Putting Up Numbers· NFL

The Bears without Caleb Williams

without ,

The Bears are 2–1 without Caleb Williams this season and 4–1 with him. Since his first start, in September 2024, they’re 2–1 in the 3 games he missed and 21–20 in his starts.

Missed games (hamstring), per the NFL’s week 4 injury report.

Caleb Williams’s page

, a game

This season

MeasureWith Caleb Williams5 gamesWithout3 gamesDifference
Record4–12–1
Points, over expected+8.1−5.9+14.0
Passing yards, over expected+26.3−11.3+37.6
Against the line+7.6+1.8+5.8
Points allowed, over expected−0.6−5.3+4.6
Margin, over expected+8.6−1.4+10.0
Rushing yards, over expected+30.7+18.1+12.6
Pass attempts, over expected−0.2+2.6−2.8
Carries, over expected+5.3+8.5−3.2
Sacks taken, over expected+0.5−0.6+1.1
Turnovers, over expected−0.3+1.1−1.3

3 games without him is still too small a sample for the statistics to say much, but maybe you can find something if you squint.

Last 35 games

MeasureWith Caleb Williams32 gamesWithout3 gamesDifference
Record17–152–1
Points, over expected+1.4−5.9+7.3
Passing yards, over expected+6.5−11.3+17.9
Against the line+2.0+1.8+0.1
Points allowed, over expected+0.5−5.3+5.7
Margin, over expected+1.1−1.4+2.4
Rushing yards, over expected+13.3+18.1−4.8
Pass attempts, over expected+0.7+2.6−1.9
Carries, over expected+1.7+8.5−6.8
Sacks taken, over expected−0.1−0.6+0.6
Turnovers, over expected−0.3+1.1−1.3

3 games without him is still too small a sample for the statistics to say much, but maybe you can find something if you squint.

Who played instead

His teammates without him

This season

MeasureWith Caleb WilliamsWithoutDifference
D'Andre Swift, RB
Rushing yards72.061.7+10.3
Carries19.814.7+5.1
Kyle Monangai, RB
Rushing yards73.588.5−15.0
Carries10.020.0−10.0
Luther Burden III, WR
Receiving yards75.257.0+18.2
Receptions5.45.0+0.4
Colston Loveland, TE
Receiving yards40.435.7+4.7
Receptions4.24.0+0.2
Rome Odunze, WR
Receiving yards58.059.3−1.3
Receptions3.24.0−0.8

Last 35 games

MeasureWith Caleb WilliamsWithoutDifference
Cole Kmet, TE
Receiving yards19.77.0+12.7
Receptions1.91.0+0.9
D'Andre Swift, RB
Rushing yards63.561.7+1.8
Carries15.114.7+0.4
Rome Odunze, WR
Receiving yards50.259.3−9.1
Receptions3.44.0−0.6
Roschon Johnson, RB
Rushing yards10.811.0−0.2
Carries3.34.5−1.2

The games he missed this season

DateGameResultPlayed instead
Oct 11, 2026@GBL 7–31Tyson Bagent
Oct 4, 2026vsNYJW 23–12Tyson Bagent
Sep 28, 2026vsPHIW 27–7Case Keenum

Method

  • With him is a game he played, from the snap counts; without him is a game the team played while he was on its roster and he didn’t.
  • With him means he was the team’s quarterback that game, at least half of its pass attempts; a game he left early or came into late reads as without him.
  • Since his first start counts from the first game the ledger has him starting for the team, playoffs included.
  • Over expected is the team’s average a game over what the season’s ratings expected in each game, the same numbers each measure’s own page reads. “Averages” shows the plain numbers.
  • Against the line is the team’s margin less the closing line’s, the market’s margin before kickoff, from nflverse’s schedules. A game with no line sits out.
  • His teammates’ numbers are plain averages a game.
  • Why he’s out: the NFL’s week 4 injury report.

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