DJ Moore, Caleb Williams find chemstry in Bears’ Week 12 win

CHICAGO — Caleb Williams missed DJ Moore on his first throw to the Bears’ wide receiver. Moore created separation in the middle of the field on the team’s second offensive possession, but Williams’ pass was slightly behind.

Throughout the course of the Bears’ 31-28 victory over the Steelers at Soldier Field, those two found their rhythm, connecting twice for touchdowns, which helped the team secure their eighth victory of the season.

“I think being able to obviously get DJ going, having two touchdowns, I know it is big for our confidence, as well as relationship, things like that for this year, and then also just having one of our star guys get going, it only builds momentum for us as a team,” Williams said. “It was good to see that. It was good to get him in the end zone a couple times. I know he’s been wanting that. That’s something that doesn’t always happen even if you’re primary in routes and people cover you, all of that. Been able to get him in the zone a couple times. We’re excited for it. We got to keep growing that and keep building on that.”

The next time Williams targeted Moore on the team’s second offensive possession, it ended with the Bears’ first points of the game. Moore ran a return route, faking the out and running back inside, against Jalen Ramsey, which caused the Steelers’ safety to fall.

That was a play that took time behind the scenes for the two to get on the same page.

“The first one we practiced that one a lot,” Moore said. “Me and Caleb had a lot of back and forth on it and when it got called today, we executed it perfectly, how we wanted. Great touchdown.”

[READ: Five Bears whose stock went up or down in NFL Week 12 win vs Steelers]

Moore ended with a game-high 64 yards on five receptions and two touchdowns. Two of his five catches went for gains of 20 and 25 yards. Rome Odunze‘s 22-yard catch in the second quarter was the only other passing play to go over 20 yards.

Two plays before Moore caught his 25-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter, the veteran receiver was penalized for taunting. Moore caught a short pass for five yards near the Bears’ sideline and got into it with cornerback James Pierre and Ramsey.

But his second touchdown of the game made up for those 15 yards lost after the penalty.

“The second one, it was just a blown coverage after they jumped offside, so I was wide open, and I didn’t know what to do,” Moore said. “Caleb said he threw the ball before I turned, and I was like, ‘Damn right you did, cause I seen it more than halfway already coming to me.'”

The last time Moore scored a receiving touchdown before Sunday’s game against the Steelers was in the Week 3 victory at Soldier Field against the Dallas Cowboys. He ran for a score in the Week 9 win over the Bengals. When Moore was asked about why the connection between him and Williams was stronger in this game, the veteran receiver said practice had been the same and that he was just “open more.”

Moore and Williams took a step in the right direction after their performance against the Steelers, and the two will need to continue their production as they enter a critical stretch of games that will feature the Philadelphia Eagles, two games against the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers.

The Bears have won four games in a row, and there is only one way for the team to build off that momentum.

“Going for nine and just getting it in any way that we can,” Moore said. “At this point, we are winning in every fashion at the end of the game.”

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