and-10, and on the following play, he connected with rookie tight end Colston Loveland in the Bengals’ territory in the middle of the field, and Loveland escaped contact and ran in for a 58-yard touchdown.

Williams finished the afternoon going 20-for-34 for 280 yards and three touchdowns, while Loveland recorded a career-high 118 yards and two touchdowns.

After pulling off a remarkable comeback despite falling behind two possessions and committing three turnovers during the day, the Bengals needed just one stop from their defense. Once again, the league’s worst-ranked defense let them down. Instead, a 470-yard, four-touchdown game from Flacco and 100-yard receiving games from both Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase will go down as a loss. The Bengals drop to 3-6 on the season, and their hopes of remaining in playoff contention by the time Joe Burrow returns grows more and more bleak.

Meanwhile, the Bears hold off the Bengals and avoid a collapse they surely would have lost last season. Chicago moves to 5-3 on the season, and with the Packers and Lions both losing on Sunday, the Bears remain right in the thick of the NFC North division race and NFC playoff picture.

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Eva Geitheim
EVA GEITHEIM

Eva Geitheim is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in December 2024, she wrote for Newsweek, Gymnastics Now and Dodgers Nation. A Bay Area native, she has a bachelor's in communications from UCLA. When not writing, she can be found baking or re-watching Gilmore Girls.

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