It’s easy to be a prisoner of the moment. The Chicago Bears just vanquished their greatest foe and turned the page on a difficult chapter of Bears football. There is going to be some hyperbole.
Still, it feels like this game will live in infamy, and that’s not hyperbole.
Yet, that wouldn’t have been the case if Caleb Williams hadn’t made one of the greatest plays in Bears and recent playoff history.
One of the things that I love most about Chicago sports are the triumphs that are born out of heartache.
Is it fun to have your heart ripped out? No. But it makes true love a lot sweeter.
Look at the Bartman game. Would 2016 have felt as magical without it? I don’t think so.
The Chicago Bulls’ losses to the Bad Boys from Detroit gave Michael Jordan a hero’s arc.
Which brings us to the 2025 Chicago Bears. There are too many painful moments to highlight since the 1985 Super Bowl shuffle. But the Packers have always been there to cause the most heartache.
There was the bodyslam by Charles Martin. The NFC Championship loss with an injured Cutler on the sideline in 2010. The 2013 blown coverage by Chris Conte for the division. The opening game in 2018 where Rodgers outshined Khalil Mack’s monster game. Too many scars to count.
All of this heartbreak, it makes Saturday’s victory that much sweeter. The improbable became actual.
And yet — that wouldn’t have been the case if Caleb Williams didn’t find Rome Odunze on 4th and 8, with the season on the line, rolling left, falling over, and into the bucket.
So I humbly ask you — is this the greatest throw you have ever seen?
I’m not here to stir the pot. This is a legitimate question. And though I, the question master, am posing it — I am not the first one to decree it as so.
Dan Orlovsky. Matt Leinert. Nick Wright. Even Booger Mcfarland. Lots of people are calling this the greatest throw they have ever seen, given the context of the moment.
Me? Of course it is. I keep trying to decide if I should qualify other throws as more impressive, and yet I don’t think I can. Caleb Williams’ throw, on 4th and 8, with 5 minutes left, down 11 points to the hated Packers, was an unbelievable feat of athleticism.
Caleb was quickly flushed out of the pocket as a blitzing Isiah McDuffie applied pressure on his right side with a stunt. Meanwhile, Rashan Gary pushed Theo Benedet into Williams’ face. Rolling left, and with McDuffie breathing down his back, Caleb squared his shoulders, jumped sideways, and unleashed a rocket that had enough touch to split four Packers defenders nearly 40 yards downfield perfectly into Rome Odunze’s hands. Unreal.
It didn’t have the drama and release of the Bears’ previous victory over the Green Bay Packers. They needed to keep going. But in retrospect, this throw was the demarcation point between the unthinkable and the possible. Caleb Williams provided a path forward and ushered in a new era.
Of course, the Bears came back and beat the Packers in the end, and there is a lot of game left to be played. But even after this season closes, victorious or not, I will remember this as the greatest throw I have ever seen.
Now it’s your turn! Was it the greatest throw you have ever seen? Sound off in the comments!
