Following the Chicago Bears‘ disappointing loss to the Green Bay Packers last Sunday, quarterback Caleb Williams is finding value in losing to their bitter rival.
Williams struggled in the first half before leading an impressive second-half comeback that included three scoring drives, including the game-tying touchdown. But he came up short on the final play of the game, throwing an interception to Keisean Nixon in the end zone in what would’ve been a game-tying touchdown to tight end Cole Kmet.
Not only was the game a big one in terms of the rivalry between the Bears and Packers, but it had major implications on the playoff race in the NFC and NFC North. The loss to Green Bay knocked the Bears down from the top seed in the conference to the seventh, barely hanging onto their playoff hopes.
Following the game, Williams discussed the positive takeaways from the high-stakes matchup and how it helps prepare him for the stretch run.
“Yeah, you know obviously our goal is to win every single game, and our goal is to win these games, and you know, get to the playoffs,” Williams said. “It’s a playoff atmosphere, going versus a rival and things like that. So, it’s good for us to be able to find ways to rally and obviously we want to focus on having a better outcome and starting faster and all these different things. But it’s definitely useful for us, just in case we go on the road at some point and in the playoffs and things like that. It’s something that we are going to use in the future and throughout my career. But we got to focus on this next game up to get to that point.”
Following an abysmal rookie season, which saw just five wins and multiple coaches fired, Williams has plenty of significance each and every week for the rest of the season. Getting started faster will be a big part of how the Bears can close out their season on a high note, and while Williams may not reach all his individual goals, getting the team to the playoffs is the best accomplishment he could have.
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