Joe Thuney can be a man of few words, a low-key NFL guard who prefers to sidestep the spotlight while focusing on mastering his role. Still, at 32, in his 10th season and with four Super Bowl rings in his collection, Thuney’s perspective carries weight. Thus, it was worth asking Sunday afternoon what he thought of the latest magic trick performed by his newest starting quarterback, Caleb Williams.
“The guy just makes plays all over the place,” Thuney said. “With his arms. With his legs. He’s giving us a chance and doing a great job of leading. Super proud of him.”
This was barely 20 minutes after the Chicago Bears stunned the New York Giants 24-20 at Soldier Field, rallying from 10 points down in the final 6 1/2 minutes with two jaw-dropping touchdown drives from Williams and the offense.
The latter of those possessions finished with Williams scrambling 17 yards for the go-ahead score, this week’s play that changed Chicago’s mood for the next seven days.
In real time, Thuney didn’t have much of a view of that stadium-shaking run. But he was able to confirm the swell of belief that has been occurring inside the Bears’ locker room and in the huddle Williams presides over.
“Honestly,” Thuney said, “it’s simple. Anytime we see there’s still time on the clock, there’s still fight in us. We have that feeling of ‘Just keeping going. One snap at a time.’ And you stick together. Caleb’s a big part of that.”
Reminder: Thuney won two Lombardi trophies with Tom Brady as his quarterback in New England and two more with Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. That’s not to make any insinuation that Williams compares with either future Hall of Famer. But Thuney certainly knows the value of playing with quarterbacks who can seize a game in its decisive stages.
Tight end Cole Kmet? He’s in Season 6 with the Bears and has lost count of all the scars he has accumulated from “Oooh! Almost!” moments with this franchise and its collection of disappointing quarterbacks. Kmet has played with eight starters in his 92 games and never witnessed anything quite like “The Caleb Williams Experience.”
“Caleb’s making it happen,” Kmet said. “And despite whatever has happened throughout the beginning parts of the game, he comes alive and we find a way to get down the field and score.
Unlike Thuney, Kmet had a great vantage point on Williams’ final run Sunday. He was the quarterback’s primary target on a play-action keeper concept to the left. But after a play fake to running back D’Andre Swift, Williams rolled left and saw Giants safety Tyler Nubin attach to Kmet. Quickly, the quarterback’s vision told him there wasn’t a linebacker in sight. So down went his foot on the accelerator. Full gas, 17 yards, elation.
“I felt the grass to just keep it and go,” Williams said.
Added Kmet: “Initially, I probably felt like he maybe could have thrown it to me. But he obviously saw enough of a lane to take off and run. Once I felt his demeanor change to, ‘Hey, I’m going to run this thing,’ I just took my man in man coverage into the end zone. And he did the rest with his legs.”
Yes, Chicago. Your quarterback has one of the most desired traits in football — a rare blend of composure, confidence and playmaking ability in the clutch.
“It all slows down for him,” receiver Rome Odunze said. “Whereas for some people, things might speed up and they feel the pressure of that moment, everything slows down for him. He’s just very present, in the moment and making those plays. That’s when he puts his Superman cape on and becomes extraordinary.”
Williams’ touchdown run put the finishing touches on a day in which he passed for 220 yards, rushed for 63 and accounted for two TDs. For much of the day, he was a headache for the Giants defense with his ability to wriggle out of danger and keep plays alive on the move.
“He looks like a Houdini back there,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said. “That’s the unique thing about his skill set. He’s got that ability. As a play caller, certainly helps me out because I don’t feel like I need to be perfect with these play calls. He’s going to make these things right.”
OK. Needle scratch. Let’s be real for a minute. As thrilling as Sunday’s finish was, context should remind everyone that this was an escape act with the Bears nearly falling flat on their faces at home against a shaky and psychologically worn-out last-place opponent that played the entire fourth quarter without its starting quarterback, Jaxson Dart (concussion).
When the Bears began their penultimate possession with 6:13 remaining, they had squeezed only 10 points out of eight true possessions and trailed 20-10. At that point, the day had been characterized by sloppiness and frustration with Bears pass catchers failing to secure at least a half-dozen catchable throws from their quarterback and, on three occasions, bungling fourth-down opportunities.
Chicago’s sports talk radio producers were almost certainly bracing for a Monday filled with aggravated phone calls, lamenting the team’s inability to dispose of a vulnerable foe. For much of the second half, Sunday’s game appeared headed for the “Blown Opportunity” drawer of the file cabinet.
Until Williams stepped back into the huddle.
“A few deep breaths and then from there you kind of let the moment take over,” he said.
“He’s like a vet,” left tackle Theo Benedet said. “I was joking with him. We call it ‘C-Willy Time.’ He’s just as cool as ever. In the fourth quarter, there’s something in him where he really rises to the occasion. He has that calm and he keeps us focused on doing our job.”
Until the young quarterback came alive as a runner.
“We really needed that as a shot in the arm,” Johnson said.
Until the Bears went 91 yards on nine plays, the biggest a 29-yard dash by the quarterback, an explosive run that was as timely as it was breathtaking.
Caleb Williams scrambled on 6 of his 13 dropbacks in the fourth quarter of the Bears’ comeback win over the Giants, recording 3 explosive plays.
Across 5 scramble runs, Williams accumulated a career-high 64 yards including a game-winning 17-yard touchdown.#NYGvsCHI | #DaBears pic.twitter.com/kQExPfRQEO
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 9, 2025
Three plays before that, Williams converted third-and-10 with an extended-play fastball down the middle to tight end Colston Loveland.
“Missile,” Loveland said. “Just a good, catchable ball. Luckily, it stuck pretty well. I thank my mom and dad for these hands.”
Williams’ TD pass to finish that possession was as easy as it gets — 2 yards to Odunze, who was left uncovered by a frazzled Giants defense. The Bears had clawed within 20-17 with 3:56 remaining.
A three-and-out by the Giants plus a shanked punt from Jamie Gillan set up the Bears’ game-winning drive. That one required only four plays, including a 27-yard Williams completion to rookie Luther Burden III to push the Bears inside the red zone. At that point, a feeling of inevitability entered Soldier Field. There was little question that the Bears were going to surge ahead. It was just a matter of how.
“There’s hope. There’s belief. And then there’s knowing,” Odunze said. “We’re operating in ‘the know’ right now, understanding that when we get into those two-minute situations, when we get those opportunities to go win the game, we’re going to go make it happen. We know we’re going to make it happen.”
For the fourth time in the past six games, Williams, under the guidance of Johnson, led the Bears to their game-winning score in the final two minutes.
Johnson’s presence, Kmet noted, was not to be discounted in Sunday’s win or within the Bears’ recent surge.
“His demeanor in end-of-game situations is maybe a little different than I’ve had before,” Kmet said. “It’s a cool demeanor. There’s just no panic. There’s no rush to get into two-minute mode. And maybe, at times, when you feel like ‘Oh, hey, we should be in two-minute or there should be a rush to score, he has a calming patience.
“It’s all really well planned and organized, and he has a definite idea of what he wants to get done.”
In the end, Johnson got to deliver another victorious pep talk inside an electrified locker room.
“Hell yeah!” he shouted. “Man, I tell you what. I feel like I’m on repeat each and every week right now. I’ve got nothing new to say to you guys. Did you even f—— waver for a second? You knew exactly. We had them right where we wanted ’em.”
And then Johnson gave a game ball to his playmaking quarterback, convinced that the Bears have themselves a not-so-secret weapon with Williams’ ability to take the game over when it matters most.