The screams of Caleb Williams silenced not only the crowd at Soldier Field during the Chicago Bears’ game against the Minnesota Vikings, but also shut us up, almost in horror, that we might be facing a season without our franchise quarterback and therefore, another campaign of crumbs and chest-thumping due to our bad luck.

Fortunately, the injury wasn’t serious and the USC graduate will miss only a few games until the doctors clear him to return. Until then, things weren’t going too badly, but then we had to face some duels relying on the backup quarterbacks, and few saw with dismay that Tyson Bagent took over, but then came another blow: the departure from Shepherd’s roster wasn’t ready either, so there was no choice but to look deep into the roster and equip Case Keenum, with all his 38 years. The sky closed in once again for the Bears, but not this time.

Monday Night Football arrived and the opponent wasn’t anything to scoff at: the Philadelphia Eagles, who although had left many doubts despite their 2-0 record, wouldn’t be an easy opponent for the team coached by Ben Johnson.

Keenum was in the game on Monday night as if he were a fish swimming in his own waters: confident, precise, and fully focused, despite the defensive plan designed by Nick Sirianni’s team to attack, bother, and leave him, if possible, in pure bones. Oh, fools.

Ben Johnson knew that establishing the running game was key for the Bears to take pressure off their quarterback and make him throw only when necessary, but Keenum threw the ball with confidence and never seemed doubtful, on the contrary, as the minutes passed, his control of the situation was such that, when it came time to challenge the Eagles’ secondary, they couldn’t stop him.

It’s clear that Caleb Williams will take control of the offense as soon as he gets the green light to return to the field, but while that happens, Keenum proved he has the size to command the Bears’ offense for at least the next two games, without us, the fans, having to borrow nails to bite them out of nerves.

Although the Week 4 matchup against the NY Jets, on paper, seems like a sure thing, our Bears shouldn’t get complacent and maintain the tone and game plan that Ben Johnson (who by the way, has been getting more and more emotional with his ‘Good, Better, Best’ speeches) has designed with his backup quarterbacks, which was, at least on the night of September 28th, masterful and almost millimeter-perfectly planned.

For those of us who followed the game on ESPN, Pablo Viruega, who was on the broadcast, highlighted as much as he could the prior planning by the coaching staff of the Chicago team, with the aim of giving Keenum weapons and not burdening him with the team’s weight on his back.

That said, there are also stories worth highlighting on the other side of the ball. While in Week 1, the Carolina Panthers scored 37 points, in the last two weeks the Bears have allowed only 16 points and, to make it even more impressive, they left the Eagles blank last Monday, which is an absolute feat if we consider the offensive power of the Eagles.

Dennis Allen, the Bears’ defensive coordinator, has made the necessary adjustments for Chicago to have an effective, aggressive defense (salutations to D’Marco Jackson, dear Jalen Hurts) and one that, like in 2025, knows how to make a big play at the right time.

In summary: following Caleb Williams’ injury, things aren’t as bad as they seem in Chicago. There are quarterbacks ready to step up; there’s a defense, there’s a running game, there are reliable hands catching passes, and there’s people with great vision in the coaching staff. Everyone is fine, so take it easy, Caleb.

By Gil Padilla