Caleb Williams

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel have dominated headlines as coaching candidates in the NFL, and the Chicago Bears have been connected to both.

Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reported Sunday that Chicago is interested in the top candidates after firing Matt Eberflus during the 2024 campaign:

This comes after general manager Ryan Poles told ESPN 1000's Bears pregame show the team will interview current interim coach Thomas Brown for the position as well.

"He will get an interview, and I'm excited to hear his thoughts," Poles said of Brown. "Because he's been here. He's been here, he's seen and reflected just like we have on the past and how we got to this and why were the results, the results. So I'm excited to hear from his side on how we got here and how he would fix it."

Brown has made his way up the ranks this season, which started with him as the passing game coordinator and ends Sunday with him filling the role of interim head coach.

Chicago promoted him to interim offensive coordinator when it fired Shane Waldron and interim head coach after it fired Eberflus. However, the team is also 0-4 during Brown's tenure as the interim head coach, which could impact his chances for the full-time job.

As for Vrabel and Johnson, they would represent two distinctly different approaches for the Bears.

On the one hand is Johnson, who is someone with an offensive background but no experience as an NFL head coach. On the other hand is Vrabel, who has a defensive background and extensive experience as a head coach of the Titans for six seasons from 2018 through 2023.

Vrabel went 54-45 overall and made the playoffs three times during that six-year span. He even reached the AFC Championship Game with Ryan Tannehill as his quarterback during the 2019 campaign and is someone who could overachieve with a roster that may not stack up to the best in the league.

Yet Chicago's long-term fortunes will likely rest on whether Caleb Williams lives up to expectations as the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft.

This is an organization that has long searched for a franchise quarterback, and its inability to find one is a major reason it is looking for its fifth head coach since 2012. Giving Williams the best chance to become that franchise quarterback seems to be the best long-term approach, and that likely means bringing in an offensive-minded coach.

Johnson, who is in his third season as the offensive coordinator of the Lions, is just that.

Detroit reached the NFC Championship Game last season and will be the NFC's No. 1 seed in this season's playoffs if it defeats the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Johnson's offensive innovation is a major reason for the success and has surely caught the eye of the NFC North rival Bears.

Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward are the early favorites to be the top two quarterbacks off the board in the 2025 NFL draft, but at least some NFL general managers don't view them as being on par with the top quarterback picks in the 2024 NFL draft.

Last year's draft was among the quarterback-heaviest of all time, as Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye were the top three picks, while Michael Penix Jr. went eighth, J.J. McCarthy went 10th and Bo Nix went 12th.

Speaking to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, an anonymous AFC general manager put Sanders and Ward in the same discussion as Penix, but behind Williams, Daniels, Maye and Nix, saying:

"They should definitely be behind Bo Nix, in my opinion. I could see people grouping [Penix], Ward, and Sanders together, but honestly, it'd probably just come down to picking your favorite flavor among the three. None of them really scream 'franchise QB' to me."

An NFC GM suggested that Sanders and Ward would have gone in the neighborhood of Nix in last year's draft, saying: "Last year's class is so talented. I'd say they'd both go after Bo Nix, maybe one of them before if a team didn't know what Sean Payton knew."

Another AFC GM was more bullish on Sanders than Ward, as they put Sanders after Maye and Ward after Nix: "Sanders after Maye would be my guess as it stands now… Truly hard to say until you meet them and get a feel for their intelligence, leadership, maturity, etc. Ward somewhere after Nix. Still very raw."

Sanders, who is the son of University of Colorado head coach and Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, put up big numbers in his two seasons with the Buffaloes.

In 2023, Sanders completed 69.3 percent of his passes for 3,230 yards, 27 touchdowns and three interceptions, and he followed that up by completing 74.0 percent of his passing attempts for 4,134 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 picks in 2024.

Playing his first season at Miami after transferring from Washington State, Ward completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 4,313 yards, 39 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2024 en route to finishing fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

Of the quarterbacks drafted in the first round last year, Daniels has been the best thus far, leading the Washington Commanders to the playoffs and establishing himself as the Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite.

Nix is one win away from a playoff berth with the Denver Broncos in his first season as well, and Penix still has the Atlanta Falcons in the playoff hunt after taking over as the starter for veteran Kirk Cousins.

Williams' Chicago Bears and Maye's New England Patriots struggled mightily this season, but they both showed flashes of being franchise quarterbacks, while McCarthy missed the entire season for the Minnesota Vikings due to a knee injury.

Even if Sanders and Ward perhaps wouldn't have been top-five picks in a loaded quarterback class last year, it seems likely that both will go early in 2025 with quarterback-needy teams such as the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns and New York Giants positioned to pick in the top five.

Even though most fans and analysts would tell you one of the biggest problems for the Chicago Bears this season has been their offensive line, Caleb Williams is here to push back against that theory.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Williams supported his offensive line by saying a "good amount" of the sacks he's taken this season are his own fault.

Williams has been sacked an NFL-high 67 times and lost 459 yards on those plays. C.J. Stroud is the only quarterback who has been sacked at least 50 times and lost more than 400 yards this season.

There is certainly more nuance to the discussion than simply saying the Bears offensive line is terrible, therefore it's their fault that Williams has been hit as many times as he has.

Williams ranks 31st out of 43 quarterbacks with at least 135 pass attempts in average time to throw (2.91 seconds). One of the criticisms of his game coming out of college was that he tended to hold onto the ball waiting for a big play to develop rather than push the easy button.

Here, though, is where you can feel the difference between a good pass protection and subpar pass protection. Williams' average time to throw is actually the same as Bo Nix, but the Denver Broncos rank first in ESPN's pass-block win rate and second in run-block win rate.

One of the biggest reasons Nix hasn't been impacted despite holding onto the ball as much as Williams does is his protection is arguably the best in the NFL.

The Bears rank 18th in pass-block win rate, which is probably better than most fans would assume. But the difference between being No. 1 and No. 18 is 13 percentage points (73 to 60).

It's funny to think back to the draft and offseason when analysts were praising the Bears for having a great situation around Williams. They have since fired their head coach and offensive coordinator during the season because of their struggles.

On the other hand, Nix stepped into what seemed like a chaotic situation with the Broncos. But he also got to work with one of the best offensive minds of this generation as his head coach in Sean Payton and a stout offensive line.

The results couldn't be more different, with the Broncos one win away from making the playoffs and the Bears riding a 10-game losing streak entering Week 18.

Williams does need to get better at getting rid of the ball on time and in rhythm, but the Bears have to invest in their offensive line this offseason to give him more time to make plays down the field.

The Chicago Bears' long-term future largely rests on whether quarterback Caleb Williams lives up to the elevated expectations that were put in place when he was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft, but that reportedly hasn't stopped the NFC North team from looking into someone with an extensive defensive background for its head coaching vacancy.

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported Monday that Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores is "connected to the position" and earned "strong reviews" when Bears president Kevin Warren asked around about the candidate in Minnesota.

Warren previously worked for the Vikings for 15 years and presumably still has plenty of connections with the organization. What's more, Bears general manager Ryan Poles was teammates with Flores at Boston College in 2003.

Still, Flores is a defensive coach who was a longtime assistant for the New England Patriots on that side of the ball before he became the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2019 through 2021.

While his Vikings have been largely dominant this season on the way to an NFC-best 14-2 record, his time in Miami was inconsistent at best.

Flores went 24-25 overall and never made the playoffs, although the Dolphins did go 10-6 in his second season but missed the playoffs because of the overall strength of the AFC and division that year.

His time in Miami also made headlines this year when Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said Flores said he sucked and didn't belong in his position. For his part, Flores said after that interview he was "genuinely happy" for Tagovailoa's success and wanted to learn from the situation to help him grow moving forward.

With that as the backdrop, Breer pointed out Flores will "have to lay out a plan for how things would be different with Williams than they were with Tua Tagovailoa in Miami."

That would make hiring Flores somewhat tricky for the Bears, as they need to maximize Williams' talent and potential if they are going to turn things around in the near future. They have long searched for the answer at quarterback, and how Williams performs in the coming years will determine whether he is the answer or yet another disappointment in a long list of them.

Given that situation, a coach with an offensive background may make more sense even if the Bears are impressed with what they've seen from looking into Flores.

Bill Belichick believes the Chicago Bears took the wrong approach when building their team around rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.

The former New England Patriots coach and new North Carolina coach said the Bears should have focused on the run game and pass protection to assist Williams before targeting receiving options.

"You go out, you draft a quarterback, you go out and acquire all these receivers and everything, but no running game, no pass protection, can't score," Belichick said on The Pat McAfee Show. "In a city where you know it's going to be tough to throw at the end of the season. Period. I just don't know if that's the way to put it together versus a team like Detriot, who went out and built the offensive line to go with a quarterback and then added the skill players."

Ahead of Williams' rookie season, the Bears ensured that he would have plenty of talented receivers to throw for. They already had DJ Moore and they brought in Keenan Allen through a trade with the Los Angeles Chargers before drafting wide receiver Rome Odunze with the ninth pick.

The only issue is that Williams doesn't have enough time in the pocket. He's been sacked 67 times this year, the most of any quarterback in the league. The quarterback closest to him is CJ Stroud, who has been brought down 52 times.

Williams has managed to put together a decent year, throwing for 3,393 yards, 19 touchdowns and six interceptions, but he'd likely be much more productive if he had better protection.

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb William says he is ready to take the blame for Thursday's 6-3 loss after taking seven sacks and throwing a game-ending interception against the Seattle Seahawks.

"We played on two sides of the ball today pretty well, special teams and defense, and then offense we didn't play well," Williams said after the game (45-minute mark of the video below.) "There was miscues. There was stupid sacks that I was taking, losing 10, 14 yards, which is frustrating.

"I will say that I'll definitely take the heat for this one, just 'cause of some situations that I put us in. Like I said, that sack that I took, that I didn't need to take, which put us—we were empty, and I brought a guy from the boundary. Just throw it over the guy's head and you're still playing."

Williams concluded: "I didn't play well enough. I didn't put the team in a good position to win, in a better position to win, and that's what it is."

Former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky analyzed Williams' seven sacks after the loss, identifying two of the hits as the quarterback's responsibility and three as the result of exposure from the offensive line.

Williams also threw an interception with less than 15 seconds left after the Bears struggled with clock mismanagement on their final drive.

Interim head coach Thomas Brown, who did not call a timeout as time ran out on the final drive, also took responsibility for the loss after the game.

"The offense was not good enough, which it starts with me as far as the game plan that I had coming into this game, having those guys ready to go," Brown said (h/t the Seahawks' official transcript.)

The coach added: "I wasn't good enough. Put it on me."

Williams has now taken 67 sacks in his second NFL campaign, marking the fourth-highest single-season total ever recorded by a quarterback.

That also sets a single-season franchise record for the Bears, exceeding the 66 sacks made on four quarterbacks in 2004.

Brown can't be sure he'll be leading the team next season after watching his team lose a tenth straight game on Thursday.

But if there's one thing he and the Bears can focus on in Sunday's season finale against the Green Bay Packers, it's making sure Williams doesn't come anywhere close to matching Derek Carr's single-season record of 76 sacks.

The Chicago Bears struggled mightily throughout a 6-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football.

With the Bears attempting to convert on fourth down while looking to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, Caleb Williams was pressured into a lofty throw that was intercepted by Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen.

Williams finished 16-of-28 for 122 yards, getting sacked seven times. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft has now been sacked at least seven times in four separate games throughout his rookie season.

The loss represented the Bears' 10th consecutive defeat, tying a franchise record.

Chicago's offense as a whole struggled to gain traction in rainy conditions, recording just 179 total yards and averaging a mere 3.1 yards per play. The Bears converted five of 15 opportunities on third down.

The Seahawks were only able to muster six points to go along with 265 total yards, but they held a three-point halftime lead and were able to maintain it throughout the duration of the contest.

Fans called out Chicago's sluggish performance.

The loss dropped the Bears to 4-11 on the season, now owning the second-worst record among all NFC teams.

Chicago will attempt to avoid losing a franchise-record 11th consecutive game to close out the regular season against the Green Bay Packers in Week 18.

Despite a loss to the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams impressed NFL fans with more than 300 passing yards in Sunday's 34-17 home defeat.

Williams holds the longest active streak in the NFL, with over 300 consecutive pass attempts without an interception. In addition, Williams has accumulated 3,271 total yards this season, ranking him in Chicago's top ten for most passing yards in a single season and the first Bears rookie to surpass 3,000 yards, per Bill Zimmerman of Audacy Sports.

The Bears couldn't secure a win to complement Williams' performance on Sunday, falling to 4-11 as the Lions improved to 13-2. Williams completed 26-of-40 passes for 334 yards and two touchdowns but also had two fumbles, one of which was lost.

The Lions delivered another dominant performance as they bounced back from last week's 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Quarterback Jared Goff had a stellar outing, completing 23-of-32 passes for 336 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Williams was the true standout of Sunday, with his remarkable performance and continued climb in Bears history earning him widespread praise across social media:

Sunday showcased a classic performance from Detroit as they pulled away from the Eagles, maintaining their first-place position in the NFC and solidifying their dominance after clinching a playoff berth.

The Lions controlled the first quarter, with kicker Jake Bates opening the scoring with a successful 30-yard field goal. Jahmyr Gibbs added seven points with a one-yard rushing touchdown just over five minutes before the quarter's end, extending the lead to 10-0. Bates followed up with another field goal, giving Detroit a commanding 13-0 advantage heading into the second quarter.

Jameson Williams kicked off the second quarter with an electrifying 82-yard touchdown reception from Jared Goff, extending the Lions' lead to a commanding 20-0 and leaving Bears fans deflated. However, hope flickered for Chicago when Cole Kmet hauled in a one-yard touchdown pass from Williams to get the Bears on the board.

The final minute before halftime was action-packed. Amon-Ra St. Brown caught an eight-yard touchdown pass from Goff, pushing Detroit's lead to 27-7 and seemingly putting the game out of reach. Yet, the Bears responded quickly, with Keenan Allen snagging a 45-yard touchdown pass from Williams with just 39 seconds left, narrowing the deficit to 27-14 at halftime.

Out of halftime, Sam LaPorta found the end zone for the Lions with a decisive touchdown, while the Bears continued to struggle offensively for the remainder of the game. Bears kicker Cairo Santos managed to add a 30-yard field goal midway through the third quarter, bringing Chicago's total to 17 points.

The fourth quarter lacked the fireworks of earlier periods, as both teams went scoreless, allowing the Lions to comfortably secure the victory. Detroit excelled in key areas, particularly on first-down conversions, tallying 27 compared to the Bears' 19.

The Bears will look to snap their nine-game losing streak when they face the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday at home.

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is expected to be one of the hottest candidates on the coaching market this offseason, and he may have eyes for the vacancy in Chicago.

"My understanding is Johnson is intrigued by the Bears' job and he is going to be willing to listen," NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Sunday. "There's a lot to like in Chicago with Caleb Williams, tons of cap space, extra draft resources, also a major market."

Of all the current upcoming vacancies, which include the New Orleans Saints, New York Jets and Bears, Chicago's is easily the most ideal for coaching candidates. While other vacancies could come open—the Jacksonville Jaguars, Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants all feel like very real possiblilties, and other organizations could make changes as well—the presence of Williams in Chicago alone makes them intriguing.

He's not alone, of course—there are offensive playmakers in D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze and D'Andre Swift, while the defense has been solid—but having a young quarterback with a huge ceiling already on the roster makes life easier for an incoming head coach.

More than a few coaching candidates will likely have interest in the gig, with Washington Commanders' offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury previously linked to the opening.

But it's particularly exciting to envision what Johnson could draw up for Williams and the Bears. The Detroit offensive coordinator is one of the most creative and aggressive play-callers in football, routinely employing a number of trick plays throughout a game. How many teams have run a single hook-and-ladder in the past decade?

The Lions, meanwhile, have run several this season alone. And in the process, Detroit leads the NFL in scoring (32.8 PPG) and is second in yardage (403.9 YPG).

Excellent coordinators don't always translate as head coaches, of course. While coordinators can focus primarily on strategy and scheme, head coaches are like CEOs, running the entire operation while needing to understand where to delegate, how to appoint the right staff, etc. And Johnson eschewed head-coaching interest last season to remain in Detroit—if the Lions don't win the Super Bowl this season, it's possible he could do so again.

He does sound interested in making the leap at some point, however.

"I'd say this: I think there's a burning desire in every man to find what he's made out of, push the limits and see if he's got what it takes," he told reporters this past week. "So, yeah, there's a fire there. Now, when that time is, I don't know when that'll be, but there's certainly a fire there."

There's no doubt that Johnson would add a layer of creativity to Chicago's offense and improve upon the rather stale scheme the team employed during the Matt Eberflus era. Chicago and Johnson, at least for the time being, feel like a solid match.