Caleb Williams made history in Bears' Week 1 win vs. Panthers - Bears Wire

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In a game full of broken records, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams made plenty of history in his team's 59-37 win over the Carolina Panthers in the season opener.

In a game full of broken records, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams made plenty of history in his team's 59-37 win over the Carolina Panthers in the season opener.

Williams completed 21-of-29 passes (72%) for 69 yards and two touchdowns for a 124.1 passer rating while adding 65 rushing yards and two scores. It was a near-perfect performance from the third-year quarterback in one of the NFL's most exciting games of Week 1.

Williams became the first quarterback in Bears history to have at least 200 passing yards, at least two passing touchdowns, at least 50 rushing yards and at least two rushing touchdowns in the same game, according to John Todd.

Per the NFL, Williams is the fourth quarterback in NFL history with at least 250 passing yards, 50 rushing yards, two touchdown passes, two rushing touchdowns and a passer rating of 120-or-higher in a game, joining the likes of Josh Allen, Cam Newton and Michael Vick.

Williams was on fire the entire game against the Panthers. He got Chicago their first points of the regular season on a 9-yard run on the Bears’ second drive of the game. In the second quarter, he threw a perfect ball to tight end Cole Kmet for a 22-yard score to extend Chicago’s lead to 21-7.  On his second rushing touchdown, he was not even touched by a Panther defender until he was in the end zone.

Head coach Ben Johnson said before the season began that he wanted to break the record for the highest scoring offense in NFL history. Between how well Williams was reading the field in this game, how well the run game operated with nearly 300 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns and the fact the Bears just put up 59 points in their opener, the third-most ever in a Bears game, they seem like a team who can certainly break this record and will be a real Super Bowl contender this year.

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https://bearswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/bears/2026/09/14/bears-caleb-williams-made-history-vs-panthers/91750009007/
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