Bear Digest

Caleb Williams is first QB in 2025 to earn perfect grade on game-winner

With his walk-off touchdown pass, Caleb Williams joined an exclusive club of elite quarterbacks.
Pete Martuneac|
Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The 2025 NFL season has had its share of instant classics. Games that proved wildly entertaining for fans of any team, not just those involved. But the Chicago Bears' sensational comeback victory over the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night takes the cake. At one point, the Bears' chances of winning were down to just 0.5 percent before Caleb "Iceman" Williams put on his Superman cape and took over.

On fourth-and-goal in the game's closing seconds, Williams stared down a Cover-0 blitz and delivered the game-tying touchdown pass to Jahdae Walker. In overtime, he uncorked arguably the best pass of his career: a 46-yard, 'go up and get it' ball to DJ Moore in the endzone to complete the Bears' miracle comeback win.

Bears fans already knew that that was a special throw, but now we have conclusive proof less than 24 hours after the fact. Pro Football Focus (PFF) has confirmed that Williams' walk-off touchdown pass earned their ultra-rare grade of +2. How rare is it for a pass to earn a +2 grade? This is just the 31st time in PFF history that they've handed out this grade, and the first such occurrence of the 2025 season. For context, there have been 14,837 pass attempts this season through December 20th.

Caleb Williams is proving to be a generational talent

With each passing week of the 2025 NFL season, we get more and more proof that Caleb Williams was the right choice for the Chicago Bears. Not Jayden Daniels, not even Drake Maye, would have been better choices with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. Maye might be having a statistically better season that has him in the NFL MVP race, but Williams' trajectory is leading him to a sky-high ceiling.

Remember, this is just Williams' second NFL season, and his first with Ben Johnson. He was asked to completely reinvent the way he plays quarterback this offseason and has been challenged to do things he wasn't very good at in college, like playing under center. It's led to some frustrating moments and bad misses, but we're starting to see the payoff.

This is what quarterback development looks like, Bears fans. It can get ugly early on, and there will be ugly games yet to come, too. But Ben Johnson is doing this the right way, and he's guiding Williams to the top tier of NFL quarterbacks. It's been years since the Bears had merely a league-average starter. Now they may be on the cusp of having a perennial Pro Bowler at the game's most important position.

Caleb William
Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Pete Martuneac
PETE MARTUNEAC

A former Marine and Purdue Boilermaker, Pete has been covering the Chicago Bears since 2022 as a senior contributor on BearsTalk. He lives with his wife, two kids and loyal dog.

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