Snow swirling, clock bleeding, and a rookie quarterback staring down a two-score hole, Chicago found its nerve. Caleb Williams strung together yet another late drive, and the Bears walked off the Giants 24-20, giving the first-year star his fourth game-winning march of the season and a share of the franchise record for such finishes in a single year. He threw for 220 yards with a score, ran for 63 and the deciding touchdown, and turned a ragged offensive night into a defining one.
Afterward, Rome Odunze pulled back the curtain on why these moments no longer feel fluky. He said Ben Johnson has drilled the roster on the three stages of team building: hope, belief, and knowing.
“We are operating the stage of knowing now,” the second-year receiver told Sports Illustrated. “When you have gone through it and seen it through, you operate in the knowing.” Asked about Williams, Odunze did not hesitate.
“Anytime he has an opportunity to make a play for us, he does it. It’s been awesome to see. He took it into his own hands, gave us the lead, and put us on his back right there. He’s always had that factor. I’ve seen that on him. Excited to see more of it.” The remarks were reported by Sports Illustrated.
That philosophy showed up snap after snap. Chicago’s receivers battled drops in the cold, yet on the drive that cut the deficit, Williams trusted timing and location, hitting Odunze for a short score.
The defense delivered just enough disruption to hand him one more chance, and the quarterback answered with a 17-yard scramble that froze the Giants and set off a roar inside Soldier Field. It looked like a team that has moved past wishing and believing and into something sturdier.
Odunze also kept the tone light, poking fun at the chatter stirred by his father’s recent social posts. With six catches for 86 yards and a touchdown on a team-high 10 targets, he smiled and offered a two-word wink to the storyline: “Thanks, dad.”
Chicago sits at 6-3 and heads to a divisional test with Minnesota. If Johnson’s room truly lives in the stage of knowing, nights like this become less about survival and more about identity.
