There has been one fundamental truth about the Chicago Bears going back several decades. Their quarterback position has been one of two things. Either it was a guy the team could win with or a guy the team would win in spite of. Jim McMahon, Jim Harbaugh, and Jay Cutler fell into the former category, while Cade McNown, Jim Miller, Rex Grossman, and Mitch Trubisky were among many in the latter. The Bears have never had a quarterback they win because of. At least they haven’t in the modern era. Olin Kreutz believes this has finally changed.

The six-time Pro Bowl center has never been shy about giving his honest assessments of Bears quarterbacks going back several years. He was blunt about Trubisky, Justin Fields, and others who tried and failed to become the difference-maker this organization needed. However, based on what he’s seen this season, Caleb Williams has changed everything. Kreutz told 670 The Score that the second-year quarterback has become the multiplier this franchise hasn’t had in decades, and it changes their entire outlook.

Olin Kreutz likely feels a pang of envy while saying this.

He never got the chance to play with a quarterback like Williams in his long career. The closest he came was with Drew Brees in 2011, and that was at the end when he was nearing retirement. He lived through the years of McNown, Miller, Shane Matthews, Grossman, Kyle Orton, and Cutler. Having Williams during that era probably would’ve put a Super Bowl ring on his finger. At least that is how he makes it feel. If you don’t buy his assessment, look at the numbers—specifically, those of close games.

In the calendar year of 2025, the Bears had seven 4th quarter comebacks to win. Two of them were against the Green Bay Packers. He came close to doing it to them a third time a few weeks ago and came one pass away from doing it to San Francisco as well. What Olin Kreutz says is true. Every time the Bears have needed him to step up, Williams does. He saves his best for the big moments. That is what franchise quarterbacks do. Kreutz can see what is taking shape, and it creates all sorts of new possibilities for this organization.

The Chicago Bears know the score. If you have success in the NFL, other teams will want a piece of it. That is why they almost always come poaching for your talent, be they executives or coaches. Assistant general manager Ian Cunningham has been a prominent name in league circles for years. The Bears’ recent run of misfortune has kept him around longer than expected. However, their recent breakout in 2025 may have finally drawn too much attention to his work. Teams are already sniffing around him, and one stands above the rest.

According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, there is a possibility that the Atlanta Falcons will fire GM Terry Fontenot this offseason. If that is the case, he believes Matt Ryan, who is set to rejoin the team in a front office role, could push to bring Cunningham to Atlanta. Ryan is close friends with GM Ryan Poles, dating back to their days as teammates at Boston College. It isn’t hard to imagine Poles putting in a good word for his partner, who has been ready for his shot for quite some time.

All that isn’t to say everyone’s safe. But the winning streak will likely help coach Raheem Morris, in his second year, more than GM Terry Fontenot, who’s in his fifth year (Atlanta last made the playoffs in 2018). If there’s a GM change, Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham would be a name to watch, given the close relationship between Ryan and Chicago GM Ryan Poles, who was a lineman for the quarterback at Boston College 20 years ago.

Ian Cunningham to Atlanta would be so appropriate.

After all, the Falcons have made a strange habit of scooping up Bears castoffs for the past few years. They hired former GM Phil Emery as a scout in 2016 after Chicago fired him. Then, they repeated the same thing in 2022, bringing in former GM Ryan Pace as a senior personnel executive. Hiring Ian Cunningham directly from the Bears would be the fitting trifecta, and perhaps the third time is the charm. The man has now helped three different organizations find success. He has been groomed for this opportunity.

If the Bears do lose him over the next month, they will receive two compensatory 3rd round picks since he’s a minority candidate. That should give Poles some needed flexibility to keep filling out the roster with young talent. It would be one last gift from Cunningham before he charts his own path. The big question is whether Atlanta will be the only team in on him. There could end up being some competition. We should find out one way or another over the next two or three weeks.

Kevin Warren arrived in 2022 as the new team president of the Chicago Bears. He certainly talked a big game, insisting he would do everything necessary to help the organization modernize and become one of the NFL’s first-class franchises. It was time to dream big. That began with the construction of a state-of-the-art new stadium. There were grand plans. Warren shifted the focus away from Arlington Heights and back to downtown Chicago, believing it was where the Bears belonged and where the most money could be made for everybody.

Three years later, nothing has materialized. The team still hasn’t broken ground to begin construction. In fact, they still haven’t chosen an actual building site. Warren recently sent a letter to season ticket holders stating that the Bears are reopening their search for a new home, this time including northwest Indiana. It was the latest evidence that the team president hasn’t been able to find any common ground with the Illinois state government, something he was supposed to be an expert at, given his work in Minnesota with U.S. Bank Stadium.

People inside the building have informed SM that ownership is souring on Warren rapidly due to many missed timelines and broken promises. His ideas sound grand, but they are often not grounded in current realities.

Kevin Warren is proving to be more politician than anything else.

He seeks the spotlight way more than most team presidents, makes all sorts of promises, but more often than not can’t follow through on them. He’s made more public appearances in the past six months than Ted Phillips did in his last decade on the job. The only thing accomplished to this point was securing the Arlington Heights property, and that was Phillips’ work. Warren merely inherited. In reality, he hasn’t accomplished anything notable in the three years he’s held the position. The longer this stadium saga goes on, the worse it looks.

Other organizations are already entering the main phase of constructing new buildings. It seems that the Bears are the only ones unable to make headway, despite promising to pay more privately than any other team. If Kevin Warren can’t sell that to the state, what is he good for? This is why there is genuine buzz inside Halas Hall that he could get fired if this goes on much longer. The McCaskeys are known for being patient, but even they have limits. Phillips had their trust from being able to get Soldier Field renovated in the early 2000s.

Warren is barely treading water, and that was with him already getting a head start with a purchased property in place. His fancy words won’t protect him forever.

The Chicago Bears have not acted like a team that is uncertain of how they’ll approach the final week of the regular season. Head coach Ben Johnson said the starters will play. There is no debate. His reasoning is straightforward. The Bears still have a chance to clinch the #2 seed in the playoffs, potentially guaranteeing them at least two home games. That is worth a ton in their eyes, even at the risk of injuries. Granted, there is an added benefit of potential revenge on their minds after what the Detroit Lions did to them in September with a 52-21 humiliation.

However, neither of these teams is the same anymore. Detroit seems to have lost their mojo after that strong start. Their running game can’t find a rhythm, and injuries once again ravage the defense. Health is the story in this game as well. The Lions’ final injury report featured some doozies. Star right tackle Penei Sewell is out with an ankle injury. Linebacker Alex Anzalone has a concussion, and defensive tackle Alim McNeill has an abdominal problem. In essence, Detroit loses their best run blocker on offense and two of their three best run defenders on defense.

The Chicago Bears are almost certain to take advantage of this.

Detroit has really struggled to run the ball in recent weeks. They have no more than 70 in any of their previous three games. That was with Sewell on the field. Remember, he is the highest-graded run-blocking tackle in the NFL. Almost all of their rushing success this season came going right. That advantage is no longer available. Meanwhile, the Lions’ defense has allowed at least 150 yards rushing in each of the past three games. Again, that was with Anzalone and McNeill playing. The Chicago Bears have the #3 rushing attack in the NFL.

Then you have simple motivation. Detroit’s season basically ended last week at the hands of Minnesota. They have nothing to play for in this game except pride. It will be outdoors and cold. The Bears will be at home in front of a raucous crowd and have all sorts of motivation not only to win but to crush their opponents. Detroit may still win. It’s the NFL and things happen. Still, it sure feels like too many things are working against them ahead of this Sunday.

Most football fans probably know the name Greg Cosell, at least in passing. He is the nephew of the late Howard Cosell, one of sports’ greatest commentators. However, Greg has carved his own path in the business. He’s a senior producer at NFL Films, putting together some excellent shows and segments to help enhance the game. Yet these days, he’s better known for his detailed and unbiased evaluations of quarterbacks. If he is skeptical of you, there are valid reasons to be so. Cosell was notoriously cool on Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields when they arrived in Chicago. The same was true of Caleb Williams.

While Cosell was impressed, like everybody else, with the pure talent of the Bears’ young quarterback, he worried about a potentially fatal flaw. That was Williams’ bad tendency to take too many sacks.

It is a perfectly valid concern. After taking 80 sacks in two years at USC, he took 68 as a rookie in 2024. There was no way Williams could survive that level of punishment long-term. Has Cosell’s opinion changed at all in the past few months? Boy, has it. He expressed genuine excitement at how much the Bears QB has improved under the tutelage of Ben Johnson on the Ross Tucker Show.

Winning over Greg Cosell is a major triumph for Caleb Williams.

That isn’t easy to do. The longtime analyst has always trusted his evaluation process and is generally accurate. His misgivings about Trubisky and Fields were obviously well-founded. It was hard to imagine he would suddenly reverse course on Williams. That should tell you how much the former #1 pick has improved. Cosell can suddenly see everything clicking in a way it hadn’t before. That is especially true in the sack department. He’s only taken 23 this year, just over a third of his rookie season. That improvement alone shows how much Williams has learned.

One thing about guys like Greg Cosell is that they always keep their opinions grounded in reality. He watched the tape and drew on what he had learned from the many knowledgeable people he had interacted with throughout his career. He also isn’t afraid to admit when he’s wrong. His doubts about Caleb Williams were justified, but ultimately misplaced. He can see what the Bears quarterback is becoming, and the excitement in his voice says it all.