Caleb Williams’ message to Bears punter Tory Taylor could backfire on him when Chicago takes on Jake Bates and the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving.

Shortly after being drafted by the Bears with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Williams reached out to Taylor, whom Chicago selected with the 122nd pick, and confidently assured the former Iowa punter that he would not be punting frequently this season.

The hope Williams had was that with him leading the offense, the Bears would be a dangerous unit, easily scoring at will. At least that was the message the former USC star tried to share with Taylor when they communicated after the draft had concluded.

“Caleb just texted me before saying, ‘Hey you’re not going to punt too much here,’ which is great,” Taylor said at the time, per ESPN. “That was pretty funny.” And while Taylor found humor in Williams’ proclamation, the former Iowa star understood that the NFL is an entirely different beast altogether.

“Certainly the NFL is going to be a lot different than Iowa,” he continued. “I punted, what was it, 90-something times, nearly 300 times in my career almost. I know it’s not going to be like that in the NFL but as long as I’m punting balls, I don’t really care what happens.”

For as confident as Williams was in himself and the Bears, seemingly the exact opposite has happened for Chicago sitting at 4-7. Heading into the Bears’ matchup with the Lions, Taylor has punted the ball 53 times, tied with the Tennessee Titans’ Ryan Stonehouse for 6th-most in the league.

Jake Bates #39 of the Detroit Lions kicks to warm up before the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Ford Field on November 17, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan

Since being signed by the Detroit Lions, Jake Bates has been perfect on his field goal attempts ( 

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Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

The Cleveland Browns’ Corey Bojorquez leads the league in punts with 58. Interestingly, Williams’ proclamation that Taylor would not need to punt often this season could blowback in the face as the Bears take on Bates, the Lions’ steady kicker this year.

Coming into Detroit’s Thanksgiving matchup with Chicago, Bates has been perfect this season, 16-of-16 on field goals in 11 games. Overall, he’s made 42-of-43 extra point opportunities, showing his propensity to make his opportunities when given the chance.

For Bates, his road to being the Lions star kicker was forged while playing in the UFL. Last season, the 25-year-old was on the Michigan Panthers and his exploits became more widely known after nailing a field goal from 60, 62 and 64 yards.

Before he was signed, only four NFL kickers had managed to make field goals from 60-or-more yards, with Baltimore Ravens legend Justin Tucker holding the record with a 66-yard, walk-off field goal against the Lions in 2021. Matt Prater, Graham Gano and Harrison Butker were the only other kickers to have made a 60+ yard field goal.

Considering how rare it is for kickers to display such power, NFL teams immediately took notice of Bates and soon enough, the former Houston Texans kicker – for a brief moment – was signed by Detroit. And the Lions move paid off handsomely, with Detroit rocketing to the top of the NFC.

If the Bears and Lions’ matchup is decided by a field goal in Detroit’s favor, Bates’ fairytale story continues while Williams’ proclamation to Taylor will go down as a nightmare.