The Chicago Bears have 11 wins. They're in the playoffs for the first time in five years. They're likely one win away from their first division title in seven years. It has been a crazy past 12 months, punctuated by the arrival of head coach Ben Johnson. Everybody agrees his arrival is the single biggest reason the Bears were able to go from one of the worst teams in the league to the postseason so quickly. However, none of this happens without the ascent of Caleb Williams at quarterback.
Through 15 games, he has accounted for 27 total touchdowns, 3769 total yards, and only six interceptions. He's led six 4th quarter comebacks this season, including the instant classic against the Green Bay Packers last weekend. Anybody with eyes can see Williams is steadily morphing into a star. Yet there are still people out there trying to downplay his impact. Not just fans, mind you—actual insiders with credible league sources. The latest is Mike Sando of The Athletic, who, for someone supposedly impartial, came across as someone desperately trying to cover for one of his buddies, having stated that Williams was a liability a few months ago.
He isn't even trying to hide the agenda.
Both men laughed. The team laughed. There was an ease among them that defied the narrative heading into this season, fueled by a 32-source Go Long piece that dropped three days before the opener, painting Williams as selfish, entitled and hard to coach.
“I’ve got the best coach in the world, and we have the best coaching staff in the world,” Williams said after the game.
The coach is still the boss: Williams, uncoachable? The evidence suggests he might not have a choice in the matter...
...The winning touchdown pass (against Green Bay) required what a coach from another team called a “Tier 1 throw” by Williams, but the structure of the play — under center, hard play-action — was all Johnson.
Caleb Williams has proven the "sources" wrong all year.
Every sign to this point has gone against what Tyler Dunne's article reported about him. He has accepted every demand made of him by Johnson during the process. There was never a single inkling that he was upset with the treatment. He hasn't pushed to play a more open, spread style like at USC. Williams adopted the under-center approach, drilling himself diligently to master the necessary fundamentals. As for the selfish label? His giving credit to teammates and giving back to the community would suggest otherwise.
Don't forget Sando and Dunne are friends. Seeing one defend the work of the other is hardly a surprise. Yet Sando's willingness to double down on the Caleb Williams story after what we've seen for the past four months feels incredibly tone-deaf. It's as if he buried his head in the sand and ignored every sign that the quarterback was maturing. Not that it matters. Williams doesn't owe them anything. He has always been focused on one thing: winning football games.
