What would happen if a franchise famous for killing the career of any and all quarterbacks to walk through its doors got possession of the most talented quarterback of all time, after he had already developed into perhaps the most mind-bogglingly unstoppable player in NFL history? Thanks to Madden NFL 26, we can find out, and to do so, we have swapped the places of Patrick Mahomes, who has reached the Conference Championship in each of his seven seasons as an NFL starter, and Caleb Williams, quarterback for a Bears franchise that has averaged one playoff win per decade for the last 30 seasons.
The Fastest Trade Acceptance In NFL History
Before going on vacation for impartial integrity, it was time to take over the Chiefs and propose a QB swap. It can only be assumed the Bears’ front office fired back a sarcastic “yeah, sure,” to the presumed prank offer they received, only to be amazed when a fax came through to finalize the deal. Patrick Mahomes is now the next great hope of Da Bears faithful.
Checking In At Mid Season
At the turn, things look markedly different for the two franchises. In Kansas City, life after Patrick Mahomes is going as poorly as Chiefs fans no doubt fear it will whenever the time comes for Mahomes to actually hang it up and leave the Kansas City locker room. At 3-5, they sit just fifth bottom in the AFC, but all hope is not lost as both the Chargers and Raiders are stuck on only one victory while the division-leading Broncos are just a game clear at 4-4.
In Chicago, the decision to bring in the most successful player in the league today has been a resounding success. While their place in the most competitive division in the NFL means that 5-2 is still only good enough for second place to the Lions, they hold the fourth-best record in the NFL despite a -6 point differential.
From a statistical perspective, the Bears are seeing the recent Mahomes more than the offensive juggernaut of earlier seasons, with just 8 TDs through seven games against 4 interceptions. Williams leads the man he replaced in KC by 250 yards and four touchdown passes; however, with 13 interceptions, his TD/INT ratio is underwater.
The Unstoppable Force Yields To The Immovable Franchise
There may be no hope in football more misleading than that of Bears fans seeing competent quarterback play for a winning team, and so it proved to be in Madden, too. Despite the strong start to the season, Mahomes was not enough to rescue the Bears from themselves. While the negative point differential certainly hinted at potential problems down the line, a 3-6 finish to collapse all the way from the fourth-best record in the league to another year without playoff football is another brutal blow. While the North sent two teams to the playoffs, neither was Mahomes or the Bears. On the bright side, they did finish ahead of the 7-10 Packers!
Things went even worse for Williams and the Chiefs. Stripped of the man they’ve come to rely on to carry them effortlessly into late January, Kansas City instead collapsed down the stretch. Despite the division crown remaining a very modest 10-7 posted by the Broncos, a 2-7 run meant the Chiefs were dead in the water before fall had ended.
What The Stats Showed For Both QBs
Mahomes’ performance for the Bears wasn’t that unlike the type of season he’s shown recently. While he only passed for 3,518 yards, his 73% completion percentage and 2-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio still yielded a strong 107.3 rating on the year. He also showed his recent penchant for spreading the ball around. Without a pass catcher over a thousand yards the last two seasons, and without a receiver to hit the mark in three seasons without Tyreek Hill, Mahomes again did not deliver a 1,000-yard pass catcher. Luther Burden III topped out at 894, while D.J. Moore, Cole Kmet, and Rome Odunze all hit 680 or higher.
In Kansas City, Williams righted the ship slightly but also slowed down on overall yardage, ending up with just 43 more yards than Mahomes to go with 29 passing scores and 25 picks. Like Mahomes, he found nobody in the Chiefs’ receiving game worth focusing on, with four pass catchers over 700 yards but none over 900.
New AFC, Same NFL
While the Bears may not have benefited much in the end from grabbing Mahomes, the same can’t be said of Kansas City’s AFC foes. Josh Allen and the Bills fumbled away their chance to reach a Super Bowl without having to go through Mahomes with a Wild Card round loss to the Steelers, but Lamar Jackson and company were all too happy to take advantage as they breezed past the Bengals and Titans to the tune of a combined score of 65-30. Unfortunately for them, things ended how things ended when Mahomes was still in his rightful uniform with the Philadelphia Eagles raising the Lombardi Trophy high.
Mahomes’ season in Chicago did represent a 60-percent improvement on last season, but at the end of the day, even the winningest quarterback playing today wasn’t enough to undo the Bears of it all. Is there a quarterback you think is up to the task, or are the Bears simply a lost cause?
