Bears quarterback Caleb Williams’ 46-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver DJ Moore to beat the Packers in overtime on Saturday certainly was the best and biggest play of the Bears’ season. But it also might prove to be the best in the NFL.
Pro Football Focus gave Williams’ throw a rare plus-2.0 grade, the only pass in the league to earn that mark this season.
Its grading scale puts routine, expected throws at zero and goes up or down in .5 increments based how far above or below average it was. The plus-2.0 grade is reserved for “the pinnacle of quarterback play—the rarest, most jaw-dropping throws in football,” and going into this season, the outlet said just 29 of more than 370,000 passes got that grade since 2006.
“We were like, ‘This is going to be a walkoff if [Williams] gives [Moore] a shot,’” offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said Wednesday. “He turns his back to the defense, he gets to the top of the drop, he felt like DJ had a step and he laid an outstanding ball into the wind out there for him to run down.”
The Bears rallied from down 16-6 late in the fourth quarter to win 22-16 in overtime, making them the first team in NFL history to win six games in which they trailed in the final two minutes.