Caleb Williams won the Bears first preseason game without even playing

The Chicago Bears fought the Miami Dolphins to a 24-24 tie in their preseason opener. It wasn't an especially breathtaking performance, but Chicago's pass rush made its presence felt and a few fringe wideouts put up numbers. The quarterback play, however, left much to be desired.

There has been a lot of nonsense thrown around about Caleb Williams in recent days. New Bears head coach Ben Johnson has been open and honest about Williams' lengthy adjustment period in a new offense. Johnson runs a notoriously complex scheme and he is asking Williams to call more plays from the wristband while spending a little bit less time improvising outside the pocket — a habit that led Williams to take an NFL-high 68 sacks as a rookie.

Williams blew up the internet when he missed the target in a quick-release drill and voiced his frustration aloud. It's clear the former No. 1 pick has some learning left to do. But any notion of him losing the starting job this season is outlandish. It was never a real point of debate, but any lingering doubt subsided after Chicago's preseason opener.

Caleb Williams 'won' Bears starting QB job without taking a single preseason snap

Williams' biggest competition — if we can call it that — in the Bears QB room is 25-year-old Tyson Bagent. He has nine appearances (four starts) under his belt through two NFL seasons, completing 66.2 percent of his passes with three touchdowns and six interceptions. While Bagent has his moments, nothing over the past couple years has suggested that he's good enough to challenge Williams, a No. 1 pick with boundless untapped potential.

As if we needed more proof, Bagent got the start in Chicago's preseason opener and was predictably mediocre. He completed 13-of-19 passes for 103 yards, one touchdown and one interception. His TD throw was a nifty completion into traffic on fourth-and-goal. But look a little closer, and Bagent missed a wide-open receiver in the end zone in favor of a far more challenging throw. So... plenty of good and bad.

Bears will sink or swim with Caleb Williams under center

This hardly warrants a full debate. Bagent is a cool backup, but he's a backup. Nothing more, nothing less. Williams had his share of hardships as a rookie, but even with a crummy O-line protecting him and a dysfunctional coaching apparatus around him, the 23-year-old was able to showcase his tremendous raw talent on a regular basis. It's hard to find athletes of Williams' caliber at the quarterback position.

He needs to speed up his processing this season, but Williams' ability to extend plays and deliver high-difficulty throws on the move is a defining feature, which he shares with all the great modern quarterbacks. The Patrick Mahomes comps at USC were always unfair, but Williams has a knack for creating something out of nothing. Put him in a more structured environment with better teammates, and he should flourish. It will take time, but Ben Johnson was the right hire.

It's more than fair to be skeptical of the Bears' QB room at this point — this franchise feels particularly cursed at the position — but Williams has all the talent necessary to break the curse. The Bears are moving onward and upward, with Williams, not Bagent, leading the charge. We can put all that silliness to bed now.