Caleb Williams prioritizes team victories over personal records, even with franchise history within reach against the Lions.
If you've been keeping up with talk surrounding Caleb Williams lately, it has all been about him chasing multiple franchise records for the Chicago Bears.
He has a chance to etch his name in the history books for the lead in single-season passing yards and touchdowns, as well as becoming the team's first-ever 4,000-yard passer.
The current record holder is Erik Kramer, who threw for 3,838 passing yards and 29 touchdowns in 1995. Williams has 3,730 passing yards and 25 touchdowns, meaning he needs to throw for 109 yards and five scores to pass Kramer.
In order for Williams to become the Bears' first 4,000-yard passer, he needs 270 passing yards against the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
The quarterback was asked about how much it would mean to him to be the first Bears quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in a season at Wednesday's presser. Williams shared that he cares much more about winning on Sunday and giving his team confidence heading into the playoffs.
"I think for me, it'd be cool just in the sense of, there's never been one here," Williams said. "I think I was brought here for those types of things and those types of moments, the things that haven't been done here, to try and be able to accomplish. Like I've said before, the self-goals and all of that always get swept under when you go for the team goals, and that's winning ball games, so that's first and foremost on my mind. That's first and foremost for this team, because the most important thing is winning ball games and heading into the playoffs with some momentum and some good energy heading into the playoffs."
That kind of answer demonstrates the effect that head coach Ben Johnson has had on this team. It's no wonder this franchise has had such a quick turnaround with this kind of mentality from his players.
A win over the Lions would mean that Chicago faces the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. The Bears would also play the Packers if the Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Washington Commanders in Week 18.
The best thing that Williams and the Bears could do for themselves is to take care of business and get a win over the Lions.
Here's hoping the Bears will bring in the new win with a win on Sunday at Soldier Field.