Caleb Williams is going through a difficult transition. For the past several years, he’s always played football a certain way. It involved sitting in shotgun, taking the snap, and if somebody isn’t open immediately, just take off and run until that changes. He became a star in high school and college with this strategy. The Chicago Bears quarterback likely felt it would be more of the same in the NFL. Those 68 sacks he took as a rookie said otherwise. If Williams were going to become a professional, he’d need somebody who could rebuild his game from the ground up. That is why Ben Johnson was hired.

The new head coach had two options. Either he could try to build an offense from scratch that best fit Williams, or he could push the quarterback to learn how to play in the one Johnson built in Detroit. He chose the latter, knowing full well it would be a difficult transition. Learning such a complicated system comes with inevitable setbacks. Among them is overwhelming the QB with a barrage of information. Johnson admitted at his latest press conference that the volume has actually gone up in recent weeks, and it’s impacting Williams’ processing speed.

“We have more motions than we did the first four games. … He’s making sure he’s checking off all the boxes he’s got to check off before the snap. Because of that, the post-snap play suffers a little bit.”

Ben Johnson seems willing to accept these issues.

The idea is that by putting Williams through this now, it will pay off later. Once the quarterback experiences the offense at its fullest for long enough, the information won’t overwhelm him anymore. That is when his processing will pick up speed, and he’ll start making more accurate throws. Williams himself even admitted that it would probably not be until next season that he would be at the same level of understanding the system as Ben Johnson. Until then, he is doing the best he can to digest everything.

Experts agree that Williams has taken massive steps from where he was at the start of the season. His mastery of the pre-snap work has drastically improved. He doesn’t make bad decisions anymore. Everything comes down to him playing more on time and hitting the open throws when he’s supposed to. That is often the toughest hurdle for young quarterbacks who have never played that way. Johnson is staying patient. He knows rushing the process won’t help. All he can do is continue grinding on his quarterback until everything falls into place.

Ozzy Trapilo went from a 2nd round pick to the favorite for the left tackle job to out of the competition to a pointless backup to starting left tackle, all in less than six months. Since ascending to the job, he has been much better than expected, allowing just five pressures in his last three starts. It is creating plenty of hope that the Chicago Bears may have found their left tackle of the future. Then again, it might be too early to crown the young man. Franchise legend Olin Kreutz has seen that happen before.

The six-time Pro Bowler was asked about Trapilo on 670 The Score. While the rookie has played well, it’s clear he isn’t a finished product. What areas must he fix to reach the next level? For Kreutz, it comes down to the details. Trapilo seems to struggle the most at identifying what opposing defenders will do before the snap. He doesn’t have the best aiming points in pass protection or run-blocking, which makes him easier to beat. NFL defenders are too fast and too smart to allow such leeway.

Olin Kreutz was not saying that Trapilo is bad at all.

People who paid attention will notice it had nothing to do with the rookie’s talent. There was never one mention of his athleticism, size, or strength. Every note addressed fundamental issues. For those unfamiliar, the “aiming point” is a specific target (like a defender’s chest number, hip, or armpit) that dictates where a lineman drives their helmet and hands to control the defender, creating space for the ball carrier or protecting the QB. There have been too many instances where Trapilo failed to identify the aiming point effectively.

This is the play Olin Kreutz references. Trapilo does a poor job of getting his body into #55 and driving him back. As a result, the defender is able to disengage and make the tackle on Kyle Monangai for no gain. It should’ve been a first down. Instead, the Bears were forced to go for it on 4th and 1, which ended with Caleb Williams‘ interception. Little mistakes like that can lead to big consequences. Kreutz understands that better than anybody. Trapilo will have to use these lessons to make himself better.

The Chicago Bears hope to get over their tough loss in Green Bay on Sunday as they return home to Soldier Field. It will be a frigid affair against the Cleveland Browns. While their 3-10 record indicates an opponent who should be relatively easy to beat, that assumption would be a mistake. Cleveland has one of the best defenses in the NFL, especially against the pass. They can rack up sacks at a frightening clip if you’re not careful. Most would agree this doesn’t bode well for a big game from quarterback Caleb Williams.

However, that might be changing. Cleveland is already dealing with a brutal list of injuries. Their best defensive tackle, Maliek Collins, is done for the season. Rookie standout Mason Graham is questionable. Yet the biggest blow came down on Friday when word came out that All-Pro cornerback Denzel Ward will not play. He is dealing with a calf injury. Outside of Myles Garrett, nobody is more important to the Browns’ pass defense than Ward. His absence opens the door for Williams to have a big game.

Caleb Williams should be able to find windows if protected.

Ward’s absence has never led to anything good for the Browns. Since the start of 2022, the cornerback has missed eight games. Cleveland allowed an average of 29 points per game in those situations. They aren’t the same defense when he’s not on the field. The Browns will already have a tough time containing Chicago’s rugged ground attack led by D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai. Trying to contain D.J. Moore, Luther Burden, and possibly Rome Odunze without Ward feels like a herculean labor.

Ben Johnson is a smart coach. He will be fully aware of this development. The best coaches always know where the weaknesses are. You can bet he’ll have some plays ready to attack Ward’s replacement. It will be on Caleb Williams to make the throws happen. His inconsistent accuracy is the only thing that should prevent the Bears passing game from finding some traction—that or letting Garrett run wild.

The Chicago Bears might finally be catching a break, and it’s happening at the perfect time.

After being battered by injuries earlier and midway through the season, the Bears are entering the most important stretch of the regular season as one of the healthier teams in the NFC. That timing couldn’t be more critical. At 9–4, Chicago likely needs to win three of its final four games to either capture the NFC North or lock up a Wild Card spot in what has become a brutally stacked conference.

Help is arriving just in time. Wide receiver Rome Odunze is trending toward a return, giving Caleb Williams another explosive weapon in an offense that is looking to find more consistent rhythm. On defense, Tyrique Stevenson is back after missing time, stabilizing a secondary that struggled to stay intact most of the year. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds is also expected to come off injured reserve next week, potentially returning for the massive matchup against Green Bay if all goes well.

That’s a major shift from where the Bears were months ago, when key contributors were dropping weekly and depth was constantly being tested. Now, Chicago is trending in the opposite direction — healthier, deeper, and hopefully playing its best football when it matters most.

Head coach Ben Johnson has consistently preached that this team would peak late. If that prediction holds true, the Bears have a legitimate chance to make a run and force the rest of the NFC to deal with a fully loaded, confident Chicago team heading into January and hopefully the playoffs.

One of the popular conspiracy theories in sports these days is that the NFL scripts its entire season. A popular method of determining this is through the colors of their Super Bowl logo. Recent examples have surfaced where the two primary colors on the logo seem to predict which two teams will play in the big game. It began in 2021, when the orange and yellow hues perfectly suited the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams. A year later, it was green and red. Sure enough, the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs faced off. Then it happened again last year with green and red. Again, the Eagles faced the Chiefs. Combine this with the wealth of questionable calls from refs that seem to push beneficial outcomes for certain teams, and you get the idea. The Chicago Bears wouldn’t know much about that.

At least, they never have before. That might be changing, provided you’re a conspiracy theorist. As the Bears make their final push to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2020, a photograph popped up online. It came from an official NFL account that shows an event being added. It states that the Bears will face an opponent to be determined in the NFC championship game on January 25th.

That would certainly be a stunner for critics of the Chicago Bears.

Many have said all season that this team has benefited mostly from good luck and a weaker schedule. They have five 4th quarter comebacks, which is not usually a sign that a team will go far in the playoffs. Yet the NFL seems to think otherwise. Could it be the script? Perhaps, but the likelier explanation is that the social media team for the league is preparing every possible post for the upcoming postseason, including schedule dates. It is likely that the Chicago Bears one was posted by accident. It was meant to be saved as a draft in the event they actually do reach the conference title game.

Not that any of this matters. Head coach Ben Johnson has made it clear that the Bears have won nothing. They have nine wins, and that won’t be enough to secure a playoff spot. Two of the last four are likely required to do it, and three of those games are against the Packers, 49ers, and Lions. All are just as desperate to get in. If the Bears want to prove they’re good enough to reach the NFC championship, they need to start beating the real teams in their way.