Bear Digest

Bears' QB Caleb Williams' first 20 NFL games obliterate Hall of Famer Troy Aikman's

If the pseudo-feud between Caleb Williams and Troy Aikman turns to early-career statistics., the Bears' QB owns a distinct advantage.
Richie Whitt|
Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Caleb Williams appears to be evolving right before our eyes. Not that the Chicago Bears' second-year quarterback is suddenly trending toward Canton ... or is he?

In Monday night's thrilling comeback win over the Washington Commanders, Williams ran for a touchdown and threw for 252 yards and another score. He also completed a clutch third-down pass to keep alive Chicago's game-winning drive that set up Jake Moody's field goal for the 25-24 victory.

MORE: Ulterior motive for Troy Aikman criticism of Caleb Williams suggested

During the game, however, ESPN MNF analyst Troy Aikman didn't sound too impressed with Williams or the Bears. He often complained about the quarterback's inaccurate ball placement, pointed out that Williams made the wrong read on D'Andre Swift's 55-yard touchdown catch, and attributed the win to "luck."

Bears fans - and Williams himself - trolled Aikman on social media for his criticism.

"It’s fun, fun trolls," Williams explained. "I was messing around. Yeah, D’Andre made a great play and obviously he had some stuff to say about us or me and, I mean, we came out victorious in the end. Made a little fun moment of it. That was about it."

The pseudo-feud - which may or may not have stemmed from Williams not connecting with Aikman for their scheduled pre-game production meeting - has Bears fans obviously choosing their side. One user on social media decided to compare the NFL career starts of Aikman and Williams.

To be fair, Aikman was on a Dallas Cowboys team that went 1-15 in 1989. He wound up winning three Super Bowls and enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He went to six Pro Bowls and won 10 of his first 11 playoff games, achievements Bears fans can only dream Williams duplicates.

MORE: Bears' offense off to the best start to a season since the days of QB Erik Kramer

After a slow start in the first two games, Williams is now on pace for 4,008 passing yards. More impressively, he remains the NFL's best quarterback against the blitz, completing 24 of 43 for 389 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions under heavy pressure.

For what it's worth, Williams' first 20 games obliterate Aikman's. The Bears' quarterback owns huge advantages in every major passing category, including touchdown-to-interception ratio: 27-7, compared to Aikman's 14-31.

Weird that Aikman would become the Bears' Public Enemy No. 1 during their three-game winning streak, but whatever works.

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

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Richie Whitt
RICHIE WHITT

Richie Whitt has been a sports media fixture in Dallas-Fort Worth since graduating from UT-Arlington in 1986. His career is highlighted by successful stints in print (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), TV (NBC5) and radio (105.3 The Fan). During his almost 40-year tenure, he's blabbed and blogged on events ranging from Super Bowls to NBA Finals to World Series to Stanley Cups to Olympics to Wimbledons to World Cups. Whitt has been covering the NFL since 1989, and in 1993 authored The 'Boys Are Back, a book chronicling the Dallas Cowboys' run to Super Bowl XXVII.

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