Bear Digest

Caleb Williams joined elite NFL playoff company in Wild Card win

The Bears QB just accomplished something that's only been done four times in recent NFL history.
Jerry Markarian|
Jan 10, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Green Bay Packers defensive end Karl Brooks (94) forces Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) two throw an interception during the third quarter of an NFC Wild Card Round game at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark Hoffman/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images
Jan 10, 2026; Chicago, IL, USA; Green Bay Packers defensive end Karl Brooks (94) forces Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) two throw an interception during the third quarter of an NFC Wild Card Round game at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark Hoffman/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images | Mark Hoffman/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The Bears have made their living (and a few killings) in the fourth quarter all season. Some have said that they can't keep winning by stealing victory from the jaws of defeat, but they somehow always find a way to do just that. They reverted back to their winning formula in their come-from-behind 31-27 win over the Packers in the Wild Card Round.

25 of those points came in the fourth quarter, with three touchdowns coming in the final 10 minutes (10:08, to be exact) of the game. Two of those touchdowns came via the right arm of Caleb Williams. The second-year QB also had 183 passing yards in the fourth frame to go with it.

With that statline, Williams entered rarefied air. He became only the fourth QB in NFL history to put up more than 140 yards and two touchdowns in a playoff win over the past two decades.

Williams seemingly couldn't miss in the fourth quarter. He led the Bears on three-straight touchdown drives to end the game and pulled off one of the most miraculous 4th-and-8 conversions in NFL history. In fact, the throw he made on that play has already been lauded as one of the best throws in NFL history. Period.

The lead looked insurmountable at a few different points throughout the game, just as it has in a few of their miraculous comebacks this season. The Bears needed Williams to be absolutely perfect in the third frame to pull off the comeback. He found a way to be just that.

Amazingly, the third QB to accomplish the feat over the previous 20 years did so roughly three-and-a-half hours before Williams. Matthew Stafford put up 143 yards and two touchdowns in the Rams 34-31 win over the Panthers.

While they both put up similarly dominant stat lines in the fourth quarter, the two games really couldn't have gone any differently for their respective teams. The Rams scored a touchdown on their first drive and were leading throughout much of the game (which included a double-digit lead until just before halftime) before Carolina took their first lead of the game in the fourth quarter.

Similarly, they both led their teams to a game-winning touchdown with less than two minutes remaining in the game. Neither signal-caller blinked in the face of adversity, and they've established themselves as two of the league's deadliest with the game on the line.

If the Wild Card Round is any indication, the Divisional Round matchup at Soldier Field could be a very high-scoring affair. Williams and Stafford have proven capable of putting the team on their backs and taking over the game at a moment's notice.

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Jerry Markarian
JERRY MARKARIAN

Jerry Markarian has been an avid Chicago Bears fan since 2010 and has been writing about the team since 2022. He has survived the 2010 NFC Championship Game, a career-ending injury to his favorite player (Johnny Knox), the Bears' 2013 season finale, a Double Doink, Mitchell Trubisky, Justin Fields, and Weeks 8-17 of the 2024 NFL season. Nevertheless, he still Bears Down!

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