The Chicago Bears already have a playoff spot secured heading into their final two regular season games. Clinching the NFC North is in play, if not likely, possibly as soon as Week 17. From here, it's all about where they land in the NFC playoff seeding, and Sunday night's road game against the also 11-4 San Francisco 49ers stands to have a big say in that seeding arrangement.
With a strong running game, an opportunistic defense, and a quarterback who avoids throwing interceptions at the rate he does, the Bears have a formula that can foster a deep postseason run. And as wide open as things seem right now, a return trip to Santa Clara in February as the NFC's representative in Super Bowl LX is not totally out of the question.
Bears' 'fatal flaw' for the playoffs is more important than fatal
As he tabbed each Super Bowl contender's most "fatal flaw" with the playoffs on the horizon, Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report named Caleb Williams as that flaw for the Bears.
"An argument could be made for a sometimes-leaky run defense if Williams can stay hot, but the sophomore No. 1 overall pick has to remain the biggest wild card associated with this blossoming team. His 57.8 completion rate ranks ahead of only J.J. McCarthy among qualified passers, and only Michael Penix Jr. has a higher bad-throw rate."
Williams' accuracy issues are undeniable, with the numbers Gagnon cited as the most obvious evidence. But among the 33 qualifying passers Gagnon cited, the drop rate Williams has fallen victim to is tied for the seventh-highest. Bears' pass catchers are also tied the fourth-highest number of sheer drops on Williams' pass attempts entering Week 17 (23). Give him 11 of those 23 drops as completions, and his completion rate for the season gets to a more respectable 60 percent.
According to NFL Senior Researcher Tony Holzman-Escareno, per Next Gen Stats, Williams has also lost the most passing yards to drops entering Week 17.
Most pass yards lost due to drops this season, per @NextGenStats:
— NFL Researcher (@NFL_Researcher) December 23, 2025
1. Caleb Williams - 352
2. Trevor Lawrence - 319
3. Matthew Stafford - 306
4. Dak Prescott - 303
5. Bo Nix - 295
6. Jordan Love - 287
7. Cam Ward - 256
Read more: Ben Johnson offers a somewhat promising (and somewhat vague) Rome Odunze update
Williams' performance will be absolutely critical to any success the Bears have in the playoffs, and he has to prove he can get it done on the postseason stage. But to label him as the team's No. 1 "fatal flaw, top vulnerability, etc., heading toward the playoffs is a tad aggressive, in line with having to find something (or someone) notable that fits the premise for Ben Johnson's squad.