The Chicago Bears' whole outlook on Week 11 could've been different had Cairo Santos' kick sailed several feet to the left or the right. As reality stands, though, the Bears were a 19-17 winner over the Minnesota Vikings in a must-win game in the NFC North race.
While head coach Ben Johnson didn't give Caleb Williams his flowers for the quarterback's role in the win, saying that it was "hard to say" how Williams played and that he'd have to look at the tape, Bears fans need to be happy with their play under center.
Williams completed 16 of his 32 pass attempts and had neither a touchdown nor an interception, adding 26 yards on the ground with his feet. That came against an aggressive Brian Flores game plan, where the Vikings blitzed on 24 of his 36 dropbacks (66.7%), the second-highest blitz rate by any defense in a game this season. Though it was his least efficient performance of the 2025 season, it wasn't his sloppiest. That came during a 26-14 win over the New Orleans Saints, when Williams had a 61.7 passer rating.
The job got done at the end of the day. As Chicago closes in on its first postseason appearance in five years and looks to contend for its first NFC North title since before the COVID-19 pandemic, that's all that matters.
Ben Johnson Wasn't All Negative on Caleb Williams After Vikings Win
Reading between the lines with some of Johnson's comments on Sunday, he wasn't all negative about Williams.
While the compliment was meant for Dennis Allen's defense, Johnson gave credit to Williams and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle's offense for contributing to the team's positive takeaway differential.
"That’s kinda been the story of our wins. We know how important that statistic is, taking care of the football on offense and getting our takeaways on defense. Most of these seven wins that we’ve had we’ve been winning that turnover battle. It’s no secret to us, no secret to our opponents. We gotta keep that trend going," Johnson said, via ChicagoBears.com.
Ultimately, the quarterback position is the one defined the most by team success, whether fair or not. Williams has gotten help from the defense this season, but he's avoided making game-losing plays. And that's not to say he's been a game-manager either.
Johnson knows the goal is bigger than one player's week-to-week production. Williams' struggles will only be relevant again if it costs them in the NFC Playoffs.