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Bears' Caleb Williams Did Something Only Peyton Manning Has Done as a Second-Year QB

Caleb Williams had six fourth-quarter comebacks in 2025, joining Peyton Manning as the only second-year QBs to do it. Stafford is still shaking his head.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams acknowledges the crowd and walks off the field after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals with a late comeback.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams acknowledges the crowd and walks off the field after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals with a late comeback. | Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The comeback ability of Caleb Williams was noted and praised during the past week by no less an authority than one of the game's best at rallying a team, Matthew Stafford.

It's what landed Williams on the cover of Madden and probably on the NFL top 100 list.

Speaking on the Ross Tucker podcast, Stafford was still having trouble grasping how Williams managed to rally the Bears late in the divisional playoffs to tie his Rams on the "deep" 14-yard touchdown pass to Cole Kmet.

Stafford, a veteran of many cold weather games in the NFC North with Detroit, talked about it while recalling the cold-weather game at Soldier Field.

"They're a lot of fun to play in except when you're playing Caleb Williams and he sprints back and launches the freakin' NFL Blitz-jump throw for a touchdown," Stafford told Tucker. "I was like 'what the hell is this?'

"I think he's just like, with the ball in the hand I mean, it's, it's as scary as anybody for sure, right? Like you don't know what's going to happen. He was running back to the 50 and I'm like, in my head, going 'Oh, sweet, all right, here we go. ... What are we doing here?' And then I was like, 'Oh, he launches it. I'm like, 'That looks kind of good, actually.' And then I'm like, 'Oh my God they caught it.' I'm like, 'What the hell?' And then how quickly you've got to move on."

Comeback ability like Williams displayed can't determine eventual NFL success alone.

However, the popular narrative about the Bears is they'll immediately take a step back now because they can't possibly have another season of comebacks like in 2025. It says Williams put it all on display in Year 2 and now retreats back to the pack.

This isn't necessarily the case. In fact, what Williams did as a young quarterback is remarkable, with six regular-season comebacks in the fourth quarter. In the history of the NFL, only 11 quarterbacks have had at least six fourth-quarter comebacks in a regular season. The only quarterback to do it in his second year besides Williams was Peyton Manning in 1999, when he led the Colts to a 13-3 record after 3-13 in his rookie year.

In almost all cases, the quarterbacks who have accomplished this were either NFL greats or went on to be effective QBs for lengthy careers. Kirk Cousins, Stafford, Derek Carr, Manning, Drew Brees, John Elway, Dan Marino, and Ben Roethlisberger were the only ones from "modern football" to do it. Modern football in this case means after 1978, when the league made it illegal for defenders to initate contact past 5 yards downfield. The passing game opened up greatly then and the West Coast offense was born.

Of that group, only Stafford, Carr, Elway and Manning did it like Williams, as a younger, 20-something quarterback. Obviously Manning and Elway went on to become all-time greats while Carr was above average as a four-time Pro Bowl QB.

Repeat unlikely but success isn't

Can Williams do something similar again? The only one who went on to make this list a second time was Manning, who had seven fourth-quarter comebacks in 2009 at the age of 33. All of those on the list of modern QBs had great careers, though.

The statistic "fourth-quarter comebacks" is too abstract of a concept to be a determiner of future greatness. However, when all of the QBs on the list are so highly accomplished it can't be dismissed as completely irrelevant.

Six fourth-quarter comebacks in a season is not something QB failures achieve.

Tom Brady has had nothing but compliments for Williams in the past, and last week while Stafford was making his comments to Tucker on the podcast, Carr was also doling out compliments for the Bears' signal caller on his own podcast.

When so much respect is being paid to Williams, it may be a case of it takes one to know one.

Fourth-quarter comeback leaders

Single-season, since 1978

  • 1. Kirk Cousins, 8, age 34, 2022
  • 1. Matthew Stafford, 8, age 28, 2016
  • 3. Derek Carr, 7, age 25, 2016
  • 3. Peyton Manning, 7, age 33, 2009
  • 5. Caleb Williams, 6, age 24, 2025
  • 5. Drew Brees, 6, age 39, 2018
  • 5. John Elway, 6, age 25, 1985
  • 5. Dan Marino, 6, age 31, 1992
  • 5. Ben Roethlisberger, 6, age 39, 2021
  • 5. Peyton Manning, 6, age 23, 1999
  • 5. Dan Pastorini, 6, age 31, 1978
  • 5. Ed Brown, age 35, 1963*

*Pre Super Bowl era

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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