Caleb Williams shares what the next step is for the Bears' offense after the unit's breakout game in Week 5
The Chicago Bears finally had their coming out party on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers in Week 6.The unit topped 400 total yards of offense, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams eclipsed 300 passing yards for the second time in five games, and the run game managed to record three touchdowns on the ground.It was exactly what […]
The Chicago Bears finally had their coming out party on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers in Week 6.
The unit topped 400 total yards of offense, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams eclipsed 300 passing yards for the second time in five games, and the run game managed to record three touchdowns on the ground.
It was exactly what everyone expected to see out of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron's unit going into the season and it seems like the growing pains are behind the offense moving forward.
Now, the unit still has some key things to clean up as it wasn't an entirely perfect game, but it was enough to get a massive victory over a below-average squad.
After the game, Williams shared his thoughts on what the next step looks like for the unit to continue moving in the right direction.
"I mean, when you're able to be efficient down the field, and playing well with each other, short passes, good runs, check downs and then obviously opening up and being able to hit a couple of deep balls, I think it limits kind of what defenses can do." Williams explained. "Now the defense is just trying to scramble and trying to figure it out, and when you're being consistent, how we were today with the run game and obviously with the pass game, and hit some explosive plays, it does good for the whole football team. It keeps us on the football field, being efficient. And then when you have those big plays, the momentum swings and things like that. It's great for the football team."
The big thing that opened up this week for the Bears was the deep ball, but it only opened up by staying in rhythm on offense. Once the Bears established that early rhythm, Williams was able to hit the big shots down the field.
During the first four weeks of the season, it was minor errors that held the unit back and you knew it was only a matter of time until those issues were ironed out.
"The games, even that we lost, we were right there," Williams added. "Most of them were just small details throughout the game that we were missing. And I think after those losses, understanding we got a lot of room to get better. We got a lot of things that we need to fix…
"Like this week, I think it was Thursday, we didn't have our best practice offensively. The next day, leaders met a little bit, walking off the field on the offensive side and said, 'We need to be better tomorrow.' We came back the next day locked in and focused and pushing each other for that next day, and it led into the game. We understand we got to keep growing and keep progressing."
That next step in the progression is an easy one to fix, because it's something that comes back to the offense itself not the defense across from them. The Bears still had some silly penalties, such as a clipping call that negated a potential touchdown forcing the team to settle for a field goal instead.
"You can't put yourself behind the sticks like we did [in Week 4], having the first and 15 and second and longs, all that stuff," head coach Matt Eberflus said. "We did a little bit of that the second half. There's some penalties got us behind the sticks, and it's hard to operate that way as an offense when you get those holding penalties and put you back. But for the most part it was good."
The Bears could still start out a little big quicker, even though they finally scored a first quarter touchdown on Sunday. Through five games, the Bears have a total of six first downs on the opening drive of the game with the only score coming on a field goal in Week 2. But, overall, the unit is close and it's exciting to watch.
A simple personnel decision is helping the Bears’ offense dominate in a key situation the unit previously struggled in
This has been a successful adjustment.
