Chicago’s wildest finish of the season came down to one throw and one broken tackle. With 17 seconds left, Caleb Williams ripped a strike over the middle, Colston Loveland slipped a half-wrap from safety Jordan Battle, and the rookie tight end outran everyone for a 58-yard game-winner that lifted Chicago over Cincinnati in Week 9.

Williams closed 20 of 34 for 280 yards and three scores, adding 53 rushing yards, while Loveland turned six receptions into 116 yards and two touchdowns in the most dramatic moment of his young career.

The history poured in right after the celebration. ESPN’s Courtney Cronin noted on X, formerly Twitter, that Loveland is the first Bears rookie tight end to record a 100-yard game since Mike Ditka in 1961, finishing with six catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns.

The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain highlighted league notes that put the play in rare company: Loveland’s 58-yard walk-off is the third-longest game-winning TD catch by a rookie in the final two minutes or OT since 1970, trailing only John Brown and Santonio Holmes, and it is the second-longest such play by a rookie tight end in that window.

He also became just the fifth rookie tight end in the Super Bowl era with 100-plus receiving yards and multiple touchdown receptions in a game, joining Raymond Chester, Junior Miller, Bob Tucker, and Charle Young.

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Context makes it sweeter for Chicago. Joe Flacco authored a frantic rally to push Cincinnati ahead 42-41 with 54 seconds remaining after a successful onside kick, capping a career-high 470-yard night. Williams answered with a 14-yard scramble, then trusted his rookie tight end to do the rest. Nahshon Wright ended it with a pick on the final Hail Mary.

The result snapped two ugly streaks that had shadowed the franchise. As Fishbain pointed out, the Bears had been 0-40 all-time when allowing 42 or more points, and they had dropped 50 straight games when surrendering at least 30. Both skids died in one furious fourth quarter, and a first-year tandem stole the headline.

Chicago’s offense piled up 576 total yards and 30 first downs, with rookie back Kyle Monangai hammering for 176 on 26 carries in D’Andre Swift’s absence. The defense forced three takeaways in the final period, including an Austin Booker strip-sack that set up a Cairo Santos field goal.

Most importantly, a young quarterback-tight end pairing delivered the type of crunch-time moment that can anchor a locker room, and it arrived with a stat line the Bears have not seen from a rookie tight end since Ditka.