With the 2025 Chicago Bears regular season over, Ben Johnson’s team can look forward to their NFC Wild Card opponent, the Green Bay Packers.
The Bears’ head coach and his players have openly discussed how this part of the journey now becomes a new season and an opportunity to reset. Before officially moving to the playoff game at Soldier Field, a review of Caleb Williams’ second season must be done.
Caleb Williams' second NFL season marked by historical stat
The second-year quarterback finished as the franchise’s all-time single-season passing leader with his 3,942 yards. He completed 330 of his 568 pass attempts and threw 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions for a 58.1 completion percentage.
Williams played in all 17 games for a second straight season and elevated his QBR from 43.3 in his rookie season to 58.3.
Improvement across the board for the Bears’ quarterback, but there is one stat that stands above the rest. Williams was sacked just 24 times, which ranked him 22nd overall among quarterbacks. That’s a drastic difference from last season, when Williams was sacked a league-high 68 times.
The drastic improvement can be credited to many. The revamped offensive line, Johnson’s offensive scheme, receivers getting open quickly, running backs picking up efficient yards on early downs to avoid obvious passing situations, and, of course, Williams.
“I don't know how many sacks I've taken this year, but I've cut it down, I would say, and it's not me cutting it down,” Williams told reporters. “It's those guys cutting it down for me. They have been huge for me and this year, my career so far, this year."
According to SumerSports, Williams finished with a 3.78% sack percentage. That was the fourth-lowest among quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks.
- Bo Nix: 3.28%
- Brock Purdy: 3.51%
- Matthew Stafford: 3.67%
- Caleb Williams: 3.78%
- Joe Flacco: 4.11%
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Reducing sacks was a huge emphasis for the Bears’ passing game after last season. Williams and the offense have made great strides in that area, and Williams' ability to avoid sacks will have to continue against the Packers if the Bears want to keep their season going.