CHICAGO (104.3 The Score) – Tom Brady had Peyton Manning.
Patrick Mahomes has Josh Allen.
Does Caleb Williams have Drake Maye?
Or is it more appropriate to ask if Drake Maye has Caleb Williams?
Maye, after all, led the Patriots to the Super Bowl last season. But then Williams engineered seven fourth-quarter comebacks for the Bears and established himself as the NFL’s most exciting young quarterback. Did Williams’ individual exploits put him slightly ahead despite Maye’s better team accomplishments?
The answer likely depends on your ZIP code and football upbringing but, suffice to say, both positions are defensible. That’s what happens when a pair of young quarterbacks, two of the first three picks of the 2024 NFL Draft, ascend as quickly to stardom as Williams and Maye have.
Perhaps everyone can agree that Williams and Maye represent two of the youngest quarterbacks in the league with the highest ceilings, and playing against each other Thursday night brought out their absolute best. This isn’t Brady-Manning or Mahomes-Allen just yet but is as compelling as any comparison between players at their sport’s most important position.
The NFL craves good quarterback rivalries. They create interest and deliver drama. They inspire books and documentaries. They pique the curiosity of casual fans and produce strong opinions from diehards. Granted, Williams and Maye don’t share a conference the way Brady and Manning did or how Mahomes and Allen do, but they have enough in common to envision them enduring careers full of comparisons. They’ll share sentences for decades.
That only becomes more exacerbated when they go head-to-head as they did when Williams’ Bears’ beat Maye’s Patriots, 30-24, at Soldier Field in a matchup that lived up to the hype. That evened the quarterbacks up at 1-1 against each other, the first matchup coming in their rookie seasons in 2024 when both had different head coaches in command.
Williams, the No. 1 overall selection in 2024, completed 22 of 33 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns without an interception for a 116.7 passer rating Thursday. Mayes, drafted No. 3 overall in 2024, hit 24 of 31 passes for 321 yards, two touchdowns and an interception with a 117.8 passer rating.
You might say Amazon delivered a quarterback clinic to a national audience.
Even Williams acknowledged that he got caught up in trying to match Maye big completion for big completion.
“I think any competitor (would),” Williams said. “It doesn’t matter what score it is. When you have that great quarterback, when that happens, it’s lets go get one and match that.”
The only questionable decision Williams made all night came on third-and-5 at the Patriots’ 30-yard line with 1:46 left in the game. Under pressure, Williams tried buying himself time to make another heroic play. But he was swallowed in the pocket and sacked by Christian Barmore for a loss of 10 that initially appeared to knock the Bears out of field-goal range as they held a six-point lead.
But Cairo Santos made amends for an earlier miss from 53 yards by nailing a 58-yard field that gave the Bears a 30-21 lead with 1:34 left in the game. To hear Johnson postgame, it came down to believing in his kicker over taking his chances by punting. Johnson also used the word “redemption” when explaining his decision to give Santos another chance.
“It was close … (but) we felt good being inside that line,” Johnson said.
Added Williams: That’s my guy … He said in the end he wanted to have my back.”
All night long, Williams had his teammates’.
For the second straight game, Williams spread the ball around to whoever was open. Luther Burden III, dubbed “Problem Child” by Williams during the week, gave the Patriots fits by catching four passes for 130 yards and a touchdown – all in the first half. Tight end Colston Loveland enjoyed his second straight strong game with a team-high seven catches for 69 yards and a touchdown. And Rome Odunze redeemed himself, much the way Santos did, with two big catches in the fourth quarter and an onside kick recovery that made it easier to forgive him for an offensive pass interference penalty and drop in the end zone earlier in the evening.
With the passing game producing the finesse, the running game supplied the force. D’Andre Swift carried 22 times for 78 yards as the Bears again won the time of possession battle. Really, the only glitch the Bears experienced offensively was self-inflicted and avoidable.
Remember when Patriots safety Kevin Byard, a former Bear, predicted during the short week that his former coach, Ben Johnson, would dip deep into his bag of tricks because he couldn’t resist the opportunity to do so on a national stage? Well, Byard knows Johnson well. On second-and-3 from the Patriots’ 8-yard line in the second quarter, Johnson called for Williams to hand off to left guard Joe Thuney, but it resulted in a penalty that sucked any life left out of the drive. NFL rules say it’s illegal to hand the ball forward to an ineligible player behind the line of scrimmage, so why would Johnson call such a complicated play? The Bears settled for a 31-yard field goal because Johnson got too gimmicky.
“It looked clean in practice,” Johnson said.
Williams struggled to suppress a grin recalling handing the ball to his left guard.
“That was a special play, but it didn’t work,” he said, smiling. “I didn’t know that rule. We’ll figure that out.”
It was a blip on a night the Bears’ belief really never wavered. With the Bears leading 27-21 on fourth-and-2 at the Patriots’ 43-yard line with 9:40 left, for example, Johnson showed total confidence in his quarterback by going for it as he loves to do. Williams calmly found Loveland for a gain of nine to keep the chains moving and the ball away from the Patriots. That’s when Santos hit the upright on a 53-yard field-goal attempt, so the Bears failed to add to the lead there, but that drive lasted 13 plays and covered 51 yards.
More importantly, it gave the Bears defense a chance to rest in the fourth quarter. Refreshed, the defense forced a three-and-out when called back onto the field after its offense’s long drive.
That’s the definition of complementary football every coach seeks.
And the Bears defense – buoyed again by Kyler Gordon’s blitzing – needed all the help it could get because of Maye’s mastery. Maye did an exceptional job of taking what the defense gave him without forcing matters downfield. He checked down early and often, spreading the ball among running backs and tight ends to keep the chains moving – 18 of his 24 completions came to those two positions. Maye’s biggest and perhaps only mistake came when he gifted Bears linebacker D’Marco Jackson an interception in the north end zone when he threw the ball right to No. 48 in the second quarter.
But other than that, Maye exuded poise and precision. As he did with 3:46 left in the third quarter when the Patriots schemed tight end Eli Raridon against linebacker Devin Bush and Maye hit Raridon in stride down the right side for a 30-yard touchdown pass that reminded the Bears this wouldn’t be easy.
That point was driven home on the last play of the first half when Maye completed a short pass to running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who knifed through several Bears defenders for a stunning 48-yard touchdown reception. The most egregious missed tackle came courtesy of Jaylon Johnson, the Bears’ highest-paid cornerback and least-interested tackler. Johnson also whiffed earlier in the game trying to tackle Maye in the open field. His inability to tackle – or indifference – created a bad enough look that nobody would’ve blamed defensive coordinator Dennis Allen for benching Johnson the second half.
But Johnson played in the second half, committing a pass interference penalty in the fourth quarter that reflected the relentless that Maye brought all night long. He matched his counterpart Williams series for series, throw for throw.
“Drake Maye is an outstanding player,” Johnson said of his fellow North Carolina alum. “It’s very hard to bottle him up. You only rush four and he finds a way if he doesn’t see anything down the field to find an open gap. And Caleb, it was good to get him now two weeks in a row finding some open receivers.”
For the second game in a row, the Bears found a way to beat a good team. This was a quality victory over a playoff contender, an important step for the Bears in a season in which they’ll go as far as Williams can carry them. In outdueling Maye, the quarterback he described like a buddy during the week, Williams showed a national audience he’s back.
And so are the Bears.
“We’re in a good spot,” Williams said of his 5-2 team. “These nights are awesome.”
He was never more accurate.
David Haugh hosts the Haugh & Payton Show from 5:30-10 a.m. weekdays on 104.3 The Score.
