Caleb Williams and Chicago Bears are here to stay as NFL contenders, says Jeff Reinebold
Sky Sports NFL's Jeff Reinebold says Caleb Williams has set the Chicago Bears up for long-term success as contenders in the NFL; watch the Bears face the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday Night Football live on Sky from 1.20am in the early hours of Monday
Tuesday 23 December 2025 15:05, UK
"The throw of his life!" said Tom Brady on commentary. Caleb Williams had just delivered his biggest NFL flashpoint yet to sink the Green Bay Packers in overtime and send Soldier Field into a frenzy.
It was a cold, icy, December night in Chicago when the No 1 pick decided to call game on one of football's most historic and important rivalries, fearlessly letting rip downfield to find DJ Moore for a game-winning 46-yard touchdown.
The Bears are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2020, riding a new chapter behind their No 1 pick quarterback and first-year head coach Ben Johnson.
For the first time in a long time, there is a feeling they are back in contention for good.
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"Ben Johnson made a comment about his football team before the game about how he thought this was a special group, that's so coach speak, I mean how many times have you heard coaches say 'I got a special group?' - well, this is a special group," said Sky Sports NFL's Jeff Reinebold on Inside the Huddle.
"When you look at the Bears' success, and this is critical, I think they are set up for sustained success. Because you build sustained success in the National Football League at the quarterback position first. And this is a young kid with a ton of runway in front of him. His ceiling is way high.
"I'm not as impressed with the ball he threw to DJ Moore as I was with the one that he threw in the back of the end zone while under duress to Jahdae Walker - there aren't very many guys walking this planet that can make that throw.
"He's got an unflappability about him. It's a mature quarterback. It's a mature guy. It's not a kid just right out of college that everybody's talking about the fact that he paints his nails. This is a true winner."
The jury was uncertain on Williams, with expectations naturally heightened such as life as a consensus No 1 Draft pick. It perhaps still is uncertain at times, with accuracy issues coming under scrutiny without warranting too much concern in light of Chicago's success.
But customary to any top quarterback in the modern NFL is the ability to improvise and to create and dissect off-script, off-schedule and out of structure. Williams has evidenced that in year two, amid a blossoming marriage with Johnson, who left his post as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator to work specifically with Williams.
"Being sacked as much as he was last year, it never allowed him to get on track, 68 sacks as a rookie, the most in the NFL last season," said Sky Sports NFL's Neil Reynolds.
"But he was the number one pick. He was supposed to be the guy. And then he had to watch Jayden Daniels take Washington all the way to the NFC Championship game, which made people talk about the other guy all season long and not really about Caleb.
"What he needed again was a good situation, the running game is really strong. I mean, the Bears did the most simple thing. 'We are terrible on the offensive line. Well, I tell you what, we're going to have about four new guys in there by the time we kick off the next season'."
The Bears' offense is ranked fifth in total yards and second in the running game behind the efforts of D'Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai and the ground threat of Williams himself.
Chicago's quarterback has thrown for 3,400 yards and 23 touchdowns to six interceptions this season, while rushing for 369 yards and three scores.
He and the Bears will win the NFC North for the first time since 2018 by winning either of their last two games against the San Francisco 49ers or Detroit Lions, or if the Packers lose one of their final two matchups against the Baltimore Ravens or Minnesota Vikings.
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