Dear Chicagoans,
I’ve got mixed emotions here. It’s been fun watching your misery over the years. I wasn’t alive for the ’85 Bears, but boy have I heard about them like the Fridge just did the Super Bowl Shuffle last week. And yeah, Devin Hester’s kick return in the 2006 Super Bowl was cool — right before Peyton “The Sheriff” Manning took care of business.
There was a glimmer of hope with Urlacher, Peanut, and Briggs in the early 2010s under Lovie Smith. Great beard, by the way, during those Texans days. But that hope vanished fast when part-time owner Aaron Rodgers and big man B.J. Raji discount-double-checked their way through Soldier Field in that cold 2012 NFC Championship.
Then came Mitch Trubisky and Matt Nagy. For a minute, it looked like a match made in heaven — until Cody Parkey double-doinked against Nick Foles and the Eagles. That turned dark quick. I even heard his kids were getting harassed at school. Can’t really blame Bears fans though. He was bad. He used up all his magic that first season and burned the rest on Good Morning America the next day. Insanity.
Then there was Justin Fields — insane runs, couldn’t complete more than ten passes a game. Ryan Poles came in, hired Matt Eberflus, and the vibes were… uncle-at-Thanksgiving level. Nice guy, zero backstory, always leaves with extra turkey. Poles made Bears fans think they won three straight offseasons while actually winning twelve games in three years. But hey, those offseasons though!
Then the stars aligned again. Caleb Williams walked through the door. Of course Hard Knocks was there for it. You saw the questionable outfits, the painted nails, the bags no one knew guys used — but he was a Heisman winner, top recruit, generational talent. “The Bears are so back,” said every Chicagoan willing to look past the manicure.
His rookie year started hot: 4–2. Showed flashes. Not quite the guy yet, but close. Then came an 11-game losing streak, most of them heartbreakers, starting with a Hail Mary loss to Jayden Daniels — the QB drafted right after him. Talk about salt in the wound. Daniels led the Commanders to the NFC Championship in his rookie season. Caleb still finished with 20 touchdowns to 6 picks — not bad considering the chaos.
Eberflus got canned midseason, meaning Caleb had two head coaches and three offensive coordinators before his first year was over. Not exactly ideal conditions. The talk started again — is Chicago just cursed? Can you actually win there?
Then came Ben Johnson. The hottest name on the market. Trick plays, fireworks, points, winning football. The guy helped Dan Campbell turn Detroit into an actual football team. And now, he’s paired with Caleb.
They’re 6–3 through nine games. It hasn’t been pretty, but you can see the vision. Caleb is starting to process the game like Ben does. Once those two sync up, watch out. Yeah, the defense is still Swiss cheese, but when it’s close, Caleb shows up. He already has four fourth-quarter game-winning drives. Four! That’s not normal.
The clutch gene isn’t the only reason I’m writing this. It’s the playmaking. No one can tackle him. Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux had him dead to rights about ten times last Sunday, and he still slipped away. Then he fires absolute lasers on the run. Everything’s a fastball. A gunslinger with the elegance of a ballerina (and no, that’s not a nail joke).
He, Ben Johnson, and the Bears are going to be a real problem. I think they win the North next year. The defense is too bad for a run this season, but give it time. I’m betting Caleb pulls off another fourth-quarter comeback soon — this time against a good team.