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Caleb Williams celebrates after leading the Bears to victory in London. Photograph: Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock
On the flight from Chicago to London for Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams carried the hopes of an entire fanbase – not to mention the burden of a 75-year quarterback curse unparalleled in pro football history.
Evidently, Williams left any baggage on the plane. In a 35-16 domination of the Jaguars, the first overall pick in the 2024 draft completed 23 of 29 passes for 226 yards, four touchdowns, one interception, a passer rating of 124.4, a Completion Rate Over Expected of +12.5% (only Lamar Jackson was better on Sunday at +14.1%), and a Passing EPA of +14.6 (behind only Jared Goff and Jordan Love).
Related: Is QB the most taxing position in sports? It’s close enough to make no difference
Not bad for a rookie starting his sixth NFL game with a franchise that has systematically destroyed quarterbacks. The last time the Bears had what you could call a legitimate franchise quarterback was right after the second world war, when Sid Luckman was finishing up his Hall of Fame career. Since then, it’s been a history of near-misses, might-have-beens, and massive whiffs at the most important position in football – perhaps the most consequential position in any sport.
This is the franchise that lost a coin flip for the fourth overall pick in the 1944 draft with the Detroit Lions, who used that pick on Otto Graham, who never played for the Lions, but succeeded at a Hall of Fame level with the Cleveland Browns. There was more: the third overall pick in the 1948 draft, Bobby Layne, was quickly traded to the Bears. But Layne refused to return to the team after a year playing behind Luckman and Johnny Lujack. Layne later became a Hall of Fame quarterback with the Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bears also selected George Blanda in the 12th round of the 1949 draft, but owner and…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/caleb-williams-finally-broken-bears-090048549.html
Author : The Guardian
Publish date : 2024-10-15 09:00:48
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