The Bears were sent home packing on one final miscue from Caleb Williams intended for his top receiver.
With the Bears driving past midfield and nearing game-winning field goal range in overtime with the score tied at 17-17, Chicago’s star quarterback targeted DJ Moore on a deep post near the red zone that came nowhere near the intended target.
Moore played his route differently than Williams anticipated, as the ball was intercepted by safety Kamren Curl, which wound up being the final throw of Williams’ season as the Matthew Stafford then led the Rams to the game-winning field goal.
Fans were left dumbfounded as Moore clearly pulled up on his route, allowing Curl to step in for the diving interception.
“I’ve got to go back and watch it, obviously haven’t seen it,” Williams told reporters about the play postgame after the 20-17 loss to the Rams. “Had D.J. going over the top over all of it. Just a miscommunication between him and me. Tried to flatten him off under the safety, and he kept it vertical, from what I saw in the moment.”
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky said that the play was “more than a player quitting on a route.”
“I think DJ is getting a lot of flak here,” Orlovsky said, adding that Moore didn’t cut his route short, instead opting to go deeper rather than flatten out, which Williams was expecting him to do. “I don’t think this is an effort thing. I think this is one person seeing it one way and another person seeing it another way in a bang-bang type of play.”
Some have questioned whether the Bears needed to be that aggressive on the second-and-8 play, as they were coming up on kicker Cairo Santos’ field goal range.
Bears coach Ben Johnson praised his team’s constant willingness to wrestle victory from the jaws of defeat.
“Our guys fought the entire way, just like they have all season long,” Johnson said postgame. “And so, like I said, disappointing result. Our guys are feeling it right now. They all believe, man. They all believed all year long that we could find a way to win each and every week. It’s disappointing like that.”
Moore, who left the game briefly in the second half after a hard hit near the sideline, did not speak to reporters after the tough defeat.
The Rams now head to Seattle for the NFC Championship game, while the Bears pick up the pieces after a strong first season under Johnson.
The 2025 Bears will be known as the “Cardiac Bears,” to many for week in and week out pulling off wild comebacks and some of the most miraculous plays you will ever see.
The Bears tied the game with 18 seconds left when Williams — more than 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage on a fourth-and-4 — launched a touchdown pass to Cole Kmet.
They head into the offseason, having achieved an NFC North division title, and were one or two plays away from the NFC title game.
