One of the biggest storylines for this Bears season was always going to be the development of Caleb Williams.

When you draft a quarterback with the first overall pick, the bar is set high, and ultimately his progress is going to supersede almost everything else in 2024.

That’s why the decision earlier in the week to move from Shane Waldron to Thomas Brown as offensive coordinator was so significant.

The Bears offense, and more importantly Williams, had stagnated since their Week 6 win over Jacksonville.

RELATED CONTENT:

• Instant analysis: Breaking down Bears performance vs. Green Bay
• How Thomas Brown positively affected Bears offense vs. Packers
• What went wrong on Bears decisive blocked field goal attempt vs. Packers

It’s one game — and it was a devastating 20-19 loss to the rival Packers — but Williams and the offense showed drastic signs of improvement.

Williams was quicker to release the ball. He exploited holes in the Packers’ defense and scrambled for extra yardage. His final line was solid, too. He finished 23-for-31 passing with 231 yards, a 95.0 rating and had nine carries for 70 yards.

[WATCH: Breaking down Caleb Williams’ read option run]

“I saw a lot of growth, honestly,” cornerback Jaylon Johnson said. “You could see Caleb taking what the defense gave him. He made some plays with his legs. I think, overall, he played one heck of a game. They gave us a chance to win.”

But his most impressive feat came at the end of the game.

Trailing by a point with 2 minutes, 59 seconds to play, the Bears got the ball back at their 30-yard line. The drive looked over before it started, with Williams being sacked twice — the first sacks allowed in the game — staking the Bears up with third-and-19 from their 21-yard line.

On the next play, Williams scrambled out of a collapsed pocket, extending the play and rifled a pass to fellow rookie Rome Odunze for a 16-yard pickup.

“That’s great. That’s real quarterbacking at a high level,” head coach Matt Eberflus said. “For him to make that connection with the guy he was drafted with I think is special. Really nice by those guys. Again, it takes protection. I know we took two sacks to start that, but again, it’s about overcoming adversity, and that was on display in that drive.”

One play later, Brown called for a deep fade route down the sideline for Odunze — a play the Packers weren’t likely to expect since conventional wisdom would have you looking for a 3-yard pickup for the first down.

“I think they would be expecting a run or get something near the sticks, and this is a match-up league, as everybody tells you,” Williams said after the game. “And so to be able to have our guy, Rome, one-on-one, with somebody going off the line, kind of knowing that the [defensive back is] in catch-up mode, gave him a back shoulder ball and he was gonna get a [pass interference] or he’s gonna catch it.

“And so, he did just that, made the catch, great catch, unbelievable catch.”

In many ways, that was the flashes of brilliance from Williams that the Bears and their fans would hope to see.

“For him, it’s about understanding that he doesn’t have to be the No. 1 overall pick all the time,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “When the moment calls for it, then we need that. At the end of the game, when you take two sacks to start the drive, then the No. 1 pick’s gotta come out.

“That came out and that showed itself. That was cool to see.”