Bears QB Caleb Williams’ passing-rushing-receiving day sets NFL record
Caleb Williams really can do it all. That fact forever is etched in the NFL record book, too.
The quarterback became the first player in league history with at least 275 passing, 50 rushing and 20 receiving yards in the same game Sunday, as his Chicago Bears beat the Cincinnati Bengals 47-42.
The passing and rushing yards shouldn’t surprise anyone, since Williams routinely shows his arm strength and top-level athleticism. He threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns against the Bengals, and added 53 yards on five carries against their porous run defense.
But, on a day of various firsts, Williams made his first career reception on the Bears’ opening drive. And it resulted in a TD, when wide receiver DJ Moore hit Williams with a double-reserve pass on fourth-and-goal from the Bengals’ 2.
It was the Bears’ first receiver-to-QB passing touchdown since their 2016 season finale, when Cameron Meredith hit Matt Barkley on a 2-yard scoring toss.
It also made Williams the first Bears QB with multiple passing TDs and at least one receiving TD in a game since Jim McMahon in 1985 and the first NFL QB to do it since Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen last season.
[WATCH: Coach Wannstedt breaks down Bears’ “Hot Potato” play]
Williams, who caught only one pass in his three-year college career, revealed after the game that the Bears’ play is called “Hot Potato,” for obvious reasons.
“It looks like you’re ‘hot potato-ing’ the ball around,” Williams said, per The Associated Press. “It was something we’ve been practicing for the last two weeks, and it finally showed up on game day.”
Williams later became the first starting QB with two receptions in a game since the Baltimore Colts’ George Taliaferro did it in 1953. In the fourth quarter, Bears backup QB Tyson Bagent caught a backward pass from Williams, who then received a forward pass for a 20-yard gain.
“Typically, defenses don’t account for the quarterback unless it’s a zone read,” Williams said, per The AP. “It happens like that, where a defense accounts for the 10 other players, and that’s how it goes, even for quarterbacks running. I would just take off when it wasn’t there and try to stay on track and help us get back in range.”
Williams kept the Bears on track by leading his fourth game-winning drive since the 2024 season finale — tied with Denver’s Bo Nix and Carolina’s Bryce Young for the second-most in the NFL in that span — and not throwing an interception in a game for the 17th time since the start of last season. That’s also tied for second-most in the NFL, equaling the LA Chargers’ Justin Herbert and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and only one behind Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts.
Williams’ winning TD pass to Colston Loveland also allowed him to leap Mitch Trubisky for the most scoring throws in a Bears QB’s first two seasons, with 32.
If it’s seems like a superlative-laden season for Williams, that’s because it is. His second NFL season so far has been a success, with the Bears 5-3 and knocking on the door of an NFL playoff berth.



