In first season with coach Ben Johnson, Bears QB Caleb Williams is checking some important boxes

The Bears have a starting quarterback who rarely throws interceptions, whose coach says he’s playing his best football of the season in the thick of a playoff race and who repeatedly has made incredible plays with the game on the line — most recently a touchdown bomb to topple their archrival.

Sure, Caleb Williams isn’t perfect. But that’s a pretty good start toward becoming a franchise quarterback.

With the Bears on the brink of clinching a playoff spot after Williams’ 46-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore beat the Packers on Saturday, it’s important to remember this in itself is not the end game.

Ben Johnson didn’t take this job to squeak by every week and claw into the postseason. He falls asleep dreaming of blowouts and wakes up plotting to turn Williams into a juggernaut. He came to build a Bears dynasty.

With those ambitions, this was always going to be a transition season. Johnson essentially threw out everything Williams was taught under predecessor Matt Eberflus — “There really isn’t a ton of carryover,” he said in July — and has sought to rewire him. Building a quarterback from the ground up takes time.

When Packers quarterback Jordan Love stepped into the starting job in 2023, for example, everything clicked for him about halfway through that season. Unlike Williams, though, Love was in his third year in coach Matt LaFleur’s offense.

The longer Williams works with Johnson, the more likely the little things will snap into place for him. That eventually should be evident in his completion percentage, which still is problematic at 57.8, second-worst among qualifying quarterbacks.

Everything in this offense is about timing and precision, and good quarterbacking performances are built on a lot of slants and screen passes that lead receivers into open space. Those games jump from good to great when a quarterback adds a handful of spectacular plays.

Williams needs improvement in the simple, but specializes in the spectacular. That’s easier to work with than the opposite.

For now, the Bears have a quarterback trying to find his way in the basics while offsetting some of those struggles by showing up in the biggest moments.

He began the Packers game 9-for-21 passing for 132 yards (64 passer rating), then completed 10-of-13 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns (143.3) over the final three minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime.

“He always makes plays when needed,” Johnson said. “He's clutch like that. He always keeps a level head. He understands the situation so, so well.”

It’s especially encouraging for the Bears given that Williams is doing that in the most pressure-packed games in which he’s ever played. Every game is crucial in the playoff race, and if he gets actual playoff experience, all the better.

Williams has said the goal is to play so well that late-game heroics aren’t required, but this will do for now. It’s hard to complain about anything when the Bears are 11-4 and vying for more as they finish Sunday at the 49ers and the following week at home against the Lions.

Williams’ talent makes him capable of turning a game around at any point. He similarly got off to frustrating starts against the Raiders, Commanders, Bengals and Giants before catching fire at the end.

In rallying the Bears from down 16-6 against the Packers with under six minutes left Saturday to win 22-16, Williams picked up his sixth fourth-quarter comeback victory of the season. That matches Peyton Manning (1999) for most in a season by a quarterback under 25.

For the season, Williams has averaged 6.6 yards per pass and posted an 87.5 passer rating over the first three quarters of games. In fourth quarters and overtime, those numbers have bumped to 7.7 and 95.7, respectively.

In Year 2 with Williams, the question isn’t whether this is good enough, but rather whether it signals strongly that he’s on his way to becoming a quarterback who can win a championship.

The upside for the Bears is that they’ve paired high-end talent in Williams with high-end coaching from Johnson. Johnson said recently much of his basis for a bright outlook on Williams’ future is how well he accepts coaching, and Williams knows he’s finally getting expertise after playing for Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron as a rookie.

It helps to have an upgraded offensive line, but Williams also is playing in an offense that seems to scheme receivers open constantly. Every time he drops back to pass, he's certain to have options.

“I’ve got the best coach in the world,” Williams said.

That’s the right thing to say, but it also seemed genuine.

Williams defended Eberflus when he was under fire, but never went nearly that far. Keep in mind, too, that as he has raved about Johnson the last several months, Johnson has been coaching him relentlessly hard. But Williams can handle Johnson hammering every mistake because he knows it’s necessary for growth.

It’s been a successful combination for the Bears so far, and as exciting as this season has been, theoretically, it’s only the beginning.