Don’t look now, but Caleb Williams currently on historic pace for Bears

Let’s get this disclaimer out of the way: the Chicago Bears have played some struggling teams the past few weeks. They won their third straight on Sunday by drubbing the now 1-5 Jacksonville Jaguars in London to improve to 4-2 on the season.

Before Sunday, it was a beat-up (but still viable!) Los Angeles Rams team. Before that, the Indianapolis Colts. 

But I’m not going to sit here and pretend the Bears always do what they’re supposed to do against struggling teams. I’m certainly not going to sit here and pretend it comes in dominating fashion when they do. Chicago scored over 35 points in back-to-back games for the first time since 2013. 

Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams became the first Bears quarterback to post three consecutive games with a triple-digit passer rating since Jay Cutler did it within his first four games in Chicago in 2009. It’s been 15 years.

Williams completed 23 of 29 pass attempts for 226 yards and four touchdowns against one interception in the win over the Jaguars. His completion rate of 79.3% was the highest in Week 6 through the first window among qualified quarterbacks.

Williams is the first Chicago rookie quarterback with four or more wins through the team’s first six games and those four wins are already tied for the second-most by a rookie quarterback in team history for a single season.

There was history written all over this win, in fact.

A few stats for you:

• Williams is the first rookie quarterback to have zero passing touchdowns in his first two games and then throw for eight or more in his next four at any point in the season since 1950.
• Williams is the third Bears rookie quarterback ever to throw 4 TD passes in a game and the first to do so since 1999 (Cade McNown in 1999 and Ray Buivid in 1937).
• Williams has the most touchdown passes by a Bears rookie quarterback in any three-game span (7) or any four-game span (9) all-time.
• Only two Bears QBs have three or more games with multiple passing touchdowns in their rookie season in the Super Bowl era (since 1966):Caleb Williams (3 in 2024)Jim McMahon (3 in 1982)
• Caleb Williams (3 in 2024)
• Jim McMahon (3 in 1982)
• Williams joins Robert Griffin III as the only rookie quarterbacks since the merger to record a game with four passing touchdowns, 50 rushing yards and a completion rate of 75% or better

Beyond what any of these statistics will tell you, the Bears offense as a whole continues to improve. Sure, it was a rocky start, but that’s going to happen with a new play-caller, new weapons and a rookie under center. Chicago also very much went the “baptism by fire” route, giving Williams the keys to the car from the start. They were betting on him being able to handle it and come out the other side. That’s exactly what we’re seeing.

The most encouraging thing beyond Williams’ performance on Sunday was it signaled the breakout of the final piece of the Bears offense. Williams tabbed tight end Cole Kmet early in the season as a sort of safety blanket. Kmet has a 90% catch rate on the season.

Then it was fellow rookie Rome Odunze, who Williams found on multiple downfield throws against the Colts, though the Bears lost that game. It was Odunze’s first 100-yard effort. 

Against the Rams in Week 4, it was D’Andre Swift’s coming out party. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron found the right ways to get Swift in space and the running back had 165 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. The Bears also found their changeup back in Roschon Johnson during the game, too. Last week, former Panther DJ Moore broke out against his former team with a pair of touchdowns.

That left one major piece.

In London, Williams found veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen five times, two of which were in the end zone.

Williams found seven different receivers at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in fact. This is in addition to the Bears’ 152 net rushing yards. It gave Chicago 373 total offensive yards and 25 first downs.

We haven’t even gotten to what the defense has been able to do from the very beginning of the season. Chicago was able to steal a win against the Tennessee Titans in Week 1 solely because of the defense, which is taking the ball away consistently and getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Against the Jaguars, they recorded an interception and a fumble recovery. They also had three sacks. That brings their season total to 21, which ranks in the top five through the first slate of Sunday’s games.

The defense has undoubtedly made things easier on Williams. As has the talent around him. There will still be adversity to face. The Bears are in the manageable part of their schedule, or the sweet spot as I’ve dubbed it, and haven’t played a single team in their division yet. That doesn’t come until Week 11. Following the bye, they’ll get the Washington Commanders, led by No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels. Williams will have the opportunity to match or break Chicago’s rookie quarterback franchise record of 11 touchdown throws in that game. Williams has nine so far this season. 

His 1,317 passing yards put him on pace for 3,732 yards this year, which would shatter Chicago’s rookie passing record of 2,193 yards and be 106 yards shy of breaking the Bears’ franchise passing yards record for any quarterback at 3,838.

But even if Williams doesn’t achieve those marks in his first season, there is justified optimism for the direction he and the Bears are headed.

Carmen Vitali is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV. 

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