No, DJ Moore was not "wide open" on the Bears' final play

The Bears' game against Green Bay ended the same way countless others had in the past: With a game-sealing interception in the final moments.

Game. Caleb Williams is picked off by Keisean Nixon and the #Packers have overtaken first place in the NFC North. pic.twitter.com/jJXIiBlTW4 https://t.co/SSbJm7V5DI
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 8, 2025

Naturally, many have picked apart the final play. Quickly trying to assign blame for the sour taste left in their mouths after a promising second-half performance where they were consistently moving downhill against one of the league's best defenses.

Even more naturally, considering the position he plays, much of the blame has fallen on Caleb Williams' right shoulder.

Unsurprisingly, much of the blame (although not all of it) is completely unfounded.

"Why didn't he run?"

That's an easy one. He didn't run because he wasn't going to make the first down with his legs. The defense was all over the bootleg because Williams' scrambling ability is an open book. Three defenders were making a beeline to the first-down marker, and they were much closer to it than he was.

Caleb Williams is fast. Caleb Williams might even be very fast. But Caleb Williams is not that fast.

"Why didn't he throw the ball to DJ Moore! He was open for a walk-in touchdown!"

Caleb Williams was already throwing WELL before DJ Moore started leaking out. pic.twitter.com/oDSXnSZuQL
— King’s Ivory (@It_Me_Who_Dis) December 8, 2025

Yeah, if Kingsley Enagbare (55) and Edgerrin Cooper (56) didn't exist, maybe? That is not a plausible throw. Not with two defenders between his line of sight and the receiver. His only option would've been lofting it over Enagbare, but that would've required unreal anticipation and is far from a sure thing with (at least) three other defenders in the area on a pass that would take a bit longer to get there.

DJ Moore was NOT open.

With everything mentioned above in mind, I'm not a complete homer. Williams is not absolved of responsibility for the way the play turned out. If he had seen Kmet open sooner, it likely would've resulted in an easy walk-in touchdown. It's understandable that he didn't (considering Kmet was his third read on the progression), but it would've still been ideal if he could've seen that they were doing everything in their power to take away Swift in the flat, and moved off him more quickly.

There was also a window to hit the throw to Kmet if he put it on him immediately. Unfortunately, he left it up there too long, which allowed Keisean Nixon to recover and make a great play on the ball.

Ben Johnson echoed a similar sentiment on that play.

"The guy that had Cole Kmet in man coverage fell off on [D'Andre] Swifty," Johnson said in an interview with ESPN 1000 this morning. "It actually ended up being DJ Moore's guy that ended up making the interception on the play."

The city of Chicago has one of the most passionate fan bases in all of sports. They've been starved for quality quarterback play for decades, and that starvation has led to a few QBs being swallowed along the way, with screenshots of them missing (clearly) open receivers.

This play ended in Justin Fields getting sacked by the Bucs pic.twitter.com/iJXD7WbfrP
— Josh Hill (@jdavhill) September 17, 2023

The reaction has been similar in some sectors of the fanbase, but this situation was nothing of the sort. Caleb didn't miss an easy touchdown but instead made the right read and just miscalculated a gotta-have-it throw.

Luckily, he won't have to wait long to exercise some demons resulting from the mishap. The Packers are coming to Chicago for part two in 12 days.

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