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Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is doing more than just tuning out the outside criticisms about his game — he’s laughing at them on social media.
Before the Bears took on Cleveland in Week 15 at Soldier Field, former NFL running back LeSean McCoy used his platform on the “Speakeasy” show with Emmanuel Acho to push a baffling narrative about Williams’ development as an NFL quarterback and how he stacks up against Shedeur Sanders, the Browns’ newly christened starter.
“I think he’s better than Caleb right now, to be honest,” McCoy said of Sanders during December 12’s episode of the sports talk show. “I don’t see Caleb playing like this. I see Caleb playing off script, running the ball, great, running the ball, great. I don’t see him playing like this. Yo, Shedeur is doing this in his second start.”
That’s not quite how things unfolded for Williams and Sanders in Week 15, though.
While Williams threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns without a turnover in the blowout win over the Browns, Sanders struggled to get into rhythm against the Bears, failing to score a touchdown for the first time in four starts and throwing three picks.
Afterward, Williams had a little fun at Sanders’ expense, reposting a TikTok in which someone cut up McCoy’s disparaging comments about the Bears quarterback and wove it together with a montage of Williams’ best throws in the romp against the Browns.
Caleb Williams Also Set NFL Record in Win Over Browns
Williams made some excellent throws to help the Bears pummel the Browns, including a how-did-he-do-it missile that found veteran wide receiver DJ Moore in the back of the end zone. For the eighth time this season, he also finished the game without throwing an interception. It’s a trend that helped him achieve a new career milestone on Sunday.
On his seventh pass against the Browns, Williams became the NFL record holder for the fewest interceptions thrown (12) in a quarterback’s first 1,000 career passing attempts. He has thrown only six interceptions through his first 14 starts this season. He has also thrown more than one pick in the same game only twice in his first 31 career starts.
That’s taking care of the football at an extremely high level.
Williams could still chase a few more records before the end of the 2025 season. He is just 850 yards away from becoming the Bears’ first 4,000-yard passer with three games left to play. While he would need to average roughly 283 passing yards per game for the rest of the way, he has a live arm that, when accurate, is capable of throwing 300-plus.
Williams would also need 10 touchdown passes over the final three games to surpass Erik Kramer’s single-season record of 29. Neither is likely, but both remain attainable.
Bad Game Does Not Define Shedeur Sanders’ Potential
Sanders undoubtedly played his worst game to date against the Bears. He completed just 51.4% of his passes, the lowest mark of his four starts this season for the Browns. He locked in on his targets too often and threw three interceptions, doubling his total on the season. And worst of all, he and the offense contributed exactly zero points.
Even still, Sanders should not be judged too harshly for one bad start as a rookie.
Sanders has shown promise as a passer despite only winning one of his first four starts. While his accuracy (52.2%) needs work and his interception total (six) is too high, he has also shown good touch on his deep passes, seemingly making at least one “wow” throw downfield in each of his first four performances.
Sanders had two of those types of throws against the Bears on Sunday. He connected with Isaiah Bond on a 42-yard dart in the second quarter. He also linked up with him for a 49-yarder in the third quarter. The Browns failed to score on both drives, though.
Sanders might still have a long way to go before the Browns will anoint him their new franchise quarterback. Even still, he has time left to put the loss to Chicago behind him.
Jordan J. Wilson is a sports reporter who covers the NFL and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. He has previously covered all levels of sports — high school, college and pro — for a variety of publications including The Indianapolis Star, The News-Gazette, Springfield State-Journal Register and Peoria Journal Star. More about Jordan J. Wilson
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