Can Caleb Williams continue to change the script in Bears-Packers rivalry?
SOURCE:The Athletic|BY:Jon Greenberg
“I feel like he's just getting started, just with his talent, his natural-born ability,” Bears running back D’Andre Swift said.
The Athletic has live coverage of Packers vs. Bears from the NFL playoffs wild-card round.
Kids these days believe everything is scripted. They talk conspiratorially of “scriptwriters” plotting out everything they see on their phones, tablets, and TVs. Who can blame them? Reality stars are real celebrities, and social media is our window to the world.
I’m here to say that’s not entirely true, and the reason the NFL can’t be beaten down by science, politics, culture or cost is that it’s still so unpredictable in the end. Football’s structure allows for chaos, and the two work together to suck us in. Just look at how the Chicago Bears beat the Green Bay Packers in overtime three weeks ago.
No one could come up with Josh Blackwell recovering an onside kick, Jahdae Walker catching a game-tying touchdown pass and Caleb Williams connecting with DJ Moore for a 46-yard dagger of a touchdown in overtime. I was there and still can’t believe it happened like that.
It was the kind of game that creates 10,000 Bears fans. And now, here comes Round 3 of the greatest rivalry in the NFL.
It’s going to be cold and possibly snowy with a high chance of extracurriculars in the stands and on the field on Saturday night. The fan bases have a long-standing enmity, and the players don’t much like each other either. It’s a real rivalry now.
For all the talk about home-field advantage and the Bears needing their fans to scream 20 percent louder and be 30 percent drunker than usual, past precedent shows that won’t matter much.
Green Bay won the last win-or-go-home game in the “NFC North” Championship Game at Soldier Field in the 2013 season finale. Three years before that, the Packers won the actual NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field.
Of course, Green Bay had prime Aaron Rodgers back then, and Williams was a 9-year-old living in the Washington, D.C., area.
Things are different now. Rodgers is in Pittsburgh, trying to find a little more joy at the end of a long career, and Williams is in Chicago.
Rodgers’ successor, Jordan Love, will play his first game since suffering a concussion in that late December game, and in terms of his success against the Bears, he’s picked up where Rodgers had left off. Of course, any quarterback could’ve beaten the Bears of recent vintage, but Love has been very good.
Love versus Williams under the bright lights in Chicago for the right to advance in the postseason. I guess the scriptwriters could make this up, because it’s just about perfect.
If the Packers, who are slight favorites entering Saturday, win this game, it will likely be because the Chicago defense didn’t force enough turnovers and didn’t pressure Love enough, giving him time to pick apart the secondary. Opposing teams have been walking all over the Bears’ defense and up and down the field lately.
And if the Bears win, it will surely be because Williams did what his predecessors at the position failed to do: beat the Packers when it really mattered.
Can Caleb Williams lead the Bears to a playoff win over rival Green Bay? (John Fisher / Getty Images)
It’s too early in his career to use this game to define Williams’ career. Win or lose, he should have many more opportunities to build a legacy.
But the operative word is “should.” Jay Cutler made the playoffs in his second season with the Bears and never again.
There is no question this is one of those moments for Williams, and the good news for the Bears is there is enough recent evidence to believe he can realize it.
The main characters in this season were always going to be Williams and head coach Ben Johnson, and the storyline has played out about as well as you could reasonably expect.
Johnson had a massive impact and is a front-runner for NFL Coach of the Year (he’ll likely lose to Mike Vrabel), while Williams has taken a big step forward in his second season under his coaching.
“He’s a completely different quarterback than when we first took this job,” Johnson said this week. “I think back to the springtime and during camp at times, and some of the struggles that we were having as an offense in those moments, we’ve certainly moved past that.
Williams doesn’t disagree.
“I feel that I’ve grown tremendously so far this year,” he said. “It’s exciting to see. That record was more or less the growth that I’ve had. That’s where I’ve been at, that’s where my mindset’s been at. Then, at this moment, it’s at an all-time high for myself of confidence. I’m going to go into the game that way.
“I’m going to bring that this week. I’m going to bring energy this week for the guys and bring the urgency. Because that’s what we need.”
As you might’ve noticed, Williams does not lack for confidence.
“I think I am built for these moments, mentality-wise, (with) how I’ve worked,” he said. “I’ve been in a bunch of big games before and a bunch of big rival games. In those moments and in these moments, I think I can provide a spark for the team. I think I can do whatever my team needs me to do.
“Whether that’s stay in the pocket, whether that’s run, whether that’s scramble, whether that’s hand the ball off 30 times and be energetic about it. Whatever it takes is where I’m at and where I’m going to be at for these next couple of weeks, hopefully.”
"At this moment, (my confidence) is at an all-time high."
Caleb Williams wants to bring a sense of urgency in his first playoff start 💪 pic.twitter.com/uEM3Dvs1nC
Judging by the emails I get about his investment firm, Williams has his hand in a lot of different businesses. But he might want to try being a “LinkedInfluencer” when this football thing is over. He has that “believe your way to success” kind of rap down pat.
Everyone knew Williams had the physical skills to succeed in the NFL, but aside from self-regard, there were questions about his makeup when he entered the league. After a rookie season that saw him take an inordinate amount of sacks and quarterback the team through a 10-game losing streak, some still lingered into the season. Could he lead? Could he anticipate and make decisions at the speed he needs to be among the best at his position? Could he be everything that is expected of a franchise quarterback?
The idea that Williams is already a top-10, top-tier quarterback seems a bit optimistic, more of a rhetorical point someone might make to win an argument in the future. However, he’s good and obviously getting better. You can see it, you can feel it. The stats are solid — a franchise-record 3,942 passing yards, 27 touchdowns to only seven interceptions — and the eye test shows someone figuring out how to do this job at the highest level.
“I feel like he’s just getting started, just with his talent, his natural-born ability,” Bears running back D’Andre Swift said the other day. “But (he’s) taking everything else to the next level as far as the mental aspect of the game. This is stuff he’s been coached to do.”
Bears safety Kevin Byard III, one of the playoff-seasoned vets on the roster, has seen Williams’ processing speed improve with reps and coaching. And to me, that was the most significant question because that’s what held back the two quarterbacks who came before him, Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields.
“Ben is doing a great job with the play calling, setting up runs and plays and stuff like that,” Byard said. “Caleb doesn’t have to be the Superman that he always is throughout the entire game. He’s going to show his stuff every single game, especially when the games are tight, and we need him to make a play.
“He’s going to do that. I just think probably more of the processing is what I’ve seen improve, for sure.”
Williams won’t have to do it alone on Saturday. If Johnson doesn’t flop in his playoff debut as a head coach/play caller, he’ll lean heavily on Swift, Kyle Monangai and a rebuilt offensive line. However, Williams will still have to make the throws and not just late in the game when the drama is at its peak. He can’t be the reason the Bears fall behind.
Chicago has made a habit lately of starting slow and relying on the Johnson-Williams combination to give them a chance late. Green Bay might be riding a four-game losing streak, but it’s the betting favorite for a reason.
The Packers won their first matchup this season when Williams threw an interception at the end, and Chicago needed some luck for him to win the second one with that thrilling overtime throw. Johnson’s offense scored a total of three first-half points in those games.
Everyone has a part to play. But in the end, when the game has been decided, I’m sure we’ll just be talking about how Williams played.
Will he be a franchise quarterback or a Bears franchise quarterback? That’s up to him.
However, maybe after Williams is done, Bears quarterback will mean something altogether different.
