The Jets Need To Pray The Bears Start Anyone But Caleb Williams, And That's Exactly The Problem

Let me be crystal clear about what's happening here because the national media is getting it all wrong. Ben Johnson's recent comments praising Case Keenum aren't some cryptic puzzle box that requires ESPN analysts to dissect for three hours. This is simple. This is straightforward. And this tells you everything you need to know about the Chicago Bears' desperation heading into their matchup against the New York Jets.

First, let's establish the baseline. The Jets are bad. I mean genuinely, historically bad in ways that should embarrass the entire organization from top to bottom. They've squandered another season with another quarterback situation that makes you question whether anyone in that front office has ever watched football before. Aaron Rodgers has been a disappointment masquerading as a solution. The defense has underperformed relative to its talent. The offense has been predictable and stale. You put all of that together and you get a team that should be losing to every legitimate opponent they face. They should be losing to backup quarterbacks. They should be losing to practice squad guys. The Jets are that bad.

So when Ben Johnson goes out of his way to publicly praise Case Keenum, what he's actually doing is managing expectations while simultaneously sending a message. That message is this: We might start our backup. And if we start our backup, the Bears believe they can win that game. Think about that for a second. Think about how damning that is for a franchise that drafted Caleb Williams first overall just months ago. The Bears' offensive coordinator is essentially saying our backup quarterback is capable enough to beat the Jets because that's what the math tells you when you're considering benching your million-dollar investment to start a career backup.

Now here's where I'm going to separate myself from the groupthink crowd that's been defending the Bears all season long. Everyone wants to talk about Caleb Williams being a generational talent and how he'll turn it around and how we need to be patient with him. I get that narrative. I understand why it's appealing. But what I'm seeing on film is a quarterback who has regressed from his first handful of starts. His decision making has gotten worse. His footwork has become more mechanical. His ability to process information at NFL speed has deteriorated rather than improved. That's not controversial. That's what's happening. And if we're being honest, the Bears might actually be better off with someone like Case Keenum or Tyson Bagent right now because those guys will simply take what the defense gives them instead of forcing plays into tight windows and turning the ball over.

The hamstring injury is the convenient excuse. Let's be real about that too. Hamstring injuries are tricky in football because they're just legitimate enough that no one wants to call you a liar if you claim you're not ready, but they're also nebulous enough that no one can say for certain you couldn't play through it. The Bears have the perfect out here. They can sit Williams and blame the injury, when what might actually be happening is they're trying to stabilize the ship with a more conservative approach under center. Johnson knows what he has in Keenum. He's worked with competent backup quarterbacks before. He knows what to expect. That's safer than rolling out a struggling rookie who's pressing and making poor decisions.

This is where the Jets need to understand their actual position in this league's hierarchy. The Jets are so bad right now that they should be viewing this week as essentially a guarantee. If Chicago starts Caleb Williams, the Jets should still lose because that's how incompetent this team has become. If Chicago starts Case Keenum or Tyson Bagent, the Jets should absolutely hammer that team because those are not starting quality quarterbacks in the NFL. But the fact that there's even a scenario in which the Jets could potentially stumble into a win only happens if the Bears voluntarily take themselves out of the game by playing their backup. That tells you everything you need to know about how far the Jets have fallen.

Robert Saleh has lost control of this locker room. I don't care if reporters claim there's no friction. I don't care if players come out with the standard "we're all on the same page" quotes that every losing team trots out before they lose again. The body language is telling the real story. Aaron Rodgers looks like he wants to be anywhere else. The receiving corps is underperforming expectations. The offensive line is a patchwork disaster. And defensively, the unit that was supposed to anchor this team has been exposed repeatedly against legitimate competition. This is a team spiraling, and spiraling fast.

The Jets' only path to victory this week is if they somehow manage to minimize mistakes against a Bears team that might be starting a backup quarterback. Let that sink in. A franchise with multiple draft picks, with Rodgers under center, with defensive talent accumulated through smart personnel decisions, needs a backup quarterback situation to gift them a win. That's not a recipe for success. That's a recipe for continued mediocrity and irrelevance.

Here's what Johnson's comments actually signal to me: The Bears are considering going backward with their quarterback because they realize going forward with Williams right now is causing them to lose games. That's a damning indictment. That's an admission that their first overall pick might not be the answer, at least not right now, at least not in this moment. And if the Bears are willing to make that move, it means they think Keenum or Bagent give them the best chance to win that specific game against that specific opponent. That tells you the Jets are historically bad if Chicago needs to start a backup to have confidence.

The verdict here is simple and it should make every Jets fan furious. The Jets are in a position where they could lose to a backup quarterback because they're that broken as an organization. That's the real story. That's what matters. Not whether Caleb Williams starts or not. Not whether Case Keenum gets praised by the offensive coordinator. What matters is that the New York Jets have become so dysfunctional that a game against a Bears team potentially without its starting quarterback should be considered a toss-up. That's failure on a monumental scale.

The Jets are getting everything they deserve this season. They're a franchise in freefall, and no amount of Aaron Rodgers celebrity status or past defensive draft picks can save them from the organizational cancer that's infected the entire operation from the top down.

VERDICT: The Jets are so bad they might actually lose to Chicago's backup quarterback. That's not an indictment of the Bears. That's a referendum on incompetence in New York.