“Felt like a pretty easy pitch and catch,” Kmet said. “It kind of felt like it was in slow motion. I can’t believe Caleb — again, just the nutty throws he can make.”

A Cairo Santos extra point later, and Williams had done the unthinkable once again. And despite the interception Williams threw in overtime, which led to the Rams’ game-winning field goal, his teammates focused on praising his ability to tie the game and send it to overtime.

“It was the most special throw I’ve ever seen,” Byard said. “I’ve seen him do it so many times this year … That was insane. It left us speechless on the sideline for sure.”

Bears on both sides of the ball have routinely been in awe of Williams’ playmaking ability in what always felt like the biggest moments in a game or the season. Each game, it felt as though the 2024 No. 1 overall draft pick had delivered his new “best throw of the season.”

Observing Williams morph into “Iceman” this year was extra special for one player in particular: 13-year pro and NFL journeyman Case Keenum, who was brought in this offseason to not only serve as a backup to Williams, but a mentor and coach-like presence.

As one of the few people who saw the work Williams put in for himself and the team day in and day out since the beginning of the offseason, Keenum felt nothing but immense pride while watching from the sideline Sunday night.

“That touchdown today, that’s just him, and that’s naturally him, and that is phenomenal,” Keenum said. “It’s unbelievable. It is. I mean, truly, my kids were at this game, and they’ll be able to tell people they saw that play. And the cooler part, the better part is the hours and hours and hours of grit, determination, humbleness, drive, focus, intensity — like every adjective that takes to play quarterback, I got to watch him, through ups and downs, attack every single day with Ben Johnson, Declan Doyle, Press Taylor, JT Barrett and our room, to develop into an elite quarterback.

“And I think that play, that’s just him making a huge play, but everything in between there, he made leaps and bounds.”

Keenum described Williams as “so different in almost every way” and expressed gratitude for being part of Williams’ growth journey during the 2025 season. He shared that message with Williams after Sunday’s game.

“I had a friend tell me one time — the crappy ones are what make the good ones feel so darn good,” Keenum said. “And this was crappy. There’s no doubt about it. It sucks. It is no fun. But golly, the highs were really high this year, and they were really fun.

“We’re gonna hold this in our hearts and use the pain to persevere through hard workouts and tough times, because we know how close we got, and we know what we’re capable of.”

Less than an hour after the game ended, Williams remained poised and reflective as usual — a demeanor he has kept through the ups and downs of this exciting rollercoaster season.

While speaking with the media, he expressed disappointment in the season’s sudden ending, noting feelings of frustration and a fire within him.

However, Williams also remains excited for the opportunity to learn from this game and keep growing with the young group of core players on the roster. Even more so, Williams is eager to build on the foundation that Johnson established in his first year as head coach, specifically on the pair’s relationship that helped drive the Bears’ success this season.

“It’s grown tremendously,” Williams said. “That’s something that I wanted to do. That’s something that was very important for me because I want to be here for a while, and I know [Johnson] wants to be here for a while. Just being able to attack our relationship and bond and trust between each other was really important for us, to be able to help be in this position as a team, and to be able to be in this position many times in the future.”