Bear(ing) the News – A Chicago Bears Blog

Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune answers your questions:

Your idea of a good completion percentage for Caleb Williams — around 63% — seems way more reasonable than Ben Johnson’s goal of 70%. Most NFL quarterbacks never have one season at 70%. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady never hit 70%, nor have fellow MVPs Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen. Prehistoric Dan Marino and John Elway hit 60% only four and three times, respectively, in their 17-year Hall of Fame careers. Why do Johnson and a lot of NFL commentators seem so out of touch? Was it wise to put the pressure of an unreasonable goal in the mind of a second-year quarterback? — Damian W., Missoula, Mont.

I think I referenced 63% as what ought to be an attainable mark for Williams in an appearance on the “Mully & Haugh Show” on WSCR-AM 670. Johnson should keep the bar very high for Williams and all of his players because there’s always room for improvement. There’s no question Williams will need to be more accurate this season in terms of completion percentage and ball-placement — putting the ball in a place where the target has the best opportunity for yards after the catch — if the offense is going to take a big jump.

I can tell you why he wants him to hit 70%.  It’s because Jared Goff completed 72.4% of his passes in 2024, his best season in that regard ever the year before Johnson joined the Bears.

This goal is at least as much about Johnson and it is about Williams.  It’s a personal best for him and he wants to take Williams to the point where he can beat it with his own team.  It’s that simple.

Michael David Smith at profootballtalk.com quotes head coach Ben Johnson on quarterback Caleb Williams.  Williams is apparently doing what it takes to improve his accuracy.  His completion rate was only 58% last year.

“He’s done a great job over the spring and summer, just looking at himself, body position-wise, from an accuracy standpoint, are my feet aligned to where I want to throw the ball?  The ability to see where I should go with the football, to process a little faster, that’s where I’m hopeful that we see another step in terms of the processing speed.”

I think that last part can’t be emphasized enough.

The head and the arm are connected and how accurate a quarterback is will depend a great deal on how confident he is about where he’s throwing the ball.  Mitch Trubisky came into the NFL with an extrememly accurate arm.  But he never showed that with the Bears because he never got comfortable with reading what was in front of him.

As Williams progresses with his processing speed, everything will slow down.  He’ll be more relaxed about getting himself set and he’ll be able to concentrate more on placing the ball where it needs to be to hit a receiver in stride.  Its notable that Johnson emphasized 

Most of us depend upon video analysis to judge how fast a quarterback is processing what he sees.  This analysis is usually done by a member of the media who doesn’t know exactly what the play call was or exactly where the quarterback is being told to place his eyes.  But I would say you can easily loook at how accurate a quarterback like Williams is and that will tell you a lot about how well they’re seeing the game.

Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune on how the Bears are percieved outside of Chicago:

“It remains to be seen how deep the belief is outside of the region in the Bears’ ability to repeat. Remember, Poles’ goal was to “take the North” and never give it back. Fanatics Sportsbook on Tuesday had the Detroit Lions as the +170 favorite to win the division, followed by the Green Bay Packers at +210, the Bears at +310 and the Minnesota Vikings at +575.

“That’s probably due in part to the volume of late-game heroics that propelled the Bears in 2025. Internally, they know there are areas that need improvement and more consistency.”

“If you’re looking for a chip to put on some shoulders, that’s a good one right there: You’re third in odds to win a division you won last year.”

That’s fair enough.  But objectively, there’s good reason to doubt whether the Bears can repeat what they did last year.  And it goes beyond improving their consistency and their penchant for winning one-score games.

We’ve heard many times about how turnovers are not something you can depend upon year to year.  The Bears had not one, but two players who had a career year (Nashon Wright), or a near career year (Kevin Byard).  Both are gone this season.

But the real reason to be worried about the Bears’ chances is that they won only 2 games within the division last year.  And one of those was a miracle, once-in-a-generation comeback against the Packers. The Bears scored an average of 20.5 points per game against division opponents Vs. 28.9 oveall against the league. I have to believe that every team that the Bears are scheduled to play will be looking at what the division did to stop their offense last year and, whatever that was, they will all be doing it.

I’m sure the Bears are looking to evolve and make adjustments.  And I’m sure they are very aware of their struggles against the division.  But unless they improve that divisional record with a first-place schedule against the rest of the league, I can’t help but think that third place is about right.  Or worse.

Mike Florio usually has logical takes on various NFL storylines (even though they tend to be slanted in favor of the players and their agents). But I think he’s way off on this one.

When discussing Brendan Sorsby’s ability to enter the NFL without serving the punishment dished out by the NCAA, he supported the use of a precedent involving Kayshon Boutte, a player who entered the NFL with similar gambling problems, to allow Sorsby to avoid the consequences of his actions.

In 2011, the NFL suspended former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor for five games after he was taken in the supplemental draft, mirroring a pending five-game NCAA suspension. Appearing Wednesday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, agent Ron Slavin was asked whether the NFL may try to do to Sorsby what it did to Pryor.

“No, because ++there’s a precedent set++ with the Boutte kid out of LSU, where he had gambling and when he got to the NFL . . . he didn’t get any suspension or sit out at all,” Slavin said. “So, I think the precedent’s been set there. I mean, those conversations will still be had, but I don’t think you can really just make up rules as you go. Once you set a precedent, that’s what it is.”

In theory, Slavin is right. In practice, well, the NFL has a bit of a reputation for making up rules as it goes.

There’s a difference between Boutte and Sorsby that, on the surface, is irrelevant. But it could cause the league to reach a different outcome.

In Boutte’s case, his gambling addiction, underage betting, and wagers placed on LSU games while playing for LSU didn’t come to light until after Boutte’s rookie season with the Patriots had ended. For Sorsby, it’s all out in the open as he enters the league, after losing his NCAA eligibility.

As to Boutte, a suspension would have put a spotlight on the NFL’s failure to know about his betting before he entered pro football. As to Sorsby, everyone knows. It has become a major story. It will be harder for the NFL to look the other way.

It shouldn’t matter. The Boutte precedent should guide the Sorsby decision. The NFL, however, prefers to make decisions on a case-by-case basis, without past outcomes or prior reasoning tying its hands in a given situation.

It does matter. The NFL suspended Pryor because he was trying to enter the NFL to avoid a suspension that the NCAA had already applied. In Boutte’s situation, that wasn’t the case. He hadn’t been caught, and the NFL hadn’t administered a punishment that he would have had to serve had he continued to play college football.

Players shouldn’t be allowed to willfully break the rules in college, knowing that all they have to do is apply for entry into the NFL to avoid the consequences. That, right now, is what Sorsby is trying to do.

It will be interesting to see what the NFL does in this situation. Sorsby was ruled completely ineligible to play by the NCAA. I’m assuming that the ruling of a local judge turning that into a 2-game suspension won’t be relevant to the NFL. But what Sorsby’s ineligibility translates to in terms of NFL punishment, I don’t know.