After Week 1, it wasn’t a reach to look at Caleb Williams and wonder if he was about to rip through an MVP-caliber season. For Bears fans, that would have meant something even bigger: the first Chicago player to win the award since Walter Payton in the 1977 season. That kind of drought is hard to wrap your head around, even if the trophy has long since become a quarterback’s prize.
Williams looked like he was barreling toward a historic year before a hamstring injury knocked him out in Week 2 and forced him to miss the next three games. Before getting sidelined, he was on track to become Chicago’s first 4,000-yard passer. When he returned, he wasted no time looking like himself again, throwing for 305 yards in what was described as a near perfect performance.
The numbers still jump off the page. Williams has 712 passing yards, three touchdowns and a 72.5% completion percentage. That’s a scorching start by any measure, and if he had not missed time, it’s easy to make the case that he would be sitting near the top of the MVP conversation.
The larger picture around quarterback play only makes the missed opportunity stand out more. Josh Allen and Brock Purdy have helped set the early pace, but Williams would have had a real argument to be ahead of either one if not for the games he lost to injury. Instead, that absence effectively removed him from a run that looked very much within reach.
Even with the frustration, the bigger goal remains in front of him. Williams has been vocal about his priorities, making it clear that winning comes first over contract talk or personal accolades. That mindset has shown up in the way he plays and in how his teammates and head coach respond to him.
So while it would have been special to see Chicago’s MVP drought finally end, that isn’t the only prize the Bears are chasing. Williams now gets time to get fully healthy, and Ben Johnson gets a chance to sort out his most dependable playmakers. That could serve Chicago well as the team reaches a critical point in the season.
The missed shot at an award is frustrating, no doubt. But for a quarterback who is already starting to look like one of the faces of the league, this feels less like the end of an MVP window and more like a delay. Even after the frustrating 2026 injury, Williams winning at least one MVP in his career still looks probable.
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Bears Win Felt Huge But Two Problems Should Worry Fans
The Bears got the kind of win that can steady a locker room, outlasting the Patriots 30-24 in a game that featured contributions all over the field. Kyler Gordon made his presence felt on defense with a sack and several tackles, DAndre Swift gave the offense a physical edge on the ground, and Caleb Williams was sharp enough in the fourth quarter to help close it out.
Still, the victory did not erase the stuff that can haunt a team later. Chicago was loose enough in spots to create some early frustration, and Rome Odunzes day summed up the range of emotions nicely, with one rough moment offset by a late play when the Bears needed it most. The result counts the same in the standings, but the sloppier stretches are the part the coaching staff will keep circling back to. [Read more 🡒]
Caleb Williams May Have Found What The Bears Needed Most
Caleb Williams is back from the hamstring injury, and through two starts he has given the Bears something they have been searching for all season: steadiness at quarterback. He has completed 75.4 percent of his passes for 613 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, while looking more comfortable operating from the pocket and showing the kind of ball security Chicago has lacked too often.
What has stood out just as much is the way Williams has changed his game since returning. He has dialed back his running, a sensible adjustment as he works around the injury, and the result has been a cleaner, more controlled version of the offense. For a Bears team still trying to find its identity, the bigger question now is whether this more efficient approach is a short-term fix or the start of something more lasting. [Read more 🡒]
Bears Win Showed Why Their Young Core Suddenly Feels Different
The Bears Week 7 win over the Patriots pushed them to 5-2, but the bigger takeaway was how many young players looked ready for the moment. Colston Loveland kept finding ways to matter, Dillon Thieneman added impact plays, and Kyler Gordon helped steady a defense that was still missing some familiar pieces. For a team that has spent plenty of time building toward this kind of depth, the victory felt like another reminder that the roster is starting to look different in a meaningful way.
Luther Burden was part of that shift too, providing one of the explosive plays that can change a game in a hurry, and the Bears got another important contribution from DMarco Jackson while he filled in for T.J. Edwards. Chicago did not just survive against New England with its established names carrying the load. It got real production from younger pieces across the lineup, which is the kind of development that can make a midseason win feel bigger than the standings suggest. [Read more 🡒]