Everyone knows that even the finest rookie quarterbacks take time to grow comfortable in their own skin. Orchestrating a successful offense against lightning-quick, world-class defenders and intelligent coaches sometimes isn’t easy for established veterans, let alone kids used to the comparatively slow pace of play at the college level. That means making any definitive judgment on a young, struggling signal-caller is pretty foolish when taking in the full context.
By that same token, you can usually see “it” with a guy finally feeling himself and starting to fire on all cylinders. Be it uncanny magic, unique and aggressive confidence, or the game just slowing down at a certain point, whatever it is, Caleb Williams has it in spades.
Sunday saw Williams and the Bears square off with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL’s latest diplomatic offense to the country of England, er, I mean, international showcase game. After a slow offensive start, it was clear Williams was in complete command of a talented Bears offense tailored to his skill-set with teammates who genuinely might do anything for him:
Creative dump-offs like this to tight end Cole Kmet were a regular occurrence for the hyped No. 1 overall pick:
So were absolute back-shoulder lasers like this to Keenan Allen in the end zone:
All in all, Williams never looked stressed in a performance where he was, for all intents and purposes, perfect. A 79 percent completion rate while averaging nearly eight yards per pass attempt in the structure of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s burgeoning dynamite scheme. A sparkling four touchdown passes with remarkable, confident ball placement on every one of them. Wizardry in the open field as a creator, making inadequate pass-rushers and hapless linebackers look silly time and again.
Williams did it all while ruthlessly emasculating the Jaguars’ defense in the exact way we envisioned when the Bears drafted him with the first pick in late April. That the London performance became his third straight game with a passer rating of at least 100 is evidence enough of how advanced this generational talent already is as a rookie and how quickly he learns on the job.
We’re just six games into Williams’ professional career. It’s apparent to anyone with working eyes that he is finally living up to the massive, almost overwhelming hype of being Chicago’s savior. Try as he might, as long he continues shining like this, he’ll never be able to shake the allegations of being the Bears’ Paul Atreides. And remember, at the time of this writing, he remains an inexperienced rookie. This will likely be the worst Williams will ever be as a quarterback. If he’s damned good now, the sky is the limit.
Do you feel that? That’s probably a chill going down your spine over THE BEARS finally having a franchise quarterback.
What Williams’ ascent also does is open a world of possibilities for the suddenly scary-good Bears. Chicago already had an elite defense rife with superstars and impact players like Jaylon Johnson, Montez Sweat, and Tremaine Edmunds. All it needed was merely capable quarterback play to start making noise in the NFC as a playoff contender. With Williams looking more and more like a superstar every week, this is a Bears squad that should rightfully be thinking about playing meaningful football in the dead of winter. And with the way it’s going for Williams especially, his Bears might eventually be the last team any of the other NFC powers want to play over the stretch run of this season.
Take heed, Bears fans. You’re watching a special young talent come into his own at the helm of a dark horse contender we’re likely still sleeping a bit too much on.
Relish and cherish it because this magical ride with Williams’ Bears seems like it’s only just beginning.
In this week’s NFL awards at For The Win, we tackle Nick Sirianni’s meathead antics, look at an announcer making an inexcusable broadcasting mistake, and appreciate a superhuman defender for making a play only he could fathom. Let’s jump in, dearest readers.
