Windy City Honors: Chicago Bears Divisional Round Superlatives

The Chicago Bears’ playoff run came to an end on Sunday in a 20-17 loss during overtime to the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round. The Bears struggled offensively throughout the game, but they were able to rally in the fourth quarter, tying it up 17-17, to force overtime. In the end, they fell short.

Let’s get into the last Windy City Honors superlative awards for the season.

Most Dominant Secondary Performance

The defense, plagued with injuries for the majority of the season, finally looked healthy on Sunday. Specifically, safety Jaquan Brisker and cornerback Kyler Gordon had their best performances of the season. They were all over the field making plays. They kept pressure on Rams’ quarterback Matthew Stafford, with both players each credited with a sack.

Brisker alone forced a three-and-out on one series, including a tackle-for-loss, sack, and pass breakup.

Gordon sustained multiple injuries this season, including both a hamstring and groin injury. He only played three games in the regular season but was able to play both playoff games. This week, he looked fully healthy, making a notable impact on the defense.

Brisker is set to hit the free agent market this offseason. During a postgame interview, he expressed interest in returning next season but recognized that it’s not in his hands.

Most Extraordinary Play of the Season

Every week, quarterback Caleb Williams makes a play that’s more inconceivable and incredible than the last. Last week, it was his completion to Rome Odunze on 4th- and-8. This week, he threw a game-tying touchdown pass to tight end Cole Kmet while evading Rams defenders and running backwards almost 20 yards, dropping the ball perfectly into Kmet’s hands.

Per Next Gen Stats, the pass traveled 51.2 yards in the air, making it the longest completed red-zone pass by air distance since 2016, when Next Gen Stats began tracking detailed player and ball data league-wide. The pass had a 17.8% completion probability.

In his postgame presser, head coach Ben Johnson called the touchdown pass “ridiculous,” noting that it was “even another level ahead” of Williams’ 4th-and-8 completion from the Wild Card Round.

Caleb Williams is incredibly talented. In the offseason, he said he plans to prioritize accuracy and footwork. Once he refines those fundamentals, he will be a force.

Third and Fourth Down Woes

One of the biggest areas the offense struggled with was converting on third-and fourth-down. The Bears had a 47.4% conversion rate on third down. 

They went for it on fourth down six times, only successfully converting on half of them.

On paper, the numbers don’t look terrible, but watching the offense build a promising drive only to stall out for a yard was grueling. Both run-blocking and play calling were contributing factors.

Many of these failed conversions came inside scoring range, making the offense’s inability to gain momentum even more frustrating. 

Every one of those missed chances to capitalize on points makes the loss harder to sit with, knowing the team fell just a score short.

This loss will sting for a while, because the win was right there. Because the offense was typically carrying the team, but in a game the defense delivered, the offense came up short. Because in overtime, they were at midfield and just needed a field goal to secure the win—and couldn’t get it done. 

However, this was one of the Bears’ most exciting and magical seasons. Going into Williams’ rookie year, us fans felt excitement, thinking it would be different. After their short-lived winning streak from weeks 4-6, reality hit like a ton of bricks — we were in for another long season.

This year was actually different. All of the games the Bears would have lost in the past, they won. For once, they were on the other side of those heartbreaking losses. Records (and curses) were broken. This team proved they aren’t the same ‘ol Bears.

This season healed something in me. It was magical. And as we head into the offseason, remember that the magic isn’t going to just run out because this franchise is finally set up for sustained success.