The Chicago Bears' victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday was another sign of how far advanced Caleb Williams is through five games of his NFL career than Mitch Trubisky or Justin Fields were.
It may seem like an outdated practice but one mile marker that many Bears fans had for Fields over the past three seasons was the ability to throw for 300 yards in a game. It was an accomplishment that Fields only had one while Bears' uniform.
Five games into his NFL career, Williams already has two games under his belt where he passed for 300 yards.
Caleb Williams gets his second 300-yard passing game in his fifth start.
— Matt Eurich (@MattEurich) October 6, 2024
Mitch Trubisky had his second in his 16th start in Chicago.
Justin Fields had only one with the Bears.
Stats already confirm Caleb Williams is better than the Bears' previous two rookie quarterbacks.
What was impressive about Sunday's performance for Williams is that the Bears' offense was moving the ball with relative ease. Unlike their Week 3 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, where Williams had 363 passing yards, the Bears offensive was in rhythm for most of the game against the Panthers. While that shouldn't discredit Williams' passing yards against the Colts, the 304 passing yards he had on Sunday against the Panthers had a sense of coordination behind them.
The growth that Williams has had over the course of the past weeks is undeniable. While there are Bears fans out there who remain obsessed with every rushing touchdown Fields has with the Pittsburgh Steelers, they are too preoccupied to see what Williams is doing. In his first five games at the NFL level, Williams has already shown more growth as a passer than Fields did in three seasons with the team. The consistent growth Williams has shown is the reason why the Bears made the right choice in moving on from Fields.
If Williams continues to stack 300-yard games, the Bears may just finally have a quarterback who could sniff 4,000 passing yards in a season.