The meaning behind a potential Williams-Rodgers matchup

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (WGN) — When it comes to the pantheon of NFL quarterbacks, Caleb Williams and Aaron Rodgers were never quite destined to cross paths on the football field. Still, the stars aligned for the opportunity to present itself this season. As the Chicago Bears prepare for the arrival of the Pittsburgh Steelers at Soldier Field on Sunday, that opportunity lies in limbo, but the context surrounding the potential meeting remains the same. Williams, two days past his 24th birthday, is in his de facto first year in the NFL after the dumpster fire that was his rookie campaign for the Bears. The younger man of this two-part equation is on his way up and billed as Chicago’s savior, a metaphorical lottery ticket the franchise hopes has the winning numbers to rescue them from a lifetime of quarterback poverty. Rodgers, the oldest active player in the NFL at the ripe age of 41, is in year 21 of a surefire, first ballot Hall of Fame career—one he spent the better part of its first two decades making the occasional trip south from Wisconsin to terrorize the masses along the lakefront. He’s the equivalent of an old, decorated warhorse about to be sent out to pasture at the end of an accomplished life. The meeting between the Bears and Steelers this weekend is a lot like a sunset meeting a sunrise in the world of quarterbacks, and both sides have their thoughts on the matchup. “There’s incentive for every opponent, but I have enjoyed many a Sunday and Monday and Thursdays in that city,” Rodgers said. “It’s a great sports town, phenomenal sports fans and a great place to play.” Rodgers has a career record of 25-5 against the Bears, which includes a 21-14 win in the 2010 NFC Championship Game. He has thrown for 6,965 yards, 64 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions in 29 career regular-season games against Chicago. In short, when Rodgers ran out the back of the end zone at Soldier Field after a touchdown run, exclaiming, “I still own you” to Bears fans in 2021, he wasn’t exactly lying. But Rodgers, who is three years removed from wearing a Packers uniform, let the world know that he’s hoping Bears fans can forgive him when he returns to Soldier Field on Sunday. Even if he doesn’t believe that’s a possibility in the slightest. “I’m not in Green Bay anymore. We can let bygones be bygones, maybe. I can, I guess,” Rodgers said, with a chuckle. “It’s a great rivalry. In the history of all sports, you talk about the Lakers and the Celtics, and the Red Sox and the Yankees. You’ve got to talk about the Packers and the Bears [too]. There’s been some great memories there. Before the start of the 2005 regular season, the Packers had a 77-86-6 all-time record against the Bears. Chicago is 10-31 against Green Bay since, and the Packers now hold a 108-96-6 advantage over the Bears. “When I first got to Green Bay, the Bears had the all-time series lead. When I left, the Packers did. Since [Jordan Love] has taken over, it’s gotten even better,” Rodgers said I hope those fans can put that behind them—I’m sure they can’t—and I don’t expect them to. But I really enjoy the city.” The good news for Chicago is that Rodgers won’t be at full strength, and historically, Pittsburgh hasn’t played well at the Bears. Rodgers injured his left wrist after he was sent to the turf on a downfield shot in the back half of the second quarter in the Steelers’ game last Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. The four-time MVP clutched the wrist in the huddle following the play, though he did stay in to make one more pass—an incompletion to Roman Wilson—before the drive ended in a Chris Boswell field goal. Rodgers did not return to the sideline during the second half, though he greeted his teammates in the locker room after they left the field. Rodgers told local media on Wednesday that the injury to his left wrist is a brand-new one, and the primary concern about whether or not he will be on the field Sunday hinges on his ability to play safely with a brace on the wrist. The two problems he will have to solve are 1) Can he properly brace himself falling to the ground? Then 2) Can he stand himself back up without reaggravating the injury? “Got to get the okay and I got to feel like I can protect myself,” Rodgers said. Pittsburgh is 1-12 at Chicago since 1947; their lone win visiting the Bears came in overtime in 1995—a 37-34 affair where Neil O’Donnell found Ernie Mills for a game-tying 10-yard touchdown pass with 1:06 to go, then Norm Johnson hit a game-winning 24-yard field goal after Erik Kramer and Chicago went three-and-out on their lone overtime possession. Back at Halas Hall, anyone asked said they want to see Rodgers out on the field come time for kickoff. “I’m not playing, so I’m okay, but I’ve got a lot of respect for Aaron Rodgers,” Ben Johnson said. “He’s done this at a high level for an incredible amount of time. And if he’s ready to go this week, I’d love nothing more than to compete against him.” “Do I hope he plays? Yeah. You always want their best out there, and he’s one of the best in the world. He’s been one of the best in the world for however long he’s been in the league,” Williams said. “So, you always want to go [against] the best when you play, and hopefully, get to say what’s up to him and shake his hand after.” Williams, who was born in 2001, was nine years old when Rodgers and the Packers won Super Bowl XLV. He considered Rodgers one of his favorite quarterbacks to watch during his childhood years, and has studied Rodgers closely as he went from high school to college to the pros. “There’s probably a couple quarterbacks in the world that have been able to spin the ball the way that he does,” Williams said. “Growing up as a kid, when you find out how hard it is to play the position, you admire some of the things he’s been able to do over this long career he’s had. “The way he’s been able to spin the ball and put the ball in different places, whether on the run or in the pocket. That’s something I would say [I admire].” Coming out of college at USC, many compared Williams to Patrick Mahomes, but the numbers showed he was more comparable to Rodgers than the Kansas City Chiefs superstar. In March 2024, DaBearsBlog.com’s Robert Schmitz and Kyle Morris put together a great piece breaking down Williams’ average time to throw and in that piece, demonstrated how his 2023 season compared favorably to the 2016 version of Rodgers. Williams, much like a young Rodgers, can use his legs to create as much time as possible to make a play with his arm. And when the ability to be a quick processor is paired with a rogue-ish confidence, both players have shown they dare to dance until the moment presents itself where they can zip a throw 20+ yards downfield, sometimes as much as 8-9 seconds after the snap. Morris found Rodgers had a 4.3% scramble rate from a clean pocket (Williams had a 3.0%), 8.7% pressured scramble rate (Williams: 12.4%), a 5.7% overall scramble rate (Williams: 6.2%), and an average scramble time of 6.44 (Williams: 6.58) to go with a pressure-to-sack rate of 17.9% (Williams: 19.4%) Rodgers completed 401 of 610 passes for 4,428 yards, a league-leading 40 touchdown passes and 7 interceptions that season. Fast forward to Year 2 Williams in Chicago, and the advanced numbers remain similar, though Williams is still holding onto the ball longer than Rodgers did in 2016. He currently has the highest average time-to-throw (TTT) in the NFL at 3.36 seconds, while Rodgers had the second-highest in the 2016 regular season at 3.01. Since then, Rodgers has adjusted to become a quick-strike passer, more akin to the likes of Drew Brees, in his old age. He’s getting the ball out the fourth-fastest in the NFL (2.63), trailing only Jared Goff (2.60), Joe Flacco (2.59) and Tua Tagavailoa (2.46). It’s that change in Rodgers’ quarterback philosophy that Johnson pointed toward when asked what he thinks Williams and Rodgers have in common—at least in the modern day. “He’s elite right now at getting the ball out of his hands. If [Rodgers] doesn’t have the fastest snap-to-throw time in the league right now, he’s got to be close,” Johnson said. “He’s doing a really good job spitting it out. He’s accurate, I think our guy’s the same way, but we probably hold onto it a little bit more, just where we are in the offense. “We’re learning and we’re growing, I think we’ll gravitate more towards getting it out faster the more reps we have. I mean [Rodgers has] done it … at a high level for a long time. It’s a good guy to look up to for a young quarterback.” If Rodgers plays and Williams leads the Bears past the Steelers for their eighth win of the season, Chicago will be able to smile as the sun sets on a football world they wandered as an endless victim of Rodgers’ accomplishments. Then, as the sun rises, maybe—just maybe—they can watch the tables turn as they become the team with the sought-after quarterback in the NFC North. The Bears take on the Steelers Sunday at Soldier Field. Kickoff is scheduled for noon CT. *Reporting from the Associated Press contributed to the body of this story.
https://wgntv.com/sports/a-rising-and-setting-sun-the-meaning-of-a-potential-caleb-williams-aaron-rodgers-matchup-on-sunday/

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