Getty Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears.
One of the primary challenges for new Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams will be to beat the Green Bay Packers, who have gotten the best of the Bears since 2019.
The Bears have dropped 10 straight against the Packers, and they’re hoping the addition of Williams will help get them back on the winning side of the longtime rivalry. The rookie signal-caller used to be on the other end of the rivalry, however.
After the Bears selected Williams first overall in the draft, an old social media post from March of 2022 by the former USC quarterback re-emerged and made the rounds:
“Okayy I guess I’m still a packer fan!” Williams wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in March of 2022. The post came during a time when one of Williams’ favorite players, former Packers and current New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, announced he’d be back in Green Bay for one more year, which likely provided the context.
Caleb Williams Isn’t a Packers Fan Anymore
An admitted longtime fan of Rodgers, who Williams has called his “football GOAT,” the new Bears QB told 670 The Score’s Danny Parkins and Matt Spiegel that he’s “excited” to go up against Green Bay, who is now his top divisional rival.
The Bears feel confident Williams can lead Chicago to its third playoff appearance in 13 years and its first playoff win since 2011.
“He’s a guy that has all the tools,” Bears general manager Ryan Poles said about Williams. “It’s going to take hard work. It’s going to take getting in synch with his teammates. There’s a long road up ahead to develop the places where he needs to develop to win games and bring a championship here but the beautiful thing is we have the right people here, we have the right teammates. I feel really good about it.”
“He’s got special instincts, awareness, especially in the pocket to manipulate the pocket, get in and out of the pocket, spatial, (his) feel for space is special. That’s his special sauce,” Poles added. “Then once we kind of speed things up and start to identify different coverages and there’s an adjustment to an NFL offense that he’s got to go through as well. So we’re really excited to work with the tools he has.”
It’ll Take a Team Effort to Bear Green Bay, Win NFC North
In the two seasons he spent with the Trojans, Williams completed 599 of 888 passes for 8,170 yards, 72 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 503 yards and 21 scores.
A passer first who can also do damage with his legs, Williams was widely considered by draft analysts and experts to be the consensus top pick. But the rookie QB knows he won’t be able to take down the Packers or help Chicago win the division by himself.
“I wouldn’t say that the QB position is necessarily to be the reason why the team wins,” Williams said at his first official presser on April 26. “It’s to be a portion of it. There’s obviously 10 other people on the field when you’re on the field. Then, at other times, whether it’s special teams, there’s 11 people. And then on defense, there’s another 11 on the field. So it’s a team sport.”
“That’s why I love this sport so much but my reason to go out there is to win games,” Williams added. “My reason why I play is to win games and to win championships. … I want to go out there, I want to have fun, I want to enjoy it, and I want to do it with my teammates. And what better place to do it than (with) the Chicago Bears?”
If he can beat the Packers on his way to helping lead Chicago to the postseason, it’ll be all the more fun for Bears Nation.
