The stage was set for maybe the biggest sporting event in Chicago this decade. Facing their sworn enemies in the Green Bay Packers, the hometown team was walking in with a noticeable advantage, from both a record and health standpoint. However, the first half was a story that every Chicago Bears fan was already familiar with.
A rout by the Packers saw them go down 21-3. But, as they have done all season long, the team continued to fight and pulled off a miraculous comeback in the second half. At the centre of it all was Caleb Williams, who turned what might have been the worst game of his career into one of the premier showings for a quarterback’s playoff debut.
Caleb Williams Wins the NFL World With a Clutch Performance
It wasn’t looking pretty through three quarters for Williams. Two interceptions, a completion percentage hovering around 50, and the team having a total of six points despite reaching the red zone multiple times each quarter.
Even in a home-field setup, it seemed clear that the postseason jitters had gotten to the former first overall pick. But as he quickly proved, he had the talent and the mental fortitude to turn it around in a heartbeat.
A spectacular fourth quarter for the Bears, charged by two touchdowns and over 150 passing yards in the period from Williams, paved the way for the team to score 25 points and rally from down 21-6 to win 31-27.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated explained it best, “We saw something with Caleb Williams tonight — definitely not perfect, but he got past two picks, a bunch of failed fourth downs, kept fighting, made a few insane throws … Bears advance. Not hard to see why he was a lock to go first overall for two years.”
It was hard to deny the assessment after the complete 180 his performance took over the course of that game. Even his teammate, CJ Gardner-Johnson, was quick to post on X, “Told you, leggo iceman !!!!”
The “Iceman” nickname has been bestowed upon Williams over the course of this season, and it isn’t one without merit. With six-game winning fourth quarter drives in the regular season, he was one of the biggest reasons for Chicago’s success in close games and their 11-6 record.
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However, rather than stumbling in the playoffs, he was able to keep that same poise with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone, including the eventual game-winner to DJ Moore for 25 yards.
ICEMAN IN THE CLUTCH 🥶
Caleb Williams and the Bears take the lead!
(via @ChicagoBears)pic.twitter.com/YKShAeRCrE
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 11, 2026
Even a former Super Bowl champion like Chase Daniel was left visibly impressed by the effort from the former first overall pick. “Caleb Williams has been absolutely lights out in the 2nd half. Was extremely wound up & playing tight in 1st half, just unbelievable.”
A fourth and eighth conversion that could have decided the game saw Williams make one of the most unbelievable throws of the season, as he stumbled backwards straight into the pocket of the returning Rome Odunze.
While lost in the grand scheme of things, it was a pass that sparked the largest comeback in Bears postseason history. Danny Parkins of First Things First on FS1, who has been a fan of the franchise his whole life, had a simple declaration: “In Caleb we trust.”
Next on the list was Robert Griffin III. One of the most prolific dual-threat quarterbacks to ever lace ’em up, he could not stop waxing lyrical about the work Williams did in that game.
“WHAT A BOUNCE BACK GAME FOR CALEB WILLIAMS. Everything that could go wrong went wrong for 3 quarters. Then Clutch Caleb Williams, the QB who leads the NFL in 4th quarter comebacks with 6, showed up. WOW.”
Finishing the game with 361 passing yards and two touchdowns, alongside those two interceptions, it was the heroics in the fourth quarter that turned an average showing into one of the most spectacular performances fans are ever likely to see.
The Bears’ offense, which ranks 10th on PFSN’s Offense Impact Metric, was truly exceptional in the fourth quarter, and they can beat anyone in the Divisional Round.
