Ben Johnson doesn’t need to say anything to Williams before Saturday’s playoff game.
Bears coach Ben Johnson doesn’t need to say anything to Caleb Williams on Saturday.
He doesn’t need to remind his quarterback of the stakes of their first-round playoff game at Soldier Field — the Bears haven’t won a postseason game in 15 years. He doesn’t have to tell him about the opponent — the 213th game the Bears have played against the rival Packers is only the third postseason contest. And he doesn’t need to tell Williams what to do after a season in which he set the Bears’ single-season passing record and led them to their first NFC North title since 2018.
Williams knows.
“He was built for these moments,” Johnson said. “He plays his best when we need him to. And so, there’s really not a whole lot that needs to be said.
“He just needs to be him.”
If that’s good enough to win Saturday, the possibilities are dizzying for a franchise that last won the Super Bowl 40 years ago. Williams would etch himself in rivalry lore, position the Bears as a contender to win the NFC this season and give fans something to dream on for the next decade.
“I think I am built for these moments, mentality-wise, how I’ve worked,” Williams said.
Williams can pinpoint the only time he’s ever been nervous on the football field — in 2017, when he started his first-ever varsity high school game as a freshman. Williams fumbled two snaps at Gilman School in Baltimore but finished with 140 passing yards in a 38-0 win.
“I think it’s just the trust I have in myself, the belief in myself,” he said.
