CHICAGO (670 The Score) – Of all the traits that NFL evaluators use to measure quarterbacks, the trickiest is the one that Caleb Williams displayed most to lead the Bears over the Giants.
Toughness.
There really is no way to quantify it or know how much a quarterback possesses until his team needs him to show his mettle. And that's the spot the Bears found themselves in late in the fourth quarter Sunday at Soldier Field against one of the worst teams in the league, one they had no business trailing.
Nothing was working offensively for the Bears.
For three-and-a-half quarters, the same offensive unit that scored 47 points a week ago in Cincinnati looked flat and sloppy against a Giants defense that’s statistically nearly as bad as the Bengals’. The same receivers who had been so dependable through eight games suddenly looked like they were wearing winter mittens and developed a case of the dropsies. And the brilliant play-caller, Bears head coach Ben Johnson, a man known for his trickery, appeared to have lost his mojo, if not his nerve.
Enter Williams, the cool young quarterback who was in the midst of a pretty meh day himself.
Williams was being outplayed by Giants counterpart Jaxson Dart, the rookie who was hitting so many bullseyes. Worse, Williams started showing some of the effects of the physical toll of playing against an athletic Giants pass rush, rising slowly after hitting the hard ground on more than a couple occasions.
But deter Williams, it didn't.
Instead, it brought out his best.
When the Bears needed it most.
Abracadabra, there went the Giants lead.
"He looks like Houdini out there,” Johnson would say later about Williams.
The magic act began with 6:13 left and the Bears down 20-10. Williams highlighted a nine-play, 91-yard touchdown drive with his feet instead of his talented arm. Showing a surprising burst, Williams beat everyone to the corner on his way to a 29-yard run to the Giants' 2-yard line.
Cornerback Dru Phillips delivered a punishing blow that shook Williams, but he wasn't wobbly enough to affect the two-yard touchdown pass he threw to Rome Odunze on the next snap.
"That was a long run,” Williams said of the play. "But it didn't matter how tired or how fresh (I was), we had to score.”
After a defensive stop gave the Bears the ball back at their own 47-yard line with 2:53 left, the same instinct within Williams kicked in. On the fourth play of the game-winning drive, Williams faked a handoff and rolled left before deciding to take matters into his own hands. He took off, with tight end Cole Kmet blocking Phillips out of the path so Williams could sprint past Giants pass rusher Brian Burns and into the end zone for the go-ahead score.
“Some of it is instincts and some of it is lifting and training and some of it is visualizing those moments ... and just being smart in those moments,” Williams said.
Since Williams arrived in 2024, so many moments on and off the field have provided ample conversation for Bears fans in barrooms and living rooms throughout a city fascinated by Chicago's young franchise quarterback. We’ve discussed everything from his wardrobe to the color of his nail polish (orange on Sunday), his dog's name and his father's ambition, his accuracy and efficiency, his footwork and arm talent and every conceivable aspect under his job description as Bears savior.
Yet we seldom talk about his competitiveness or his intensity or his intangibles.
They were all there on full display Sunday in another fourth-quarter comeback, this time more obvious to the naked eye because it was his running more than his throwing that led the Bears back.
It was his moxie more than his savvy, his speed more than his skill, the determination more than the execution. Williams' passing statistics – he was 20-of-36 for 220 yards with an 83.1 passer rating – left less of an impression than his rushing numbers.
Who ever expected that?
Williams scrambled on six of his 13 fourth-quarter dropbacks, according to NextGen Stats, three of which he turned into explosive plays. Williams rushed eight times in all for a season-best 63 yards on the ground, which included the game-winning 17-yard touchdown run.
Put another way, Williams willed the Bears to their sixth victory of the season.
Postgame, Johnson called Williams "Houdini." Others likened him to Superman. Regardless of your preferred descriptor, suffice to say Williams was a quarterback the Bears won because of Sunday – and that's perhaps the most significant development.
What was Williams' mindset when facing another fourth-quarter deficit?
"It's time to go make the play,” Williams said. "Time to go win the game.”
This was a game the Bears won by being tougher mentally and physically.
Besides Williams picking himself up and persevering however necessary, the Bears defense did its part despite a spotty day in the secondary. The pivotal moment came with 5:14 left in the third quarter and the Giants comfortably ahead 17-7. Dart, who had done some damage himself by running effectively, fumbled when new Bears defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson pulverized him at the Bears' 28-yard line. Cornerback Nahshon Wright recovered and instead of giving up a potentially back-breaking score, the Bears converted that takeaway into a 22-yard field goal by Cairo Santos. More importantly, the devastating blow knocked Dart out of the game for the fourth quarter.
Without Dart, the Giants offense under a washed version of Russell Wilson never carried the same threat.
"A big momentum shift,” Williams called Gardner-Johnson's big hit.
It earned the NFL journeyman – Gardner-Johnson is on his fourth team in this calendar year – a game ball from Johnson and instant respect in the locker room. Since arriving about 10 days ago, Gardner-Johnson has been the Bears' best defensive player in the past two games.
Nobody disputes that the Bears need to shore up their secondary and continue to improve their front seven and nobody thinks giving up 431 yards of offense is acceptable, but Gardner-Johnson's quick contributions have given the defense an ingredient that can be hard to find – but impossible to miss on days like Sunday.
"I love what C.J. brings to the table right now -- you feel him out there,” Johnson said.
So how should the Bears feel after needing another fourth-quarter comeback to beat a team likely to lose double-digit games? What’s the right level of excitement to show knowing the Bears have yet to defeat a team with a winning record?
The answer is whatever feels right, but there's nothing wrong with enjoying every second of a season still relevant in November. There's nothing wrong with remembering the Bears remain in their first season under a new coach and that turnarounds take time.
So, enjoy it. Embrace it. Savor every second, even if the Bears were outplayed for 54 minutes against a team likely to fire its head coach at the end of the season.
"It really feels like I'm on repeat here, just these guys are finding a way to fight until the end and win these games,” Johnson said.
This is the kind of repetitive that Bears fans don't mind. You know what's redundant? Playing every season since 2010 without a playoff victory.
This is different. This is fun.
It's easy to appreciate how these Bears find a way to keep games interesting. They keep finding ways to win instead of inventing new methods to lose, no small thing, regardless of the opponent.
They have a first-year head coach and an incomplete roster with an inconsistent defense and an up-and-down 23-year-old quarterback who keeps learning on the job.
They aren’t good enough yet to beat the best teams in the NFC, yet they’re in the hunt for a playoff spot, as their brash coach says. And in the NFL, you are what your record says you are.
These Bears are 6-3, with their sixth victory coming the hard way.
Just the way they like it.
"We know what we are,” Williams said.
What they are is a team that future opponents dread more than welcome, and that qualifies as progress for the Bears.
David Haugh is the co-host of the Mully & Haugh Show from 5-10 a.m. weekdays on 670 The Score. Click here to listen. Follow him on X @DavidHaugh.