Whether Caleb Williams gives himself a chance to win NFL MVP or not, it won’t be for lack of exposure.
If he were in the running for the Heisman Trophy, the Bears’ prime-time broadcast run between now and Christmas would be a point in his favor. If the quarterback was running for Senate, national television games would be his big end-of-cycle ad buy.
Monday night’s game in Seattle, then, figures to chart the course for the next two months of Williams discourse. He’s got the seventh-best odds to win the MVP, at 22-1, despite missing three games due to injury. But he has plenty of prominent opportunities — against some of the NFL’s best teams — to state his case.
“You have to hold yourself to a certain standard,” Williams said. “And that's what these primetime games are — they're the league seeing us as one of those teams that's the best in football.”
The Bears improved to 5-2 with a primetime win against the Patriots. They’ll follow their “Monday Night Football” game with a “Sunday Night Football” matchup against the Buccaneers at Soldier Field.On Thanksgiving, he’ll play a standalone game against the Lions. On Dec. 19, the Bears will play a prime-time Saturday night game in Buffalo. Their rivalry game against the Packers at noon Christmas Day will be the only game in its time slot, too. That list doesn’t include any possible flexed-game scenarios, either — if the Bears remain one of the hottest teams in football, they could play even more night games.
“We want to go out there and prove ourselves each and every week — it doesn't matter if it's primetime or not,” Williams said. “But in that sense of it being primetime, that's what the league wants for us. That's what we want for ourselves.”
When the Bears traded for four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons this week — and the Seahawks for eight-time Pro Bowl guard Quenton Nelson — Monday night’s game became, for some, a preview of the NFC championship. It will also be another national referendum on Williams and his chances to be considered among the best players — at any position — in the NFL.
“This isn't a rival game for us, but it's a big game,” Williams said. “It's on primetime. They're going to be loud. They're the reigning champs, and so I'm excited for it.”
He has every reason to be. Williams is trending the way the Bears have always dreamed, posting a completion percentage above coach Ben Johnson’s stated goal of 70% and throwing only one interception in four games. He posted a passer rating of 111.2 against the Falcons and 116.7 against the Patriots after returning from a hamstring injury. Johnson thought he could have been better against the Patriots, though — and the quarterback agreed.
“I love just where he is, mindset-wise, right now,” Johnson said. “No one's more critical of him than himself at this point. And as good as he's done taking care of the football — and certainly the higher completion percentage and all those things — we would come in, and there's a lot more to be had last week.”
Williams’ performances encouraged general manager Ryan Poles to trade two first-round picks as part of a package for Simmons as part of the Bears’ Super Bowl push.
“A lot of hope and belief in our quarterback — and the path that he's on,” Poles said.
It’s been since the Bears’ last Super Bowl appearance, probably, that the Bears were considered such a serious contender to win a championship. The monoliths that stood in front of them last year — the Rams and Seahawks — aren’t running away with the NFC as the season comes close to its halfway point.
Monday night, then, will be a measuring stick.
“We've been saying all week long that we're gonna have to coach the best that we've coached all year, we're gonna have to play the best that we've played all year,” Johnson said. “And that doesn't mean we're scared to make mistakes or anything like that, but we got to be on our mess. We can't shoot ourselves in the foot with turnovers or penalties or things of that nature. ….
“It'll be a great tape to look at, just to assess where we are.”
And where Williams is. Last week, the Seahawks bullied Patrick Mahomes into the worst game of his illustrious career. The Chiefs scored just three points and didn’t post a pass of at least 20 yards or a run of at least 10. None of that had ever happened with Mahomes under center.
When Williams walks to the line of scrimmage Monday, the Seahawks will be in a shell with two high safeties. Their coverage, though, will morph depending on what the Bears do immediately after the snap. If the Bears send a running back into the flat quickly, for example, a safety could cover him. If the release is slow, though, the safety would go elsewhere.
“You may not know what the coverage is at any given time or where the pressure's coming from at any given time,” offensive coordinator Press Taylor said. “And we try to build in this standard operating procedure of how we're going to respond to any of it — and all of it — and make sure we're putting our guys in the best position.”
Williams needs to know the rules of the defense, then, and play with enough anticipation to attack it. That’s a tough ask.
Master it, though, and Williams could start stating his MVP case.
