On Saturday night in Chicago, Caleb Williams and Jordan Love put on a fierce battle in a thrilling playoff game between the NFC North rivals.
While Williams and the Bears prevailed in the end, what we witnessed was more than a score. It was a show put on by two young, Black quarterbacks who had lots to prove.
The game’s standard storylines were obvious- hated rivals, battle for NFC North bragging rights, the Packers possibly playing for head coach Matt LaFleur’s job, etc.
But an underlying, yet extremely important story for many of us was whether Williams and/or Love could show they had the talent to lead their teams in the postseason and have the potential to be stars.
After Sunday night, mission accomplished.
The Bears faced an 18-point deficit in the third quarter, but a calmer, more confident Caleb Williams emerged in the second half and led Chicago to a 31-27 come-from-behind victory, throwing for 361 yards, 4 TDs and 2 INTs.
Caleb set a new team record for most passing yards in a single postseason game, passing Mitch Trubisky’s 303 yards against the Eagles in their 2018 wild card game.
He also led the Bears to their largest comeback victory in franchise playoff history and the team’s 25 points in the final quarter were the second most points scored in any quarter of a postseason game.
Despite the loss, Love, who missed the final two games of the regular season after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit against the Bears in Week 16, actually had a better game, throwing for 323 yards with 4 TDs and 0 INTs.
While one had to win and the other had to lose, both players and their teams actually won in a different sense as the game cemented what both parties believed on their respective draft nights.
Caleb Williams and Jordan Love are franchise QBs.
For Chicago, it proved they made the right choice in 2024 when they made Williams the number one overall pick.
For Green Bay, it proved they made the right decision in 2020 of ignoring the wishes of many, including then-QB Aaron Rodgers, and selected Love 26th overall.
While Williams was thrown into the fire in his rookie season and forced to learn through losing, Love didn’t become the team’s fulltime starter until year three.
Williams had a good rookie season in 2024, throwing for 3,541 yards with 20 TDs and 6 INTs. Love showed even more potential, throwing for 4,159 yards with 32 TDs and 11 INTs in his first full season in 2023.
Most importantly, both QBs were given something many Black QBs of the past were denied- time to develop, support and a system that worked for them.
Love sat behind Rodgers and learned how to play the position. To help his development, the team added weapons around him, including Christian Watson, Tucker Kraft and Josh Jacobs.
In 2024, Williams had DJ Moore, fellow rookie Rome Odunze and veteran running back D’Andre Swift. This year, the team added head coach and offensive mastermind Ben Johnson and rising star rookie tight end Colston Loveland.
So far, both players have rewarded their team’s investment and faith in them.
Two years ago, Love made history twice while leading the Packers to a playoffs upset of the Cowboys in Dallas- he became the only QB in franchise history to win a playoff game in their first season as the primary starter and became the first QB to have a perfect passer rating in their playoff debut.
In his second season, Williams has helped lead the Bears turnaround, helping the team go from 5-12 in 2024 to to 11-6 this past season. After guiding Chicago to the no.2 seed in the NFC and its first playoff win since 2010, Williams will lead the Bears in the Divisional round of the playoffs next weekend.
At the start of this year’s playoffs, there were 5 Black starting QBs- the Texans CJ Stroud, the Panthers Bryce Young, reigning Super Bowl champ and MVP Jalen Hurts of the Eagles, Williams and Love.
Young and Love are now out, Hurts takes the field on Sunday against the 49ers and Stroud plays the Steelers Monday night.
But on Saturday night, Caleb Williams and Jordan Love showed NFL fans they had arrived in a duel between two young Black QBs who are stars in the making.
