Bear Digest

The Worst Possible Opponent for Caleb Williams' Bears Debut

Analysis: The NFL schedule will be coming out this month and an opener can be a key in a QB's development so there are some teams Caleb Williams doesn't need to see.

Gene Chamberlain

Jordan Love shows off after beating the Bears in last year's opener. One of the worst possible openers for the Bears this year would be Green Bay.
Jordan Love shows off after beating the Bears in last year's opener. One of the worst possible openers for the Bears this year would be Green Bay. / Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin /
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When Justin Fields and Mitchell Trubisky made their first starts, necessity came calling and opened the door for them.

Fields played when Andy Dalton suffered an almost immediate injury. Trubisky played because Mike Glennon played horribly.

Caleb Williams will have no mystery involved, as he'll be the guy from the start.

Who he'll face is the mystery.

In the last six years, the Bears have had to face the Green Bay Packers three times in openers.

It gets kind of old. It gets really old playing Green Bay at Lambeau Field in night games, which is usually what happens. Last year was the rare situation where neither game between the two made prime time.

Their schedule is one of the league's easiest according to last year's winning percentages for opponents.

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It's different for the opener, however. The wrong team at the wrong time can give Williams and the Bears fits and be a detriment as he develops.

Here's who the Bears will play when the schedule comes out later this month:

HOME

  • Detroit Lions
  • Green Bay Packers
  • Minnesota Vikings
  • Los Angeles Rams
  • Seattle Seahawks
  • Jacksonville Jaguars
  • Tennessee Titans
  • Carolina Panthers
  • New England Patriots

AWAY

  • Detroit Lions
  • Green Bay Packers
  • Minnesota Vikings
  • Arizona Cardinals
  • San Francisco 49ers
  • Houston Texans
  • Indianapolis Colts
  • Washington Commanders

Most of their difficult games are on the road, but a terrible break for the opener for Williams can be at home, as well.

Here are the worst five possible Williams opponents in the 2024 season opener.

5. At Detroit Lions

It wouldn't be ideal facing the division champions, particularly in Detroit.  Some may wonder why this wouldn't be the worst possible opener, but the Bears did play two games with the Lions they should have won last year before they had a properly passing quarterback.

You want to wade into the pool, especially with a rookie. There's little doubt Williams would need to come out scoring against the Lions because Detroit is sure to do it, too, especially in their dome.

The two games the Bears should have won last year include one they didn't but they had to think they were on even terms with the Lions. After all, teams usually don't give up 17 points in the last three minutes to lose 31-26. They dominated those two games using their ground game, largely from the threat of Justin Fields' running. It challenged the Lions linebackers, who weren't the fastest group to pick up a scrambling QB. Of course, they'll have Williams at quarterback now and he's looking to pass more. This makes for a different dynamic and a more conventional matchup for the Lions.

4. Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field

The Bears don't fare well in openers against the Packers. In fact, it doesn't matter where or when. They've lost the last five times they played Green Bay in an opener. They don't need history stacked up on Caleb Williams' plate in the opener. It will be fully crowded without that. The Packers bullied the Bears defense last year in the last game they played. They scored only 17 points but it easily could have been three more touchdowns. In fact, they've scored 20 or less in eight of the last 10 games between the teams and the two when they went over 20 they lost anyway. So they need the offense to be hitting on all cylinders to face Green Bay and doing it with a rookie quarterback in his NFL debut seems unlikely.

3. At Houston Texans

Talk about a team riding a high. This would be touted as C.J. Stroud against Williams and it wouldn't be fair for Williams making a college debut against a QB who was the smash hit of the league as a rookie while gaining AFC championship game expereience. It would be interesting to see if Williams could stand up to the Texans if it was at Soldier Field but given the game is in Houston, they'd be heavy underdogs.

2. At Green Bay Packers

No trip to Green Bay is fun, whether it's in December, January, or September. If you want to go in earlier July or June, they have nice lakes, supper clubs and golf courses.  Williams doesn't need his debut on the home field of the team the Bears must learn to beat. He hasn't learned to beat them yet. Getting him some traction first would be better.

The Packers have momentum, plus, Green Bay is going to have an advantage early in the year with its new defensive scheme under Jeff Hafley. Unscouted looks are always tough, and unscouted against a rookie QB even tougher.

1. At San Francisco 49ers

The Bears haven't had a winning road trip to California since 2018, when they beat the 49ers 14-9. They just seem to struggle with those and in the distant past there are many incidents of total blowout losses there.

The Bears actually beat San Francisco in their last game but the 49ers were using Trey Lance at QB that day, in a monsoon at Soldier Field. The nightmare scenario for Fields, even if he did play colllege football in California, is to play an opener at the 49ers' stadium.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.