The Chicago Bears are off to a 6-2 start on the season, coming off two massive wins in primetime against the two 2025 Super Bowl teams, and have won three straight games since quarterback Caleb Williams returned to the starting lineup.

The vibes are sky-high in Chicago right now and the Bears have another big primetime game coming up on “Sunday Night Football” this weekend against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before heading into the bye week.

A lot has changed for this team, and the play of Williams leading this offense isn’t being talked about enough. Even after missing three games earlier in the year, Williams deserves to be in the MVP conversation after eight weeks.

Caleb Williams is playing at an MVP level, but not in the way you’d expect

The biggest thing about Williams’ game the last few weeks is that he’s not playing the backyard “Hero-ball” like we saw last season. That version of Caleb Williams is exciting, but the version of Caleb Williams we’re seeing right now is even more dangerous with the way he’s playing within structure and commanding this offense.

Against the Seahawks on Monday night, Williams was in the pocket for 30 of his 34 pass attempts. He completed 70.0 of those attempts inside the pocket for 215 yards, against a defense that didn’t allow a 200-yard passer all season. When he was flushed out or designed to get out in space, Williams competed three of his four pass attempts for 32 yards and a touchdown.

“I thought Caleb did a great job just throughout the game, certainly on that first drive. He took care of the football and I thought he did a lot of really good things throughout,” head coach Ben Johnson said after the game.

This is the kind of play Johnson wanted to see out of Williams. He’s progressing through his reads at a high level, finding the open receiver, and giving them a catchable ball to work with. It’s not sexy, but it’s working and it’s working at a very high level, even in one of the most hostile road environments in the league.

“He stayed calm, cool, and collected throughout,” Johnson added. “I think there are times where it can get a little bit chaotic and yet he didn’t allow that to faze him at all.”

Caleb Williams’ play this entire season has been a joy to watch, even if it’s not as exciting

Going into the season, Johnson once again challenged Williams to be a more efficient quarterback when it comes to completing passes. After Monday’s game, Williams has now posted a 70+ completion percentage in three of his five games this season, and a 65+ in four of the five. The only exception was the Week 2 monsoon game against Brian Flores.

Williams’ 70.9 completion percentage this season ranks second in the NFL among 33 quarterbacks with 100+ pass attempts. Over the last three weeks, the Bears rank second in the NFL with 492 yards after catch. This is the kind of passing game Johnson wanted to see from Williams and this offense. And a big credit goes to the work Williams has put in.

“I know if things don’t look great necessarily early in the week, I trust him at this point to get it down by the time we get to game day,” Johnson explained. “That’s a credit to his approach right now. It’s awesome. He does a phenomenal job working. I looked out there, I think it was Saturday afternoon after our red zone practice, and he and (quarterbacks coach) J.T. Barrett are still on the field for an extra hour after practice has already ended…

“That’s just kind of where he is right now as a player. He loves downloading all this and bringing it to life on game day. He’s played really well through these last three games.”

Played really well is putting it lightly. The Bears have scored 30+ points in all three games since Williams’ return. He has four touchdowns and zero interceptions in that span while completing 73.8 percent of his passes, trailing only Joe Burrow and Matthew Stafford among quarterbacks with 25+ attempts over the last three weeks.

The Bears aren’t asking him to be Superman. Yet, he’s still been able to dazzle on a few plays where he needs to put on the cape and make a play. This latest evolution of Caleb Williams has been his best yet, and it deserves to be recognized more than it is, because everyone was quick to claim this was something he wouldn’t be able to do.