Seems as though Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is embracing his team’s fourth-quarter magic after rallying to their latest win in Minnesota.
For the fifth time this season, the Bears overcame a fourth-quarter deficit to pull off a comeback victory on Sunday, needing a 56-yard kick return from Devin Duvernay and a 48-yard field goal from Cairo Santos in the final minute to knock off the Vikings, 19-17.
The win not only avenged the Bears’ season-opening loss to the Vikings but also marked the fifth time in their last eight games that they have won using a fourth-quarter rally. And while not every comeback has been pretty, their enduring ability to eke out wins has left Williams feeling inspired about what he and the Bears can still accomplish.
“It doesn’t matter when. It doesn’t matter how. It doesn’t matter who,” Williams told reporters during Sunday’s postgame news conference. “We’ve got the guys, we’ve got the coaches, we live in the known. And so when our moment comes, when their moment comes — whoever it is on the team — we’ll make the play.
“We’ve got to get better throughout the game, but when it comes down to it, we know we’re going to make the plays at the right moment, at the right time, and we’re going to go win the game.”
After Duvernay’s well-timed kick return gave them possession at the Vikings’ 40-yard line, Williams and the Bears offense did enough to set up Santos for the game-winner. But make no mistake: the opportunities to end things sooner were there once again.
Williams dazzled with his Houdini-esque escapability against the Vikings defense on Sunday, but he did not play his cleanest or most accurate game of his second season, completing just 50% (16-of-32) of his passes and throwing zero touchdowns. The Bears also settled for field goal attempts on four different occasions before Santos’ final boot.
Not all of the blame in the passing game falls on Williams. Rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III, who has been largely sure-handed, dropped an easy third-down conversion. Veteran DJ Moore also had a rare drop on a deep pass that slipped through his hands.
For now, the Bears are still finding ways to win despite their offensive stallings, but Williams isn’t letting him or his teammates get complacent about their mistakes.
“When there’s blood in the water, we’ve got to go,” Williams said. “When the defense turns the ball over for us and we get the ball back, we’ve got to put up seven points. When they get three-and-outs, we’ve got to put up seven points. That’s a mindset and belief that we have to grow toward and get better at. That’s something I was preaching on the sideline, and I’m going to keep preaching that because we have so much talent, so much belief, so much of a great coaching staff — all of these things.
“There’s not a time for me that I want to maximize the most than when I am out here with these guys.”
Despite a near-collapse against the Vikings, the Bears have moved to 7-3 and into sole possession of first place in the NFC North after the Detroit Lions‘ loss to Philadelphia. Consequently, their chances of making the NFL playoffs have drastically improved.
According to Playoff Status, the Bears have a 72% chance to make the playoffs in 2025 with seven more games — three divisional — left to play on the regular-season schedule. They are most likely to end up as the No. 3 seed (16%), but the No. 7 seed (11%) is also a strong likelihood, based on how they stand up to their remaining division opponents.
The Bears’ road to playoff contention could be long and paved with potholes, though.
Their next three opponents — Pittsburgh (6-4), Philadelphia (8-2) and Green Bay (6-3-1) — are all playoff contenders in their own right, and the Bears have still not defeated a single team with a winning record despite winning seven of their last eight games.
The Bears will also close out the slate with a three-game stretch that includes rematches with the Packers and Lions and a standout with the San Francisco 49ers (7-4
An injured Pittsburgh Steelers defender doesn’t anticipate remaining sidelined for long.
Safety DeShon Elliott, who left during the first half of the Steelers’ Week 1 victory over the New York Jets with a knee injury that was later revealed to be an MCL sprain, took to his Instagram story and stated that he’ll make his return “soon”.
“This [expletive] doesn’t stop. Be back soon,” he wrote.
Elliott, as expected, has been listed as a non-participant on Pittsburgh’s injury report leading up to its Week 2 home opener vs. the Seattle Seahawks at Acrisure Stadium.
Earlier in the week, FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz reported that Elliott is expected to miss several weeks with his injury and that the current goal is for him to be back active when the Steelers take on the Minnesota Vikings at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland during Week 4.
The 28-year-old finished with six tackles across 26 defensive reps and three special teams snaps against the Jets before departing with his ailment.
Juan Thornhill and Chuck Clark served as Pittsburgh’s safety duo to close out the contest, and the organization signed veteran Jabrill Peppers as additional depth at the position in anticipation of Elliott’s absence.
Elliott took over as the top dog at safety for the Steelers after they traded Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Miami Dolphins for Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith in the offseason, meaning his loss is a rather significant one.
A Baltimore Ravens sixth-round pick out of Texas in 2018, Elliott played the first four years of his career for the organization before spending the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Detroit Lions and Dolphins, respectively.
He signed a two-year deal worth $6 million with Pittsburgh ahead of the 2024 campaign and quickly became a key piece of its defense, starting 14 of the 15 games he appeared in while finishing second on the team in tackles with 108 while also recovering three fumbles.
Elliott was rewarded with a two-year extension worth $12.5 million in June, and the hope is that he can get back on the field in the near future.