The greatest cautionary tale in the NFL is writing off a quarterback too soon, especially when they’ve been locked in a bad situation. This weekend we saw the redemption arc begin for three of the league’s most maligned quarterbacks, with Caleb Williams, Bryce Young, Trevor Lawrence, and Cam Ward all soaring to three of the biggest wins of their careers so far.
For years Sunday has been unkind to Bears fans, so it’s a good thing Chicago played on Saturday night. This was one of the most significant wins this team has had in years, potentially since they won the Super Bowl in the 1985 season. It was unquestionably the most important QB performance in team history, because Caleb Williams managed to cement himself not just as “the guy,” but “the right guy.” It’s clear he can execute on Ben Johnson’s vision, beat a team like the Packers when everything matters, and do so with the confidence and leadership fans have been waiting to see.
Sure, you can be reductive about the performance and cynically note that Micah Parsons was out, and Jordan Love was knocked out of the game — but nothing could have stopped Williams making the game-winning throw, which rocketed out of his hand as if fired from a howitzer.
That’s a pass thrown 55 yards in 20 mph winds, and it was easy for him. Throwing in the wind is a necessarily requisite to playing in Chicago, but mastering the wind like you’re Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender is something fans have been missing since Jay Cutler. Unlike Cutler there are clear traits here that make the 24-year-old quarterback prime to ascend to the heights this franchise have been waiting for.
The biggest thing we’ve seen evolve over this season with Williams is his confidence. This was a player who always had the physical tools, but there was this self-doubting hesitation that were a pall over his game. It wasn’t missing on deep throws that was a problem, it was tossing them to another zip code that was problematic — all because Williams was scared of throwing a pick. There were questions whether or not Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams could ever mesh. Here was a coach known for preaching precision, accuracy, and executing a script, paired with a QB who loves to improvise after the snap, and find his own way to a positive play.
Much of the assumption was that Williams would have to alter his play style to make this relationship work, but in reality both Caleb and Ben did things to meet each other in the middle. There are certainly key plays that have Johnson’s mark all over them, particularly moments that require Williams to take a three-step drop and deliver the ball on a timing route, but more frequently as this season has moved on we’ve seen packages sneak into the Bears playbook that don’t demand the kind of exacting, factory-like precision required — which are designed to allow Williams to approach the moment, and find a way to make a play.
This meeting of the minds is the most exciting thing in Chicago right now. There’s no friction between these two, but a true union that’s resulting in wonderful things. The future is here for the Bears.
750 miles southeast of Chicago …
There’s been this pervasive weirdness from Bears and Panthers fans over the last two years to want to see their respective QBs fail. Such is the nature of a trade that leads to two franchises getting No. 1 quarterbacks in back-to-back seasons. While Williams soared against the Packers, in Charlotte the Panthers had a statement of their own they needed to make in order to keep the season alive, against the Buccaneers — who have been the only source of consistency in the NFC South since the division came into existence.
Young has been a lightning rod for criticism this season. Look across the comments of any post-game thread on social media and there’s no shortage of comments ranging from “Bryce ain’t it,” to “Start Andy Dalton.” It’s where the wheat and the chaff separate for Panthers fans, with some understanding that his inconsistent play is the product of a young, inconsistent football team around him — while others are more comfortable distilling every issue as “Bryce is the problem.”
On Sunday there was no second where Bryce was the problem. Instead the Panthers lose that game without some stellar playmaking.
Bryce Young is a different quarterback to a lot of other guys in the NFL right now, and it’s taken time to try and put this all together. The best plays Carolina is able to execute on are seemingly broken plays like the above when Young is required to work out of structure and throw out of platform. Its this point guard-esque quality which was lauded at draft time, and that’s how Bryce wins right now.
The Panthers are still a few steps away from being able to put things together in a meaningful way inside of structure. The receiver grouping just isn’t there yet, as we saw with Xavier Legette on Sunday. Legette dropped one key pass in stride that he would have been able to take to the house, and stalled another drive by losing the sideline and catching the ball out of bounds — as he’s want to do.
Until Carolina finds a legitimate No. 2 receiver to take pressure off Tetairoa McMillan it’s tough to see this passing offense really be able to open up. For now they can just keep leaning on the run, and then a little Bryce magic to make things happen.
Meanwhile, 400 miles west …
Nobody has had a rougher start to their career than Cam Ward. The rookie QB has been trapped in a truly putrid situation where there’s almost nothing redeeming about the Titans offense. Not only that, but a young QB losing their head coach during their first season is typically a death knell for progress, forcing a team to spin the tires for a year and hope that the next person in line can get the job done.
The best quality to Ward’s season has been his refusal to quit at any point. The mental toughness is there in the NFL, and the physical traits — well, look at this.
There aren’t many rookies who can operate in such a dirty pocket and find a way to rip the ball down the sideline like this. It just doesn’t happen very often. There’s no question that some sloppy footwork allowed the pass rush to close in, but he’s a rookie, and things like that happen.
The positives here grossly outweigh the negatives, and that’s why Sunday was a statement game for the Texans. Beating the Chiefs, regardless of their injury situation, is a big deal. Making plays against this defense is significant. It’s a building block game that gives film on how you can really use Ward in the NFL to success, which is something we haven’t seen a lot of this season.
There were a lot of big boy throws from Ward that show the potential that he isn’t a bust, he just needs more help.
A little later, and another 1,1,50 miles west
The Jaguars have been a tough team to nail down in 2025, and a lot of that is due to Trevor Lawrence. There have been some games this season where he’s looked otherworldly, like his dismantling of the Jets — and others where you wonder if he can even be the future of the franchise.
This 2025 season has been about unlearning all the horrible things that ruined Lawrence up to this point in his career, from his footwork, to decision making, and rebuilding the confidence that came along the way. One of the best qualities to Liam Coen as a rookie head coach has been his willingness to spend time analyzing the QB and work on correcting him, where so many first year coaches would be in such a rush to win right now that they’d push everything immediately, sink, then look for a new QB.
A good example of this comes from the key adjustment Coen and his staff made to Lawrence’s shotgun snaps. They noticed he was working with his right leg as the lead at the snap, which allowed him to make a more efficient backpedal — but this had a negative impact, where on timing routes it threw off his drop. So they switched it up, made Lawrence relearn to lead with his left leg, which resulted in a slower drop — but it better matched up with receivers on timing routes.
The result is minutia like this on a simple pass to the flat.
A pass that normally would have come out early, and behind the running back — instead hits him in stride for the touchdown. Nobody is playing better football than Trevor Lawrence, and daresay there might be MVP talk gaining steam now.
Four quarterbacks. Four wins. Four players who have been written off. All are making huge leaps as two are headed to the playoffs, one is in the driver’s seat, and the other is part of a franchise trying to put the building blocks together. The future is bright, and now we’ll see how everything progresses.
And now for the rest of winners and losers from Week 16
Winner: The Steelers’ legitimacy
Are the Steelers frauds? Probably, but so is everyone in the NFL this season. When it comes to the question of how legitimate they are in 2025, well, the win over the Lions did worlds for them. This is such an inconsistent group in the AFC this season that basically anyone who makes it into the postseason can conceivably go all the way to the Super Bowl.
The big question now is what kind of suspension DK Metcalf could face for taking a swing at a fan. It was a heat of the moment decision that could have devastating circumstances down the stretch for Pittsburgh. Regardless of who was the Steelers top receivers on Sunday, Metcalf was the most targeted on the field and represents a significant resource sink for opposing defenses.
This has been a plot twist as the season comes to a close. A few weeks ago the Saints were set to draft in the Top 3 where they almost assuredly have taken a quarterback, but in recent weeks Shough has the offense running well enough to put together some impressive wins.
No, beating the Jets doesn’t necessarily classify as “impressive,” but in totality the team has won their last three games, pushed their way back in the draft order to 8th, and there’s a very real chance Shough will get another run at quarterback in year two under Kellen Moore.
Winner: The Browns, who lost
Cleveland managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the most important way on Sunday. A meaningless win would have pushed the Browns down to the No. 7 pick, where finding a long-term QB would have been very difficult. Instead they’re now in No. 3 with only the Raiders ahead of them needing a QB.
It kept the dream alive to get a Fernando Mendoza or Dante Moore who can be the franchise cornerstone. No, it’s not Shedeur Sanders. He’s mediocre at best. Stop being dumb about this.
Loser: The Vikings, who won
Minnesota’s worst enemy towards taking a step forward is themselves. This is a franchise perennially stuck in draft purgatory where they are never bad enough to land an elite draft pick, or good enough to make the season satisfactory.
There are times where win streaks are beneficial for the vibes inside a franchise, but winning three in a row and falling to the No. 14 slot does nothing to help this team take a step forward. There are myriad needs moving forward, and this whole “competitive rebuild” thing is neither making the Vikings competitive, nor allowing them to rebuild.
Loser: Quinn Ewers’ future as a starter
Nothing is decided in a week, but this was the big chance for Quinn Ewers to show he’s just a little less incompetent than Tua Tagovailoa. He failed.
The accuracy was okay, but there were too many mistakes. Too many plays left on the field. There was nothing interesting or inspiring about his play, and this was against one of the worst defenses in the NFL. The stage was perfectly set for Ewers to make a statement and get a chance to compete for the starting job in the future, but that might be dead in the water now.
Miami will be looking for a QB in the draft.
I can’t recall ever seeing a coach on the sideline who appeared to be yearning for a nap as much as Todd Bowles. There was no emotion, and no sense of urgency from the Buccaneers head coach during the most critical moments of the Sunday game against the Panthers, which had major playoff ramifications.
With each week it’s growing more apparent that the Bucs made the wrong choice with their head coaching spot. They’ve ceded both Dave Canales and Liam Coen to teams with less talent, and both are doing more with it. A full house cleaning is in order in Tampa Bay, even if this team somehow pieces together a playoff run.
