(670 The Score) The first evidence of humanoid existence in England dates to approximately 800,000 years ago, which is also about the last time the Bears had a real quarterback.
It was there Sunday that rookie Caleb Williams continued unlocking new levels of performance in a dominating 35-16 win over the Jaguars that sends the Bears into their bye week at a promising 4-2, a bit banged up but cruising back home having won three straight, now with completely legitimate designs on a playoff bid.
Williams had his latest Best Game of his Career, completing 23 of 29 passes for 226 yards and four touchdowns with a 124.4 passer rating. His lone blemish was a poorly gauged underthrow to an open DJ Moore, and the rest were dots — not only the two that found Cole Kmet for touchdowns but also a pair of perfectly placed balls to the re-established Keenan Allen for scores and several more to him for the kind of first downs on which he's built his reputation. Williams connected with seven receivers in all, and he took advantage of some ill-chosen man coverage looks in the first half that allowed him to take off downfield for 56 yards rushing.
Kmet had a memorable workday beyond just his highlights too. The emergency long snapper was forced into action when Scott Daly left in the first quarter with a knee injury, and Kmet did his best to at least keep the placekicking game functional enough.
The Bears defense has now held a 12th straight opponent to 21 points or fewer and notched two more takeaways — a critical punch-out by T.J. Edwards on the first Jaguars drive of the second half and a fourth-quarter interception by Josh Blackwell that essentially sealed the outcome. A hamstring injury to Kyler Gordon had Matt Eberflus cobbling together a secondary on the fly with Jaquan Brisker and Tyrique Stevenson already out and Terrell Smith also still hurt. But Elijah Hicks made a couple nice plays, Jaylon Jones withstood the attention he received and Jaylon Johnson continued his elite play. The best thing the defensive backfield has going now is two full weeks of rest.
Perhaps the most encouraging stat of the day was the mere two penalties the Bears committed, one of which was an illegal formation on the opening kickoff. They stayed out of their own way, kept in rhythm offensively and let Jacksonville be the far more undisciplined team.
On that, we'll now see if Shahid Khan meant what he said about his continued confidence in Doug Pederson or if all of the defensive miscues and dropped balls were enough to trigger a change.
So this is two straight Bears games of actually being excited and pleased to see Tyson Bagent get snaps, coming in only because Williams earned an early exit with what's becoming more tantalizing play by the week. Even with less-than-ideal protection, he appears to be seeing the entire field on his terms, is at his most comfortable breaking the huddle early with the autonomy to read and react, is understanding score and situation to know when to throw a ball away and is sliding down unscathed when choosing his spots to run.
It feels like something special could be starting to happen with Williams, a potential delivery on all the lofty assessments of his skills and makeup that so many of us have been anxious to embrace for fear of yet another disappointment.
These aren't divisional games yet, but a rout on the overseas trip against a talented quarterback is no joke, and three wins in a row in any NFL season against anyone is also materially positive.
Caleb Williams and the Bears traveled some distance for their latest victory, and they can look back with confidence that they've done the same from what they themselves once were.
Dan Bernstein is the co-host of the Bernstein & Harris Show on middays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on 670 The Score. You can follow him on Twitter @Dan_Bernstein.