Before the 2026 season started, Caleb Williams was seen as a dark-horse MVP candidate. He was coming off an exciting first year with Ben Johnson, with a highlight reel a mile long. He was the Madden cover athlete, and as the offseason progressed, the buzz around Caleb and the Chicago Bears kept building.
After they dropped a 50-burger in Week 1, the NFL shifted the hype train into high gear, and the Bears were the lead story on every NFL show.
But then Week 2 and Brian Flores’ Minnesota Vikings defense
came to town, and coupled with a steady downpour, Chicago’s offense never got on track. Then a fourth-quarter hamstring injury as the Bears were driving inside the Minnesota 1o yard line would sideline Williams for the next three games, seemingly ending his Most Valuable Player chances.
The Bears went 2-1 in his absence, but since his return, Williams and the Bears haven’t trailed in any of their three games, and he’s completing 73.8% of his passes for 860 yards, 4 touchdowns, no turnovers, and a passer rating of 111.3.
The last two weeks, he diced up the defenses of the last two Super Bowl teams, and his MVP odds have shot back up according to our partners at FanDuel Sportsbook.
Right now, he’s at +800 to win MVP, trailing only the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen (+175), the Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow (+450), the San Fransocso 49ers’ Brock Purdy (+550), and the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence (+600).
Earlier this week, we outlined how difficult it has been historically for a player to win the Most Valuable Player award after missing time during the season, but there is a precedent for him to do it, and another big game on Sunday Night Football could get him back in the conversation.
