The NFL Week 12 schedule wasn’t all that appetizing. And then the games happened.
In the early window alone, we saw the Tennessee Titans upset the Houston Texans, the Carolina Panthers almost take down the Kansas City Chiefs and perhaps the wildest final two minutes of the year with the Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys.
Then there was Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears, who miraculously recovered an onside kick before hitting a field goal to force overtime against the Minnesota Vikings, albeit in a losing effort.
And that’s where we start, with Williams putting his talents on full display with a dizzying array of fantastic throws.
Caleb Williams showed his stuff in loss to Vikings
This hasn’t been a dream rookie season for Williams. He’s already endured the firing of his first offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron, while the Bears are sliding into oblivion at 4–7.
Yet on Sunday, we saw arguably his best day as a pro. Against the two-loss Vikings and a great defensive coordinator in Brian Flores, Williams threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns. He also executed beautifully in a desperate moment.
Trailing 27–24 with 21 seconds remaining in regulation, the Bears faced first-and-10 on the Chicago 43-yard line. The Bears came out with trips left while Minnesota played man coverage with three deep defenders, all essentially serving as double teams.
On the snap, Williams dropped back and saw little to throw into. The Vikings had done a great job of taking away Rome Odunze (No. 15) and Keenan Allen (No. 13) with safeties over the top. However, D.J. Moore (No. 2) worked himself free from corner Stephon Gilmore (No. 2) on a deep in-cut, with safety Camryn Bynum (No. 24) having dropped too far back.
Still, it was a tough throw for Williams. To hit Moore, Williams had to clear the underneath defenders in Byron Murphy Jr. (No. 7) and safety Josh Metellus (No. 44), while getting the ball down in front of Bynum.
The result was perfection for Williams, a great combination of arm talent, touch and anticipation.
While the Bears ultimately lost, the throw set up a game-tying field goal, giving the Bears a chance to stay in the playoff hunt.
The Bears may have lost Sunday, but this was a ridiculous throw by Caleb Williams. Dude put it between four defenders to give Chicago a shot at overtime. pic.twitter.com/G33rmsSd1l
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) November 26, 2024
Will Levis shows why he’ll be tough to quit for Titans, Brian Callahan
Levis is a frustrating quarterback to watch. To coach? One can’t imagine. But for every mind-numbing mistake and killer pick-six (of which he had on Sunday as well), there’s a rocket launch that’s impossible to ignore.
Last weekend against the favored Texans, Levis led the Titans to 32 points on 18-of-24 passing for 278 yards and two touchdowns. His best throw came early in the second quarter with Tennessee facing third-and-11 from its own 21-yard line, leading 10–7.
Pre-snap, the Titans lined up trips left to the field side. Calvin Ridley was in the No. 2 position, about to run a deep over route. Notably, Houston showed a two-high look but actually blitzed with rookie corner Kamari Lassiter (No. 4) from the right side.
On the snap, you can see Lassiter breaking on his blitz assignment. The coverage behind him rotated, with Houston playing a more traditional Cover 3 look. This meant single-high safety duty for Jimmie Ward (No. 20), particularly as the other two receivers ran stop routes near the first-down marker.
With Ridley screaming toward Ward on a deep route, the veteran safety was in an impossible spot—guess which way he’s going and commit while trying to read the route combination and Ridley’s body language.
In the picture above, note Ward’s hips. They hadn’t yet flipped. At that point, it was too late. Meanwhile, Levis was loading up before Ridley even cleared Ward.
For the Titans, the next six weeks will determine plenty about how they move forward with, or without, Levis.
Will Levis will make some of the worst throws you'l ever see.
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) November 26, 2024
And then he'll do this. Just an absolute bomb despite tight coverage and a rusher getting pressure.
The Titans might move on after this season, but Levis has insane arm talent. pic.twitter.com/ERqLoKiqYq
Terry McLaurin and Jayden Daniels nearly authored a miracle in D.C.
For what seemed like the hundredth time this season, the Commanders were ready to be tucked away for defeat. And then, the hand came up from the earth.
Trailing 27–20 with 33 seconds remaining, Washington was marooned on its own 14-yard line with no timeouts. With almost no chance of even getting in position to attempt another Hail Mary miracle, the Commanders lined up four wide to the right. Dallas, unsurprisingly, had seven defenders in prevent coverage.
On the snap, Washington ran three vertical routes out of the quartet with two underneath routes as safety valves for Daniels.
The rookie quarterback stepped up into a clean pocket and delivered a strike to McLaurin (No. 17), who essentially ran a soft out-and-up down the right sideline. The throw found the Pro Bowl receiver at the 41-yard line, where he was surrounded by five Cowboys. If he had been tackled in bounds, the game would have been either over or down to one play.
Instead, McLaurin turned it upfield and bent back inside, before getting a key block from the Hail Mary king himself, Noah Brown (No. 85). Ultimately, McLaurin raced 86 yards for the most improbable touchdown in recent memory, only to see kicker Austin Seibert miss his second extra point of the game on the next play.
This play is both incredible and hilarious.
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) November 26, 2024
Jayden Daniels makes a great throw and Terry McLaurin did what he normally does.
And then there are the Cowboys, who played defense like they had money on Washington. pic.twitter.com/aPpmuLKokk
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Caleb Williams Showed Flashes of What Could Be Against Vikings .
