People expected Caleb Williams to be good at some point in his NFL career. They didn’t expect him to be this good this quickly. After a tough first three weeks to start the season, the rookie has put together a three-game stretch where he’s thrown seven touchdowns and only one interception. His mastery of the Chicago Bears offense becomes more apparent with each week. Things came together like never before in London, where he threw for 226 yards, four touchdowns, and ran for another 56 yards.
Even crazier was he completed 79.2% of his passes, showcasing not just productivity but efficiency as well. It was the best performance any quarterback had that week. Anybody with common sense would’ve said it had locked up the coveted NFC Offensive Player of the Week honor from the NFL. One can imagine the shock and disgust upon learning the award instead went to Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Sean Tucker. He amassed 192 total yards and two touchdowns against the New Orleans Saints.
With all due respect, that award belongs to Caleb Williams.
He accumulated more yards and touchdowns than Tucker did. He also did it after traveling 4,000 miles from Chicago to London, while Tucker only had to take a short flight from Tampa Bay to New Orleans. It is difficult to find any rational explanation for the NFL’s decision other than that they felt they had to reward the Buccaneers somehow for putting up 51 points against the Saints. That is poor reasoning. People can use the excuse of Jacksonville being a bad team all they want. Rookie quarterbacks aren’t supposed to put up numbers like Williams did.
There is no debate. He is the true Offensive Player of the Week. No, the award doesn’t matter much. It is the principle of the thing. Caleb Williams deserves proper recognition for his achievement. It seems like every time a Bears quarterback does something good, the NFL goes out of its way to ignore it. If nothing else, Williams is sure to use this as motivation moving forward. His presence on social media makes it certain he’s aware of the decision. Someone of his competitive nature won’t let it slide.
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Who said life was fair? Caleb will just have to work harder and play better next time, and hope no one else comes close to his performance.
Probably didn’t want two Bears players getting player of the week, with Cole Kmet getting the special teams award. 🤣
Who cares about Player of the Week honors? Caleb got the ‘W’!
With the Bye, let’s hope Flus draws up a stifling defensive plan to limit big plays by McLaurin and Daniels so Williams can light up a weak Wash secondary.