Two former Oklahoma Heisman winners and top draft picks collide as Caleb Williams leads his surging Bears against Baker Mayfield’s resilient Buccaneers in a high-stakes quarterback showdown.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ QB Baker Mayfield and Chicago Bears’ QB Caleb Williams have a lot in common.
Both of them made names for themselves at Oklahoma.
Both of them ended up being selected No. 1 overall in their respective drafts. Mayfield’s time with his original franchise, the Cleveland Browns, didn’t go as planned (he was drafted in 2018 and gone after the 2021 season). Time will tell what Williams ends up meaning to the Bears, but right now, things look promising. Williams played well in his first season, ending the year with 20 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 62.5 completion percentage. The next season was even better.
Williams avoided the “sophomore slump” in a big way, ending the season with 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions, helping the Bears to their first playoff berth since the 2020 season and first playoff win since January 2011, with that win coming against the rival Green Bay Packers as a bonus.
If Williams does end up living up to the hype that he received as a No. 1 pick, last year’s postseason will be remembered by many as his “coming out party.”
Against Green Bay, Williams led the Bears to an epic comeback, where they were down 21-3 and ended up winning 31-27.
For his part, Williams threw four touchdowns and no picks, including the game-winner to DJ Moore with 1:43 left. Although the magic ended with an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round, Williams further proved himself by doing, well, this. Now, Williams is going into Year 3 and is at a time in his career where people will start expecting him to transition from “good” to “great.” To do that, Williams will need a quality supporting cast, and that supporting cast won’t include Moore, who had 682 yards and six touchdowns on 50 catches last year. The Bears traded Moore to the Buffalo Bills over the offseason.
But the Bears still have Rome Odunze, who they took with their second first-round pick (ninth overall) the year Williams was drafted. Odunze played in only 12 of Chicago’s 17 regular-season games last year but made the most of them, finishing with 661 yards and six touchdowns on 44 catches. It’s conceivable that Odunze could eclipse 1,000 yards this year, and with Tampa having a budding star in Emeka Egbuka, this matchup should feature two of the best young wideouts in the game.
Mayfield vs. Williams is scheduled for Nov. 8 on Sunday Night Football (8:20 ET, NBC).
