Declan Doyle reacted the same way Bears fans did when he saw DJ Moore catch Caleb Williams’ game-winning touchdown pass to defeat the Green Bay Packers, 22-16, in overtime at Soldier Field.
The Bears’ offensive coordinator was in the coach’s box when he said “pandemonium” struck as soon as Moore hauled in the 45-yard pass over defensive back Keisean Nixon.
"It was nuts,” Doyle said. “It was like the stands, you know. We were excited about what had happened, and we couldn't wait to get back down to celebrate with everybody."
Doyle surprised many by knowing what was coming with Williams' score
The play had been put in earlier that week, and Doyle said that head coach Ben Johnson had highlighted it. Doyle also mentioned that he thought the call may have come up earlier in the game, but the opportunity didn’t present itself. However, when Johnson did end up dialing it up, Doyle knew there was a shot at something special.
“We really felt like in heavy defense, we were going to be able to tie down their backside safety and be able to take a shot over the top,” Doyle said. “When we came out of the huddle, they were really in like a shell structure. It was pretty low with the safeties, so right away, as soon as we broke it, we were upstairs, but we were like, 'This is going to be a walk-off if he gives him a shot.' And it just so happens he turns his back to the defense, he gets to the top of the drop, he felt like DJ had a step, and he laid an outstanding ball into the wind out there for him to run down and go get it.”
What had helped set up Williams’ touchdown to Moore was the Bears' ability to run the ball on the two previous plays. Kyle Monangai ran for 11 yards on third-and-three, and D’Andre Swift had a seven-yard gain on second down.
“We were starting to roll a little bit, and really all we needed was a field goal at that point in time,” Doyle said. “So, we had run the ball pretty efficiently. We felt like we could give them another look of that and, you know, they felt like we were getting ready to just kind of hammer the ball and try to get into range, and they got a little bit aggressive, and we were able to capitalize on that."
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No question the Bears capitalized, and did so with the Bears' biggest win of the season to date and first victory over the Packers at Soldier Field since 2018.