Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams started off the 2026 NFL season with a strong four-touchdown performance against the Carolina Pathers, joining elite NFL company despite a controversial grading system that failed to capture his dominant play.
Bears fans know the difference between good and bad quarterback play, since they've experienced decades of disastrous games to prove it. With Ben Johnson as the team's head coach, that historical standard has finally started to shift.
Against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams put on a show, leading his team to a 59-37 Week 1 victory. The third-year player finished the day completing 21 of 29 passes for 269 passing yards, two touchdowns and a 72.4 completion %. He also ran for 65 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.
Williams committed zero turnovers and was sacked twice.
That's not a typical day at the office by any means. According to the Athletic's Kevin Fishbain, "Williams is the fourth quarterback in NFL history with at least 250 passing yards, 50 rushing yards, two touchdown passes, two rushing touchdowns and a passer rating of 120-or-higher in a game. He joins Josh Allen, Cam Newton and Michael Vick."
That's elite company, but -- apparently -- not to everyone.
Pro Football Focus (PFF), a sports analytics company that grades and charts every player in the NFL, ranked Williams as the 18th-best quarterback with a 64.6 offensive grade. He finished No. 1 among all quarterback in Week 1 with a 94.8 QBR, 8th-most passing yards and the ninth-highest completions %.
You don't have to use any kind of stats to determine that Williams played far better than quarterbacks in the bottom half of the league, yet that's where PFF placed him. The eye test alone should tell you everything you need to know.
Bears head coach Ben Johnson applauded Williams on Monday for making checkdowns throughout the game and finding his pass catchers after the primary target wasn't open. He did that while protecting the football and creating explosive plays through the air and on the ground.
With PFF receiving major backlash online for Williams' outrageous grade, the analytics website came out with an indepth article, detalining how the grading scale works. Anytime you have to explain, like PFF did in this instance, that's a good sign the process is flawed.
"What the grade measures is the part of the play the quarterback actually controls — the read, the decision, the throw," PFF wrote. "Not the result that lands in the box score."
What's interesting is that people outside of Halas Hall apparently know what the reads are in Johnson's system. I've been in the Bears' locker room and have asked players about specific plays in the past, looking to clarify what outsiders perceive is correct.
Most times, analyst, analytical sites and experts are off base, and that's because every team will coach certain plays differently depending on certain variables. So, that's already a red flag in the grading system.
PFF's grading system evaluates players on a scale from -2.0 to +2.0 and 0 represents expected execution. Williams had 40 dropbacks and earned no higher than a +1.0. That means Williams' touchdown throw to Cole Kmet with two defenders in the area was just a throw that goes "beyond routine execution, typically requireing exceptional touch, timing and accuracy."
We've all watched a lot of football, and we know that play is "beyond routine."
Williams moving to his left and fireing a ball to Kalif Raymond should be considered more than routine as well, but it wasn't.
Williams did earn a -1.5 grade for a play that didn't even count. On second-and-1 from the Panthers' 1-yard line, Williams was intercepted by Panthers defensive lineman Bobby Brown III, but Derrick Brown was offside, negating the play. It wasn't the best decision by Williams, but to grade that a -1.5 and only award Williams a +1.0 for the touchdown throw to Kmet is a flawed product.
Here's what Bears fans should know and probably already do -- Williams played at an elite level in the first game of his second year in Johnson's system. He was in command, took the checkdowns and created explosive plays.
Trust your eyes. After decades of struggling quarterback play in Chicago, Williams is showing fans exactly what it looks like to have a premiere playmaker under center.
