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The most coveted of Caleb Williams' very particular set of skills
Caleb Williams stands in the pocket and delivers against the Raiders in a 25-24 victory. Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The most coveted of Caleb Williams' very particular set of skills

Originally posted on Chicago Bears on SI
By Gene Chamberlain  |  Last updated Oct 8, 2025 10:07 PM ET

A year ago Caleb Williams saw his fourth-quarter comeback wrecked by Jayden Daniels' Hail Mary pass and Tyrique Stevenson's gaffe.

While it marked a disaster of epic proportions for that Bears coaching regime, Williams was just getting started with his knack for comebacks and late drives.

He did it again three weeks later against Green Bay and it ended in another defeat when the Packers blocked Cairo Santos' 46-yard field goal. Then he did it again against Minnesota, miraculously rallying with the help of an onside kick and forcing overtime before they lost again. Finally, he broke through with a comeback win against Green Bay to close the season and then pulled off another late comeback in the Bear' last game, the 25-24 win over the Raiders.

Williams takes his knack for comebacks and doing something late in games into another matchup against the Commanders Monday night and owns a talent coveted in the NFL because of all the games that come down to the final drive.

It's not something taught, like footwork or passing mechanics. It's innate.

“It gets to a point where it's just a switch in my mind and in our minds of it's our time," Williams said. "It's time to go win the game. There's nothing else that matters. Nothing is more important than that play that drive, in that moment. You take a deep breath, and you give yourself some positive information, positive affirmation. You go out there and you be as calm as you can be for your guys in my position.

"I think that helps the guys in those moments. You speak to those guys, you look at those guys in the huddle, and you give them the information we need to be able to go out there and be confident, make the plays that we need to be able to go down and win the game.”

Bears coach Ben Johnson saw this ability Williams has very early in practices.

"Since the time I got here, springtime, training camp, all the way up to now," Johnson said. "Even when we are learning the offense and things are moving slowly, when we get put in those two-minute situations it seemed like everything tended to click for him.  

"He just has a knack of finding an open guy. He has a knack of extending the play when needed. It's almost like that little bit of pressure you put on him, he thrives in, and he really excels."

So far 45 of the 78 NFL games played came down to a touchdown and conversion or less.

"This league is full of one score games," Johnson said. "It's the way it's designed; there's a lot of parity. It's five weeks in and we have no undefeated teams. Any given Sunday; that's a true mantra.

"I think it is just the belief that if it's close here in the fourth quarter, we have a  number of really good playmakers on this team that we can find a way. That's one. And then the other one is there's a million ways you can win games in this league. Even watching some of the games on Sunday, there's a lot of bad football still being played early in the season here. We needed special teams to come out on top last week. We needed defense to come through with all those turnovers or else we don't come out on top last. We needed offense despite how rocky it was in the first half to find a little bit of a groove there in the second half and score 16 points on four possessions. Each week's different, but you're never out of it, not in this league. You can score points in a hurry, which is, always exciting.”

It's even more exciting when your quarterback is one who's able to do it, the way Williams has shown he can.

This article first appeared on Chicago Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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