Caleb Williams' bold draft night declaration is coming back to haunt the Bears

The Chicago Bears were on top of the world when they took Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. Just a few months later, they may have reached rock bottom on Thursday Night Football against the Seattle Seahawks.

The Bears scored three points as Williams took seven sacks in a 6-3 loss. He is now just 10 sacks away from David Carr's NFL record for sacks taken in one season.

It's safe to guess Williams didn't envision 66 sacks in his future on draft night. We know for certain he didn't envision the Bears punting 76 times before his rookie season was even finished. He told his punter as much.

"Hey, you're not going to punt too much here," Williams texted to Tory Taylor after the Bears picked the punter up in the fourth round of the draft.

Obviously, Williams was very, very wrong about that one and the internet won't let him live it down.

Caleb Williams jinxed the Bears with draft night declaration

While Williams' 66 sacks on the campaign lead the NFL, the Bears do not lead the league in punting. That distinction still belongs to the Cleveland Browns with 79.

Taylor hasn't even matched his totals from punting for the Iowa Hawkeyes for the last four years. He led the nation in 2022 and 2023 with 82 and 93 punts. That was in 13 and 14 games respectively.

So if we're being purposefully pedantic, Williams was correct to imply that Taylor wouldn't be punting as much as he did in college...

The fact is, the Bears offense stinks. It was supposed to shine with D'Andre Swift, DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze making plays all over the field. Instead, they've become a case study in the importance of competent coaching and reliable offensive line play around a rookie quarterback.

The coaching upheaval explains at least part of the punting problem. Chicago fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron after Week 10, promoting Thomas Brown to OC. Brown's last gig running an offense was with the Carolina Panthers in 2023 during Bryce Young's catastrophic rookie season, so it should surprise no one that he didn't magically save the struggling offense. When head coach Matt Eberflus was fired two weeks later, Brown was promoted to interim head coach. Again, it should shock no one that things have turned out this way.