The NFL playoffs tend to expose quarterbacks — but Caleb Williams has earned Chicago’s belief when the lights are brightest.
There is no brighter stage in sports than the NFL playoffs. And there is no position more important — or more unforgiving — than quarterback.
When the calendar flips to January and 14 teams punch their tickets to the postseason, everything else fades into the background. The goal becomes singular: survive, advance, and chase the Lombardi Trophy. And history tells us that if you want to do that, your quarterback has to rise when the lights are the brightest.
That’s why every postseason brings the same conversation back to the surface — an arbitrary but very real idea that has defined careers and shaped legacies.
The clutch gene.
It’s the trait every franchise searches for and so few quarterbacks truly possess. The ability to steady a team when everything tightens. To make the read and the throw when the crowd noise is deafening, the pocket is collapsing, and the season is hanging by a thread. The moment can’t feel too big — because if it does, it’s already over.
That’s the backdrop as the Chicago Bears host the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night, chasing their first playoff victory in 15 years. And while the stakes, both emotionally and literally, couldn't be much higher, there’s a different feeling around this Bears team than the fleeting, flash-in-the-pan runs of the past.
That doesn’t mean the Bears are destined for some magical postseason run. It doesn’t even mean they’re guaranteed to win Saturday night. It simply means this feels different — because for the first time - maybe ever? - Chicago trusts the most important position on the field.
The Bears believe their quarterback is built for this.
Caleb Williams has earned it. Nicknamed “The Iceman” by teammates for his late-game poise and fourth quarter heroics, Williams has played all season like the moment never overwhelms him. The bigger the stage, the calmer he looks. The more pressure there is, the steadier he becomes.
And yet, as good as the Bears offense has looked at times, Saturday night is anyone’s game — the betting lines say as much.
Chicago’s defense has offered little resistance to opponents in recent weeks, and that could very well be the Achilles’ heel that ends this season. But what I can say with confidence is this: Caleb Williams is going to play well enough to give the Bears a chance. And if the game is on the line, I want the ball in his hands.
I hope Ben Johnson does too.
Williams finished the regular season with six game-winning drives and six fourth-quarter comebacks — that led the NFL. And even before the wins started stacking up, he showed as a rookie that no deficit felt insurmountable, even if the Bears didn’t always finish games due to blocked field goals, fumbled clock management, or a hail mary.
And the version of Caleb Williams that we’ve seen in the second half of the 2025 season is impossible not to believe in. He’s playing on time within the pocket. He’s delivering deep throws with precision. He’s unfazed by pressure and athletic enough to escape sacks and extend plays when protection breaks down.
He has arm talent that allows him to make throws few humans on the planet can attempt — let alone complete. And just as important, he carries unwavering confidence in himself.
Caleb Williams is simply built for the big moment.
“He’s played in a lot of big games over the course of his life,” head coach Ben Johnson said earlier this week while previewing Williams’ playoff debut. “I think he’s primed and he’s ready to go. He was built for these moments. He plays his best when we need him to, so there’s really not a whole lot that needs to be said. He just needs to be him.”
“I think I am built for these moments,” he said. “Mentality-wise, how I’ve worked, I’ve been in a bunch of big games before and a bunch of big rival games. So in those moments and in these moments… I think I can provide a spark for the team.”
That doesn’t mean everything has to fall on his shoulders. It doesn’t mean Williams needs to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns for the Bears to advance. It simply means playing winning football — whatever that looks like as the game unfolds.
“I think I can do whatever my team needs me to do,” Williams said. “Whether that’s stay in the pocket, whether that’s run, whether that’s scramble, whether that’s hand the ball off 30 times and be energetic about it. Whatever it takes is where I’m at.”
Maybe that’s why this Bears season feels different — even if it ends in familiar fate.
Because Bears fans no longer have to hold their breath every time the quarterback drops back. When Chicago falls behind, there’s a belief that the Bears are still very much alive.
And that foundation — having a quarterback who can withstand pressure — is how franchises change their trajectory, even if it doesn’t all come together in year one.
It’s rarely the most talented team that wins the Super Bowl. It’s the team that executes, adapts, and knows how to win when things get uncomfortable. That’s how Tom Brady won seven championships across two franchises. It’s why the Kansas City Chiefs, led by Patrick Mahomes, are always a threat once they’re in the dance.
And yet for every Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes, there’s a dozen quarterbacks who crumble on the big stage.
Maybe that’s why this postseason feels wide open.
Brady is long retired. Mahomes is on the couch recovering from ACL surgery. The quarterback with the most playoff wins in this year’s field is 42 -year-old Aaron Rodgers, whose Pittsburgh Steelers needed a botched field goal to get in and are 50-1 underdogs to win it all.
The league is waiting to see which quarterback is ready to take the torch. There’s inexperience all over these playoffs. And when I look at the NFC picture, there’s only one quarterback I trust more than Caleb Williams right now — Super Bowl champion and possible league MVP Matthew Stafford.
That’s rare territory for a Bears quarterback to occupy.
Saturday night will test all of it. But the Bears are not wondering whether their quarterback belongs on this stage. They know he does.
And if that clutch gene resurfaces, there’s no ceiling for this team.