The Chicago Bears and Caleb Williams may have lost in dramatic fashion, but this season was nothing short of a magical run. In the Bears’ loss against the Los Angeles Rams, they gave all the confidence in the world that they will regularly appear in the NFL playoffs for the next 10 years.
Here are my takeaways from the Bears’ divisional round loss:
Caleb Williams should enter next season as a top 10 quarterback
No one has had a better postseason run their Caleb Williams. He made two of the greatest throws in postseason history this postseason. He almost had two playoff comeback wins but within this run he showed he is a superstar. I don’t think it is a questions that he is a top 10 quarterback in the NFL. That is a huge development and step forward for the Chicago Bears. I do not recall the last time this team had a top ten quarterback in my lifetime. Caleb shined in the biggest moments this season and he has created a different level of hope and excitement for the Chicago Bears that has not been present in quite some time.
Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson feels sustainable
The success Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson had together this season does not feel fluky by any means. Beating the Packers twice, regardless of how you do it, one of which was a playoff win, is a turning point for the franchise. Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams were not perfect this year, but to expect that in year 1 would have been crazy. To expect everything they achieved in year 1 would be even crazier. This is a duo that feels like they have found something special in chapter 1, and there will be a lot more chapters of success to come. Late-game winning drives and winning in the craziest possible fashion may not be fully sustainable, but winning games will be with this duo at the helm of this team.
It might be time to move on from D.J. Moore
Since the Caleb Williams era, it has been a constant flip of whether the Bears should trade D.J. Moore or should they retain him. He has had many moments where he looks like the best player on the field, or, like this season, he has had multiple game-winning touchdowns. But then there are moments where his effort is just unacceptable. On the game-sealing interception, the worst possible moment to be lacjsidacial D.J. Moore showed zero effort to run his route, and it essentially cost the Bears the game. Moore has had a second straight down year; this year was even a further step down from the production he is accustomed to putting up. His connection with Caleb Williams has shown flashes this season and has delivered great moments this season and in Bears history. Still, he has left more to be desired. I feel like that play in the divisional round vs the Rams was the nail in his coffin as a Bear. He is getting paid way too much money for that to be occurring in the biggest game for the Bears in recent memory.
If the Bears defense was healthy like vs the Rams this team would have won even more games this year
For the first time, the Bears’ defense minus T.J. Edwards felt healthy. The corners stepped up big in this game. Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker both played lights out, and it felt like they fed off of each other’s dominant play. The Bears got pressure on Matthew Stafford early in this game, and this defense got the best of a really elite Rams offense. If the Bears had had everybody healthy like they did in this game, this defense would have been even better this season. The Bears would have more than likely gotten the 1st seed. A performance like this makes you wonderif it isn’t just in the best interest to bring everyone back on the Bears defensive side of the ball for next season.
The Bears are close to real contention
15 yards away from an NFC Championship berth. The Bears had Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford, two Hall of Famers, on the ropes in this game. The Bears’ coaching was good; in fact, Dennis Allen outcoached Sean McVay. The Bears got the competition of a great offensive mind and one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL. The Bears displayed this postseason that they have an elite quarterback who can make plays that no one can make down the stretch. If this team makes some minor adjustments to their defense, they will be right back where they were this season and right the wrongs of their divisional round loss.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Micah’s takeaways from Bears and Caleb Williams losing to Rams
Reporting by Micah Huff, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
