Caleb Williams' childhood fandom of Aaron Rodgers has been well documented. He was someone whom the 24-year-old idolized and modeled his game after.
Caleb Williams was two days shy of his 7th birthday when Aaron Rodgers made his first career start against the Bears.
He has nothing but admiration for the Steelers QB 🤝 pic.twitter.com/pYxOZ0LgEs
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) November 19, 2025
Rodgers has many aspects of his game that set him apart from the average NFL quarterback. One of the signature examples of that has been his innate ability to draw defenders offsides with his cadence, allowing him to capitalize with a free play down the field. Few have been better at the tactic throughout his career.
It's safe to say Williams took a page out of the future Hall of Famer's book in that regard, and he pulled it out midway through the third quarter with the old man looking on. He manipulated the Steelers' defensive line into jumping offsides on a gotta-have-it third-and-six in Pittsburgh territory.
Just like Rodgers has done so many times before, Williams finished the play with an exclamation point, finding DJ Moore streaking wide open for the go-ahead touchdown.
Caleb Williams hard count gets the free play. Then throws a dot to DJ Moore.
A very Aaron Rodger-esque playpic.twitter.com/aKu0RnBUhe
— Dave (@dave_bfr) November 23, 2025
The Bears have fallen victim to Rodgers' free play antics countless times during his time in Green Bay. In fact, I'd go as far as to say he's probably inflicted more free play punishment on the city of Chicago than on any other fanbase throughout his career. There's something deeply poetic about Williams giving him a much-needed taste of his own medicine.
From the Bears' perspective, it's a doubly satisfying situation considering just how many issues Williams' cadence was causing the big guys up front earlier in the year. They weren't on the same page far too often, and that was a contributing factor in the countless pre-snap penalties committed through the first quarter of the season.
A quarterback's cadence is supposed to be a weapon at home. The offense has a massive advantage over the defense since they're the only ones who know when the ball will be snapped. While it's ultimately unclear who was (most) at fault for the early miscommunication, it's an undeniably great sign that they have largely put those pre-snap issues in the rear-view mirror.
It's also awesome to see how much Williams' cadence has developed in such a short period. That play will hopefully be one to build upon for the talented young signal-caller.
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