Chicago Bears: PFF under fire for slapping Caleb Williams with poor grade

It’s hard to find many flaws with a quarterback who had no turnovers while leading the Chicago Bears to a 59-37 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, but Pro Football Focus managed to give Caleb Williams a poor grade after his Week 1 performance.

Williams went 21 of 29 passing for two touchdowns. He added another 65 yards and two scores on the ground, but took two sacks for -8 yards on the day.

PFF ranked Williams as the No. 20 best quarterback in Week 1, putting him behind Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, who threw for 361 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception but added a rushing score to his total. Young was ranked No. 6.

PFF’s grade caused a stir on social media, and the publication responded to the outcry.

“Important reminder,” PFF posted on X. “What the PFF grade measures is the part of the play the QB actually controls — the read, the decision, the throw. Not the result that lands in the box score.”

PFF takes heat for Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams’ grade

The response was met with more criticism.

“I don’t doubt that’s how you do it, which makes you entirely irrelevant in 2026. I’ll never spend another dime with you because you have lost the scent,” wrote Ken Mitchell of Windy City Gridiron.

“Attempting to gaslight people by accusing them of box score watching is pretty messed up, when in reality they watched the same tape you did and came to a more accurate conclusion,” wrote Adam Hoge of CHGO Sports.

“I don’t have a problem with Caleb getting a negative grade for the INT that didn’t count, but giving him a -1.5 for a no play and only a 1.0 for the hole shot TD to Kmet proves the issue here is the grader, not the player.”

“Eh not really,” wrote Anthony Ruiz of Fox NFL. A QB throws to a WR, and the CB falls down. He gets a neutral grade on an open throw. He makes the same exact throw but the CB stays up and nearly gets a hand on it. Now it’s a +2 because it’s tight window.”

The rankings might need adjustment or an update. Clearly the publication is a little behind the times on their analysis the game, especially at the quarterback position.

Ranking Williams at No. 20 should have flagged the edit that something was amiss. Or maybe PFF doesn’t know how to analyze football.

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