Anybody else having a hard time breathing? Did you make it to the garbage can in time before your last meal came up? Feel like diving headfirst into bed for the rest of the day, as though life, in and of itself, doesn't matter anymore?
Caleb Williams is down and Soldier Field is dead silent.
Those aren't words you'd expect to hear or say, but that's where Chicago Bears fans found themselves on Sunday afternoon.
The Bears sideline collectively held their breath as Williams went down in immense pain about halfway through the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Vikings.
As Williams was helped off the field by trainers, it was obvious he couldn't put any weight on his right leg.
When the cart took him off the field and back to the locker room, and as Williams held a towel over his head, wiping tears away during an emotional moment, the entire fan base knew this wasn't good.
Caleb Williams' injury made the rest of Week 2, and the 2026 season for that matter, completely irrelevant
From there, the rest of the game didn't matter. Fans were full-on into a "sky is falling" fit which, to be fair, is precisely how I felt while watching.
I, like many Bears fans, have waited my entire life to see a quarterback like this in a Bears uniform.
I, like many Bears fans, had never seen a team with this amount of offseason hype.
And this wasn't just your average offseason hype. We're all very familiar with the typical "Bears won the offseason" conversation. This was an MVP candidate taking the league by storm in his third season as a pro.
Caleb Williams was and is a movement. In such a short amount of time, Williams had become a Chicago icon -- and not just a sports icon.
Williams' ascension, combined with Ben Johnson's presence, had all eyes on the Bears this year, and hopefully, for years to come.
But when Williams went down with what everyone knew was a serious (and likely season-ending) injury, all of the hype, hope and momentum disappeared in an instant.
Bears fans will now be caught between the balance of "woe is me" and "next year is our year"
No longer did this season matter.
It doesn't. In the immediate aftermath of Williams' injury, amid all of the emotional reactions, that's real. That's truth.
This season doesn't matter. Not with Williams out.
Granted, tomorrow will come. Emotions will lessen, eventually. And, as the Bears prepare for an immediate future without their franchise quarterback, slowly but surely, the season will start to matter once again.
Fans and teammates will rally around Tyson Bagent. Johnson's offense should still be fun to watch without Williams under center. The back field of D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, combined with the strength up front across the offensive line, should be enough to continue to keep putting points on the board.
Bears fans will go from "this season doesn't matter" to hoping for the best and trying to look ahead with some form of positivity.
But it's going to take a little time. This is going to hurt for a bit. It's going to feel surreal.
Disbelief is about as accurate a description there was for the minutes and hours right after Williams' injury.
It's hard to grasp what happened. It feels like a nightmare. It doesn't feel real.
The majority of Bears fans probably felt their lunch coming back up after watching the events unfold, to be completely frank.
But, soon enough, reality will set in and we will move forward, like we always do.
After all, Bears fans are used to misery. This is what happens in Chicago. It might come across as a "woe is me" attitude, but let's be real.
Chicago waited over a century for a franchise quarterback, and once they finally, assuredly got one, something like this happens?
Yeah, life isn't fair.
Ah, it's the back-and-forth between looking forward and drowning in despair that's become normal for this fan base.
When all is said and done, this just plain sucks.
Read more: Everything Ben Johnson said about Caleb Williams' injury in postgame comments
For the rest of 2026, we'll try to find the silver linings. But it's going to be hard not to look ahead to what will undoubtedly be the favorite for the 2027 NFL Comeback Player of the Year.
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