Caleb Williams was already the face of the franchise. His hamstring delayed the inevitable this season, but now he’s showing the rest of the league that he means business. He can singlehandedly carry the Bears to wins and deep into the playoffs. His command of the offense swings the Bears window of contention wide open.
The Bears outlasted the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football 30-24 in an even matchup between mirror image teams. It was 2024 1st overall pick Caleb Williams vs. 2024 3rd overall pick Drake Maye. It was early 2025 head coach hire Ben Johnson vs early 2025 head coach hire Mike Vrabel. Coming into this game, the teams were ranked similarly this season:
Offensive Yards/Game: Bears 5th, Patriots 7th
Offensive Points/Game: Bears 12th, Patriots 18th
Defensive Yards/Game: Bears 7th, Patriots 6th
Defensive Points/Game: Bears 6th, Patriots 5th
Thursday’s battle was one knockout punch after another. Rome Odunze played closer with a ridiculous 3rd and long catch and wrapped up the Patriots’ onside kick attempt. The Bears hung on by a thread after an eerily close game:
First Downs: Bears 21, Patriots 20
Total Yards: Bears 405, Patriots 380
Passing Yards: Bears 289, Patriots 310
Rushing Yards/Attempt: Bears 3.9, Patriots 4.1
Time of Possession: Bears 32:24, Patriots 27:36
With the offense mostly out of sync, Caleb Williams proved he is elite. Ben Johnson is the mastermind, but it’s Williams’ offense now. Even with a struggling rushing attack, big drops by Colston Loveland, an unfruitful push-off by Rome Odunze, and a staggering amount of penalties, Williams willed them to 400+ yards and 30 points. He knows where everyone needs to be and keeps everyone in check when they don’t do their job. When a franchise quarterback is this locked in, you can beat anybody. This is their second straight sloppy game (along with last week’s Falcons game), and the Bears still found a way.
A mini bye allows the Bears time to get healthier before their final two games leading into the bye. The defending champion Seahawks and their dominant defense will be a tough test next Monday night. The NFC is wide open, and beating the physically imposing Seahawks would put the Bears in the top seed conversation.
The offensive competence from last week vanished in two losses characterized as “frustrating” by Connor Bedard and Jeff Blashill. Entering and exiting the zone has been incomprehensibly impossible so far this season, and they could not hang on to the puck in a sloppy effort against the Canadiens. They stood their ground against a solid Panthers team, but they still couldn’t find the back of the net. The power play went 0-for-12 in just two games this week!
Most games have been hard to watch, but patience is still essential. It’s still a new team only 11 games into a season. 3-8-0 is disappointing, but it doesn’t mean they won’t figure it out. Bowen Byram has been injured and was on the ice for 24:42 per game when healthy. Kane, Kantserov, Rinzel, Frondell, and Cole are all logging 17 minutes or more of ice time as newcomers and/or young players. When the product is this bad, either the systems are so ineffective that the season will spiral out of control, or the players are still trying to conform as a unit. I believe this will turn around. If their talented power play group lands a single puck in the net, either of these last two games could have looked completely different.
Bowen Byram should return this week with a momentum inducing part of the schedule on deck. The 2-5-2 Los Angeles Kings and 4-4-3 Detroit Red Wings should get the Blackhawks on track. A Halloween matinee against the Boston Bruins is all the horror entertainment we’ll need that day.
Chicago waited all summer for a 43-point blowout loss in the season opener in Toronto. They started the season 5/50 (10%) from 3PT in their first 5 quarters before finally flipping the switch. A 1-2 start wasn’t surprising, but the ugly shooting numbers put a damper on the potential of the new squad under the new regime. The bright spot was Caleb Wilson who had a 30p/14r game against the Wizards and scored 67 points over his first three career NBA games (2nd most in franchise history to Michael Jordan).
Three games don’t provide any conclusions, but some of my biggest questions about this season and how it will impact the future from my 2026-2027 season preview are already front and center:
1) Who will be their second best player this season? It needs to be Matas Buzelis. Buzelis only played 17 minutes in the second game as Tiago Splitter thought others deserved the playing time over him. He bounced back nicely with a 21p/5r/2a performance against the Wizards.
2) Will they have an effective rotation or only a starting 5? Tre Jones has been reliable off the bench, but the rest of the reserves are already experiencing ups and downs. The bench provided 59 points against the Bucks but barely contributed in the other two games.
3) Will Josh Giddey be a long-term fit? Not only did he reveal a secretive wrist injury, but he turned in an abysmal 5 turnover (2p/7r/6a) performance in the opener. Tre Jones is already closing games for Tiago Splitter as he often did for Billy Donovan. Your starting point guard simply can’t be the type of player who rides the bench in clutch time.
If Caleb Wilson continues to put up 30-point games, throw out everything else I dreamt up about this season. Rapid development from the rookie would give Bulls fans immediate hope.
The upcoming schedule is a gauntlet to say the least. 5 wins by the end of November would be a miracle for the young Bulls. This week, they play the defending champion Knicks at home and travel to Boston twice in a strange and intimidating schedule quirk.
Which start to the season is more concerning?
The Brewers continue to find ways to win as they lead the World Series 2-0. They have to choke the series away…right?
Caleb Williams will finish Top 5 in MVP voting.
Missing 3 games stripped him of a chance at the trophy. Williams has arrived as the franchise quarterback who will carry an entire team by himself.
In limited action, he leads the NFL in QBR (79.6), is 2nd in the NFL in completion percentage (71.0% - surpassing Ben Johnson’s expectation of 70%), and has only thrown 1 interception in 124 pass attempts.
For a player who was always ridiculed by the national media for playing superman too often, not knowing how to operate from the pocket, and being turnover-happy, he’s been as efficient as any quarterback in the entire league. He has officially merged his inhuman athletic feats with the clockwork ability to operate an explosive offense on every single play.
Caleb Williams is the Bears’ most valuable player and will be for a decade. He’ll get close to winning the NFL MVP award this season.
Cairo Santos
He ignored the ghosts summoned by his 53-yard doink and answered the call with a clutch, career-long 58-yard field goal to seal the victory against the Patriots. Caleb Williams took an inexplicable sack to move a potential field goal back, so Ben Johnson was forced to ask Richard Hightower through the headset if Cairo Santos wanted a shot. He wanted it, and he nailed it. He wanted the big moment in order to step up for his teammates.
