This is a different Chicago Bears team. Ben Johnson knows this. Caleb Williams knows this. And the NFL is beginning to recognize it as a dormant giant franchise with its eye on perennial playoff contention.
Williams has faced rising expectations since entering the league, such is the life of a longtime consensus No. 1-pick quarterback. He’s imperfect, and yet he continues to win after leading Chicago to a 31-28 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
It marks the team’s eighth win in the last nine and leaves them at 8-3, on top of the NFC North in a new chapter under first-year head coach Johnson.
He took the job at Soldier Field primarily to work with Williams. The marriage is slowly unraveling, and the sourness is still evident, but signs of a resilient Bears team finding new ways to win are growing rapidly.
“I evaluate quarterbacks by their execution in moments, the red zone tells you everything you need now about this guy’s day,” said Sky Sports NFL’s Jason Bell.
“Caleb Williams is developing before our eyes, he’s getting better every week and pushing this pace, understanding offenses, he’s seeing how defenses are trying to defend him, you can see by the execution of his playmakers that they know he’s going to get them the ball.
“This guy can perform well. This guy will be a top-five quarterback, he has winning moments, he has strong talent and he can perform at a top level, it was exciting.
“They (Bears fans at Soldier Field) had hope, it was awesome, they had a team, a quarterback.”
Williams finished the game 19 of 35 for 239 yards and three touchdowns, resurfacing question marks over his accuracy in recent weeks. Sunday pointed to his playmaking creativity in stretching and disrupting defenses outside the pocket, as well as his and Johnson’s growing understanding of how to dictate the pace of games.
Williams was also guilty of misfires, misreads and a bizarre end zone sack-turned-touchdown, being the first to admit the need to “get better” after the game.
“It’s hard to get a win,” Bell said of Johnson, “he’ll let them celebrate but he’ll talk about the things left on the field to let them know they’re a better team than they were today.”
Six of Chicago’s wins this season have come by single digits, including five fourth-quarter comebacks. They’re learning that the game lasts 60 minutes for a reason.
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“It feels good to be 8-3 at this point, we’ve made it interesting every game but we’ve come up with eight drubs and we’re looking for more,” wide receiver Rome Odunze said. Sky Sports NFL.
“The emphasis is on the red zone, when we get there we need a touchdown, we executed appropriately there today.
“We’re living in the knowledge, we know when we get here we’ll find a way to win.
“We’re right where we wanted to be. There are some tough opponents but we’re looking forward to beating them one by one.”
Sunday’s win also highlighted the ability of Johnson and Williams to rely on their defense as Eric Washington’s unit held Pittsburgh to a halt for much of the season. Nahshon Wright produced a surprising sideline interception early in the game, bringing his number to five on the year, tied for first in the league with Bears safety Kevin Byard, ahead of teammate Tremaine Edmunds with four.
Byard, playing in his 10th season in the NFL, is playing his best football as a valuable veteran presence.
“We rose to the challenge, we supported the offense when it fired, and it was complementary,” Byrd said. Sky Sports NFL.
“It’s always about trying to stay the calm in the storm, we had a lot of pieces, I was trying to communicate as much as I could.
“There’s going to be a lot of dancing, celebrating, screaming. We’re 8-3, it doesn’t happen often, you’ve got to celebrate a win.”
“We’ve got a short week, we’ve got Philly on Friday night. It’s about battle tested, we’ve faced adversity so many times, culture isn’t defined until you face adversity. We know we can go in our back pocket and pull it out every time.”
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