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Forget about that franchise passing record for Caleb Williams.
The Chicago Bears have bigger issues at the moment.
Williams rallied Chicago once again Sunday, but the Bears went three-and-out on their final possession and Jared Goff drove Detroit to Jake Bates’ 42-yard field goal on the final play of the Lions’ 19-16 victory. Williams passed for 123 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Chicago (11-6) clinched the No. 2 seed for the NFC playoffs when Philadelphia lost 24-17 to Washington. But the NFC North champions head into the postseason on a two-game losing streak.
“We’ve got to find ways to be better,” Williams said. “The focus has to level up, the urgency has to level up, the play has to level up, the mindset mentality on the field has to level up because that’s what playoff football really is.”
Next up for Chicago is a rematch with Green Bay in the Bears’ first playoff appearance since the 2020 season. The longtime rivals split their two regular-season meetings, with Williams throwing a game-ending touchdown pass to DJ Moore in a 22-16 overtime win at Soldier Field on Dec. 20.
“I think we’re fairly evenly matched,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for how well they’re coached. I have a lot of respect for the talent level that they have in that building and I’d expect it to be another exciting game.”
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The 24-year-old Williams began Week 18 with 3,730 yards passing, 108 shy of matching Erik Kramer’s franchise record in 16 games in 1995. But the Bears got off to a slow start and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft had just 45 yards at halftime.
Williams moved ahead of Kramer on a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jahdae Walker early in the fourth, delighting the crowd of 57,036. Asked about the franchise record, Williams made it clear that he was focused on the final score.
“Need to win the game. Didn’t want to leave it up to another team to put us in the seeding that we want to be in,” he said. “I don’t know what the case happened with that game but we didn’t execute the way we needed to and so that number is the number and so be it.”
Williams finished 20 for 33 for 212 yards, falling just shy of becoming the franchise’s first 4,000-yard passer. He also threw an interception in the third quarter.
Williams had a chance for another dramatic victory after Kevin Byard picked off Goff with 2:11 left. But he was called for intentional grounding on second down and Johnson decided to punt on fourth-and-5 at the 31.
“Because we had three timeouts, and we felt like we were going to get the ball back,” Johnson said when asked about the decision.
Now Williams and Johnson take the Bears into the playoffs in their first season together after Johnson was hired in January. They have proven to be quite the tandem so far, with Williams passing for 27 touchdowns.
“We’re going into a new season,” Williams said. “You can’t dwell on the past, but you have to find ways to correct what you did in the past and through the losses.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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