The Chicago Bears don’t appear to have anything to worry about after a brief injury scare with quarterback Caleb Williams in their wild-card playoff win.
Williams suffered an injury early in the third quarter when he accidentally collided with Packers defensive end Barryn Sorrell after throwing an incomplete pass to tight end Colston Loveland on 3rd-and-14 and rolled his right ankle, causing him to limp off.
After testing out his ankle on the sideline, though, Williams returned for the Bears’ next drive and threw a 25-yard completion to rookie Luther Burden III on the opening play. He stayed in the lineup for the rest of the night, finishing his first career playoff game with 361 passing yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in the comeback win.
In the aftermath, Williams downplayed his ankle injury along with any concerns that it might potentially impact his status for the divisional round of the playoffs next week.
“My ankle’s good,” Williams said during January 10’s postgame. “I ended up landing on his foot, and so my ankle was a little bit higher off the ground. I would say I have pliable ankles because I work on that, just making sure I don’t have any bad ankle sprains and things like that. So, it was a little higher off the ground and I ended up landing wrong. It felt like my ankle bone touched the ground, but I haven’t gone back and seen it.”
Caleb Williams Came in Clutch Once Again for Bears
For a moment — or, rather, two full quarters of playoff football — the Bears seemed like their magic might have run out in their third game with the Packers since December.
Williams and the Bears offense settled for a 27-yard field goal on their 16-play opening drive against the Packers before turning the ball over in each of their next three drives, including twice on downs. Meanwhile, the Packers built a 21-3 lead before halftime.
Once again, though, Williams rose to the occasion in a big moment for the Bears. He completed six passes for more than 20 yards in the second half against the Packers, including his final throw — a 25-yard game-winning touchdown — to veteran DJ Moore. He also finished with the second-most passing yards (361) of his two-year pro career.
On what was his best throw of the night — and perhaps his career — Williams rolled out to his left side after the Packers blitzed with linebacker Isaiah McDuffie and launched a missile downfield to receiver Rome Odunze for a 27-yard completion on 4th-and-8 with about 5:28 left to play. Had he missed the throw, the Bears’ season would likely be over.
“[I] wanted to go in that direction because I saw the space before when I was dropping back,” Williams said of the throw. “And honestly, just understanding it’s fourth down, I’ve got to put the ball in play. Rome made a great catch, adjusting to the ball. I threw him upfield. I knew 25 [Keisean Nixon] was trailing him, so I put it upfield a bit, it creates an awkward angle for him and makes it a little bit easier to catch for Rome.”
Can Caleb Williams & Bears’ Magic Endure in Divisional?
The Bears cleared a hurdle that many thought they would not when they won at home against the Packers and punched their ticket to the divisional round of the playoffs.
Will the magic continue, though?
While Williams has adopted the moniker “Iceman” and the Bears have an NFL-record six comeback victories this campaign, the first step in keeping things going would be putting themselves in a position where a comeback win is not necessary. The Bears had multiple chances to thwart the Packers before desperation time arrived, and that is a theme that haunted them throughout some of their lower points in the regular season.
Take the Niners, one of the Bears’ potential divisional-round opponents. The Bears lost a close one to them in Week 17 that came down to the wire, but they had chances to take the lead and run away with it after T.J. Edwards nabbed a pick-six on the opening play. Instead, Williams and the offense went three-and-out on two drives before settling in.
Even still, the Bears might have a tough time talking anyone out of buying what they are selling for the rest of their run in the playoffs after coming back from an 18-point deficit against their NFC North rivals to win their first playoff gam since the 2010 postseason.
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