This is a different Chicago Bears team under first-year head coach Ben Johnson. Caleb Williams knows it, Johnson knows it, and the NFL is starting to notice as a once-dormant franchise eyes sustained playoff contention.
Williams entered the league with soaring expectations as the consensus No. 1 pick. He is still a work in progress, but he continues to win, guiding the Bears to a 31-28 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. That marked Chicago’s eighth win in nine games and improved the team to 8-3 atop the NFC North.
Johnson took the job largely to work with Williams. The development has been gradual and imperfections remain, yet signs are encouraging as the Bears find new ways to prevail.
“I evaluate quarterbacks by their execution in moments, the red zone tells you everything you need to know about this guy’s day,” said Sky Sports NFL’s Jason Bell. “Caleb Williams is evolving in front of our eyes, he’s getting better every week and building on this momentum. He understands offenses, sees how defenses are trying to defend him, and you can see by his playmakers’ execution they know he’ll get them the ball. This guy can deliver. This guy will be a top-five quarterback, he wins the moments, he has the arm talent and can execute at the top level. It was exciting. They had hope, it was rocking, they had a team, a quarterback.”
Williams finished 19 of 35 for 239 yards and three touchdowns, offering flashes of creativity to stretch and disrupt defenses outside the pocket while showing growing chemistry with Johnson on game tempo. He was also guilty of misfires, misreads and a bizarre end-zone sack that turned into a touchdown, and he acknowledged the need to improve after the game.
“Wins are hard to come by,” Bell added of Johnson. “He’ll let them celebrate but he’ll point out the things they left on the field to let them know they are a much better team than they saw today.”
Six of Chicago’s victories this season have come by one score, including five fourth-quarter comebacks, underscoring the team’s resilience and late-game toughness.
“We’re living in the know, we know when we’re coming out here we’ll find a way to win,” wide receiver Rome Odunze told Sky Sports NFL. “It feels good to be 8-3 at this point… The red zone has been an emphasis, when we get down there we need touchdowns, we executed in a proper fashion today. We’re right where we want to be. Got some tough opponents but looking forward to knocking them down one by one.”
Sunday’s win also highlighted the Bears’ ability to rely on defense. Eric Washington’s unit held off Pittsburgh down the stretch. Nahshon Wright’s sideline interception early in the game gave him five on the year, tied for the league lead with safety Kevin Byard, while teammate Tremaine Edmunds has four.
Byard, in his 10th NFL season, has been a steady veteran presence. “We stood up to the challenge, when the offense sputtered we had its back and it was complementary,” he told Sky Sports NFL. “It’s always about trying to be the calm in the storm. We had a lot of pieces, I was trying to communicate as much as possible. There will be a lot of dancing, partying, celebrating, screaming. We are 8-3, it doesn’t happen that often, you have to celebrate a win. We have a short week, we got Philly Friday night. It’s about being battle tested, we’ve faced adversity so many times, culture isn’t defined until you face adversity. We know we can go into our back pocket and pull it out every time.”