LAKE FOREST, Ill. — If Caleb Williams throws for 270 yards in the Chicago Bears‘ regular-season finale against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, he will become the first quarterback in franchise history to reach 4,000 yards in a season.
That’s long been a goal of Williams, the 2024 No. 1 overall pick who publicly stated that he wanted to be the first to hit that threshold both as a rookie and ahead of his second season. The Bears are the only NFL franchise not to boast a 4,000-yard passer.
“I think for me, it’d be cool just in the sense of, there’s never been one here,” Williams said Wednesday. “I think I was brought here for those types of things and those types of moments, the things that haven’t been done here, to try and be able to accomplish.
“Like I’ve said before, the self goals and all of that always get swept under when you go for the team goals, and that’s winning ballgames, so that’s first and foremost on my mind. That’s first and foremost for this team, because the most important thing is winning ballgames and heading into the playoffs with some momentum and some good energy.”
Williams is averaging 233.1 passing yards per game, which ranks 12th in the NFL, and has multiple passing touchdowns in each of his last four games, marking the longest streak of his career. He threw for a season-high 330 yards in the Bears’ 42-38 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday and has reached 270 yards in four games this season.
Both he and Bears coach Ben Johnson acknowledged that the record would not take precedence over Chicago beating Detroit on Sunday to secure the NFC’s 2-seed.
“If it were to happen, that’d be great,” Johnson said. “But he would agree with me when I say that our No. 1 objective is to win this ballgame. Whatever that takes, that’s our goal. We’ll see where it’s at, at the end of the year. That’s a tertiary goal, if you will.”
Williams was aware of the Bears’ long history of quarterback futility before he arrived in Chicago in April 2024. During a pre-draft visit, he asked the team’s brass why no player had accomplished that feat.
“In 100 or however many years, it has never been done, so it symbolizes something,” Williams said. “I don’t exactly remember what they told me or what the answer was, but a lot of it comes from the weather and all these different things. And kind of how Chicago has been with running the ball and all these different things. I think they ended up choosing right. I have a strong enough arm to cut through the wind, and I’ve been blessed with that.”
On Wednesday, Johnson downplayed the figure as an “arbitrary number,” pointing to how some franchises don’t have 5,000-yard passers. During an offseason appearance on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd,” Johnson intimated that Williams would be in position to create history.
“There hasn’t been a 4,000-yard passer in this franchise, and I think Caleb is going to be the first one,” Johnson said.
There have been 237 instances of a player throwing for 4,000 yards in a season in NFL history, including Dak Prescott, Jared Goff, Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford this season. Former Bears quarterback Erik Kramer set the franchise’s single-season record of 3,838 yards in 1995. Williams sits at 3,730 yards with one game remaining.
