With seven games left, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is in a dramatically different position than he was in at this point in his rookie season.
The team is 7-3 and now has a chance to prove its playoff worthiness in a rigorous schedule down the stretch. The Bears host the Steelers on Sunday and follow with a game at the defending champion Eagles on Nov. 28, and their remaining strength of schedule is the hardest in the NFL at a .592 opponent winning percentage.
Staying in the race and making the playoffs hinges largely on Williams’ development, which is a lot of pressure, but it’s better than watching the season slide away as it did last November. This time last year, the Bears were 4-6 and on a four-game losing streak and already had fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. There were no real stakes most of the rest of that season, which watered down how valuable the experience was for Williams.
“We feel good with where we’re at, but you also understand that things can turn,” he said Wednesday. “It’s us understanding where we can be and focusing on where we are at this moment… Focus on being 1-0 this week. If we go 1-0 each week, we’ll be exactly where we want to be.
“I don’t ever flip into [thinking] this is as higher-stakes game than another. That’s never my [mentality]. You start falling into that trap and you start looking at records and start comparing and you start getting distracted [from] where you want to go.”
Williams completed 16 of 32 passes for 193 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions for a 68.9 passer rating Sunday in the Bears’ 19-17 win over the Vikings; he also rushed four times for 26 yards.
For the season, Williams is 15th in yards passing per game (232.9), 32nd in completion percentage (59.7), 20th in touchdown passes (13), eighth in interceptions by percentage of passes (1.2%) and 21st in passer rating (89.9).
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