The Chicago Bears’ storybook season came to a stunning end Sunday night.

Chicago seemed poised to pull off a comeback for the ages against the Los Angeles Rams in their NFC divisional game at Soldier Field. Quarterback Caleb Williams made a miraculous throw to force overtime and the defense seemed poised to cap off its best performance of the year.

Instead, there was no happy ending. Williams threw his third interception of the game in overtime and the Rams knocked in a 42-yard field goal to win the game 20-17 and advance to the NFC championship.

The loss ended a memorable season for the Bears. Chicago accomplished plenty in head coach Ben Johnson’s first season. Now they’ll have a whole offseason to make improvements to take another big step next year.

Here are the five big takeaways from a stunning season-ending loss.

Defense lives up to the moment

A major storyline heading into Sunday’s game was whether the Bears could score enough points to keep up with the Rams. Instead, it turned out the Bears didn’t score enough points despite a strong defensive effort.

Chicago put together its best defensive effort of the season against the NFL’s best offense. Los Angeles ended the regular season at the top of most major offensive categories led by quarterback and MVP contender Matthew Stafford and elite wide receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams.

The Bears shut down that Rams offense for most of Sunday night. Chicago forced four three-and-outs and eight punts. Stafford threw for 258 yards but finished with a 47.6% completion rate. The Rams needed two possessions in overtime to get to 111 rushing yards.

It was a performance the Bears needed if they wanted to win Sunday’s game.

“That’s part of the shame,” Johnson said. “Our defense played their tails off. They did. I thought they did a great job. That’s the number one offense in football, both yards and points, and I thought [defensive coordinator] Dennis [Allen] and the defensive coaching staff, they had a great plan.”

Caleb Williams’ highs, lows

Sunday was a good example of the good and the bad that Williams can be two years into his career.

Williams can make incredible plays. He did so against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Wild Card round when he led a thrilling comeback. Williams looked like he would do it again when he completed a 14-yard pass to Cole Kmet on fourth down at the end of the game to force overtime.

But some early mistakes forced the Bears to need another epic comeback. Williams threw three interceptions Sunday for the first time in his career. He threw an interception on the team’s first drive deep in Rams territory and did it again in the third quarter before the overtime pick.

Each one was different. Some were because of miscommunication. But Johnson didn’t think the stage was too bright for Williams.

“I didn’t think he had any jitters or anything like that,” Johnson said. “I thought he was the normal Caleb that I’ve grown accustomed to. Like I said, those guys made plays, and we didn’t.”

Pressuring Matthew Stafford

Stafford entered the game as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL when facing blitzes. But the Bears did a good job of rushing Stafford for much of the game.

After a slow start, the Bears pressure and weather seemed to get the best of Stafford. Chicago sacked Stafford three times in the first half and forced a fumble that the Rams recovered. The Bears finished the game with four sacks and four quarterback hits.

Allen added pressure by using his secondary. Cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Jaquan Brisker each had a sack while defensive ends Montez Sweat and Dominique Robinson each also added one.

It’s something Allen wanted to do for much of the season. Gordon and Brisker along with cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson have proven that they can blitz well. But injuries to the secondary, including Gordon, stopped that from coming to reality. For one game, it worked Sunday.

“It was just win-or-go home,” Brisker said. “We’re at home and I don’t want to lose. I want to win. I want to get all my teammates my energy, passion, whatever I can get to feel. Just never know when it’s your last play. So just try to give it my all.”

Wasted offensive opportunities

While the defense put together a stout effort for most of the night, the Bears offense couldn’t take advantage of many opportunities to build momentum.

Chicago’s opening possession was a good example. The Bears picked up a few explosive plays to start the game and reached the Rams 29 yard line with a fresh set of downs. But wide receiver Rome Odunze dropped what would’ve been a touchdown on third down and then Williams was intercepted on fourth down.

The Bears wasted another golden opportunity late in the game before the heroics. Chicago drove down the field on its penultimate drive of the fourth quarter to the Rams 5 yard line with a fresh set of downs. Running back D’Andre Swift gained a total of three yards on three runs before Williams attempted a throw to Luther Burden III on fourth down.

Johnson didn’t feel like the Rams did something in those short-yardage situations that surprised the Bears. Chicago didn’t execute.

“I think they did a good job, credit to them,” right tackle Darnell Wright said. “They knew exactly kind of where the weakness point of it was. I think we didn’t do a good enough job communicating on the sideline what we’ll do to convert next time. So, yeah, I wish we could have those back for sure.”

Reflecting on the season

Sunday night was a disappointing end for many players. But many also had perspective on things.

Some felt that they lost out on an opportunity. The NFL has shown that it’s never a given that a team will return to the playoffs just because they did it one year. For some, it was hard realizing that Chicago was a few plays away from the team’s first NFC championship game since 2010.

But many players were also realistic. Many outside of Halas Hall didn’t have grand expectations for the Bears this season in Johnson’s first season. Some thought maybe Chicago could compete for a wild card playoff berth.

The Bears instead responded with their first playoff berth since 2020, their first NFC North title since 2018 and their first playoff win since 2010. They were proud of what they accomplished this season and what it means moving forward.

“When you have a season like this, you have so much fun throughout the season, when you win so many games, you can’t let all that go to waste after one, I’m not gonna say one loss, but one season-ending loss,” cornerback Jaylon Johnson said. “I think you just take time to reflect on the fact that we’ve had a hell of a ride and each man individually has had a hell of a ride. So I mean, when you just really look back, you can really just be thankful and have a lot of gratitude for what this season has done and how we’ve grown as men and grown as a team.”