“Jahdae F****** Walker!” I shouted as the Bears tied the Packers.
“AHHHHHHHHH!” I bellowed not much later when D.J. Moore corralled the walkoff touchdown.
On both plays, Caleb Williams delivered a pass unlike most I’ve seen from a Bears quarterback.
I was hoarse for two days.
I know we’ve heard the whole “new era” claim before, including twice recently, but the arrival (actual) and Arrival (symbolic) of Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson is different from our recent forays into hope. This one feels different than
Bears season flare ups. It’s not just the “Cardiac Bears” vibe full of last-season wins. We’ve had seasons defined by miracle wins — I’m looking at you, 2001!
What you’re feeling this year is a team powered by its quarterback. Consider this: during our five-game winning streak, we scored 17 touchdowns, all on offense. No defensive TDs. No special teams TDs.
That’s the Bears’ most touchdowns without a score on defense or special teams in a five-game winning streak in 70 years.
We have to go all the way back to the 1955 Bears, a club that started 0-3 and then won eight of their final nine games to finish 8-4 and a half game behind the Western Division-champion 8-3-1 L.A. Rams, back when the NFL playoffs were just the two division winners.
Back in August, I wrote about the 2025 season being an incredible anniversary year, with 1985 at the top of the list. It’s also the 70th anniversary of those 1955 Bears, notable because that was the last era of Bears football where a multi-year playoff-contending team depended so clearly on their offense and not their defense. For three seasons, 1954 to 1956, the fireworks for three strong-to-dominant Bears teams were on offense.
Since the NFL moved to the two-way era, the Bears have only finished #1 on offense twice: 1955 and 1956. Only one Bears QB has been named to the modern Pro Bowl more than once: Ed Brown, 1955 and 1956.
Where the 2025 Bears stand out as different from those teams from ‘54 to ‘56 are the performances outside of the quarterback. Those 1950s Bears had Harlon Hill, who led the NFL in receiving touchdowns in ‘54 and ‘55, led the NFL in yards per catch in ‘54 and ‘56 and was named 1st team All Pro in ‘55 and ‘56. Hill is one of three Bears to win a major MVP award, with only Sid Luckman and Walter Payton the others.
Those 1950s Bears also had Rick Casares, who as a rookie in 1955 made his first of five straight Pro Bowls, and in 1956 led the NFL in rushing, rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns. The 2025 Bears have had some huge offensive performances, but nothing on the league-leading level.
This offense depends so much more on Caleb Williams than any other Bears offense has depended on its quarterback since probably Johnny Lujack, the last Bears QB to lead the league in passing yards or passing touchdowns, and the last Bears QB named 1st team All Pro. More recently, Williams is different from playoff QBs Jay Cutler or Rex Grossman: you can win games because of all three, but you could lose games because of Jay or Rex.
He’s different from playoff QBs Mitch Trubisky, Kyle Orton (counting ‘05), Jim Miller or Steve Walsh: you won’t lose games because of them but they won’t put you over the top.
That’s what makes Caleb different than any Bears QB since Jim McMahon: he can win games for you that you shouldn’t win without losing games for you that you shouldn’t lose. What held Mac back was his body (no thanks to Charles Martin), no such problem for Caleb, who has started every game of his pro career, the only Bears QB to start every game in consecutive seasons since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule.
Caleb this year is starting to produce stats that aren’t just “good for a Bear” — they’re good for everyone. He led the league in 4th quarter comebacks with six, and just like our five-game winning streak, those six wins were offense-dominant: 16 offensive touchdowns, zero on defense or special teams.
Caleb also finished 7th in the NFL in passing yards and 6th in touchdowns. Among Bears playoff QBs, those are the highest finishes in either category since Eddie Brown finished 3rd in both in 1956. Caleb is also the first Bears QB in a playoff season since Jim Harbaugh in 1991 to finish in the top 10 in both.
The stats reveal what we’ve all seen all season: a Bears team that is special because of its quarterback. Let’s take nothing away from this marvelous offensive line and a defense that led the NFL in takeaways. Congratulations are in order to Joe Thuney and Kevin Byard, both named 1st team All Pro.
Still, there is no denying the power of the quarterback position and what Williams has done there. In the National Football League, with all else equal, the quarterback makes the difference. At long last, we have a difference maker. As my colleague Khari Thompson wrote today, “Everything will change after tonight.”
He’s absolutely right. And Caleb is the reason.
My children have heard the Bears make me scream before, in both celebration and agony. They’re too young to realize how rare it is that those celebration screams are now because of the quarterback.
“Sweetie,” I had to explain to our daughter after the Caleb-Jahdae connection made me F-bomb in the house, “I am very sorry about my language. But the Bears are doing something I’ve never seen before.”
Happy New Year, Bears fans.
And Happy New Era.
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Jack M Silverstein is Chicago’s Sports Historian, Bears historian at Windy City Gridiron, a Pro Football Hall of Fame analyst and author of WHY WE ROOT: Mad Obsessions of a Chicago Sports Fan. Check out his new Chicago sports history TikTok!
