In football, there's nothing quite like the relationship between a center and his QB. There's an argument to be made that it's the most important line of communication in all of sports.
During a Week 5 meeting between the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers, that unique relationship was on display during a hot-mic moment between Chicago center Coleman Shelton and rookie QB Caleb Williams.
While Carolina's decimated defense is not exactly vaunted, coordinator Ejiro Evero attempted to throw different looks to frazzle the league's most recent No. 1 pick. As such, Shelton had an NSFW message to convey to his QB.
The message clearly paid off. This was Williams' best game of his rookie career and he led the Bears to a 36-10 victory over the Panthers.
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Bears center-Caleb Williams video
"Hey, we got f—ing fire, man!" Shelton said to Williams, who was attempting to communicate with the offense. Warning: video contains NSFW language.
HOT MIC. Bears center Coleman Shelton letting Caleb Williams know "we got F'ing fire man"pic.twitter.com/di5QM34xJo
— ✶ Ⓜ️𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕤 ▶️ ✶ (@_MarcusD3_) October 6, 2024
Williams, who has done a solid job of processing things as a rookie, quickly responded with an "I know," though he didn't fully sound sure of himself.
Coleman's communication is an apparent attempt to let Williams know that the Panthers were going to employ a "Fire blitz" on the play. The fervor with which Coleman delivered the message conveyed a certain level of passion that foreshadowed imminent danger.
Despite the different looks shown by Carolina's defense, Willaims remained largely unfazed, completing 11-of-15 pass attempts in the first half for 200 yards and two touchdowns to former Panther D.J. Moore.
Factor in the fact that Chicago used the pick acquired from Carolina to acquire Williams, it's probably the Panthers that have felt the fire throughout Week 5.
