There was nothing stopping the Chicago Bears' offense in Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers.
The Bears put up a whopping 59 points with over 550 yards of offense, had eight different players touch the ball, and saw five different guys score touchdowns. Every time you thought they were done piling it on a hopeless Panthers defense, they seemingly scored again. The scary thing for the rest of the NFL is that the Bears echoed a sentiment where they maintained they could've played even better after the game, which makes sense when you realize they're chasing head coach Ben Johnson's goal of making history.
But the central story of the Bears' dominant offensive effort has to be Caleb Williams. The third-year quarterback is in his second season in Johnson's
system, which should suggest greater comfort with his responsibilities and improved control of his play overall. Williams certainly looked the part as he diced up the Panthers with both his arm and his legs all afternoon.
The kicker is that Williams might have had greater command of the Bears' Week 1 offense after a conversation with Hall of Famer and Fox color commentator Drew Brees in a production meeting the night before. As explained by Johnson, Brees told Williams that the ultimate difference between a 60 percent completion percentage and a 70 percent completion percentage was three passes. Three whole passes that can make all the difference in keeping your offense on track and in rhythm in a single game. That's nothing when you put it that way, right?
Once Williams understood this distinction, Johnson maintained it was apparent that, in between the customary big plays, Williams was more insistent on taking what the defense gave him in terms of efficiency. All because of what Brees preached to him.
Talk about being a quick learner:
Caleb Williams relayed his takeaways from his production call convo with FOX analyst Drew Brees to Ben Johnson the night before the game.
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) September 14, 2026
Williams and Brees discussed the difference between a 60% and 70% completion percentage, which Brees said boils down to 3 completions a game.…
If Williams can take what he hears in a production meeting with someone who isn't even associated with his team and use it to find success in a game, the sky might be the limit with the young signal-caller. We already know how talented he is and how much Johnson and the Bears continually rave about him. But taking little helpful sidebars from Hall of Famers and immediately applying them with flying colors?
Hoo boy, Williams is clearly able to find extra edges anywhere, which should terrify the NFL.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Ben Johnson revealed that Caleb Williams applied NFL vet’s sage advice in Week 1
