Caleb Williams’ reaction to costly turnover shows he still has room to grow with his processing and decision-making
The Chicago Bears quarterback had a costly mistake that came at the absolute worst time.
Caleb Williams was far from the only problem for the Chicago Bears during the team’s brutal loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 8 despite the public discourse being shared after the game.
That being said, it was another step back for the former #1 overall pick who was clearly outplayed on the field by Ravens’ backup quarterback Tyler Huntley, who made his first official start of the season.
Williams improved on some of the coaching points during the week including his ability to scramble and hitting more accurate passes compared to the week before. But, when it comes to Williams’ processing and decision-making, he showed some familiar mistakes at the worst time.
Caleb Williams’ costly interception ended up being the final blow for the Bears
Early in the fourth quarter, the Bears offense finally made it into the end zone when a D’Andre Swift touchdown made it a 13-16 game with a little over 12 minutes remaining. On the ensuing drive, Chicago’s defense managed to force a stop that gave the ball back to the offense backed up on the 4-yard line with a chance to take the lead.
Three plays into the drive, however, Williams forced a ball to wide receiver Rome Odunze on second down and was intercepted by Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins.
“It was a good read,” Williams said to reporters after the game. “Rome man to man with the guy that caught the pick. I just didn’t give a good ball to Rome.”
Truth is, it wasn’t a good read and even with a better ball in front of Odunze, there was another defender waiting to lay a big hit on the Bears’ second-year wide receiver. It was a tight window, risky throw on second down, and it was the final blow for the Bears’ chances at a comeback once the Ravens capitalized on the takeaway with a touchdown to make it 13-23.
After the game, head coach Ben Johnson had a different opinion on the play.
“Yeah, I didn’t quite see. I would have to check it out on film just one more time. Just in my mind, there might have been another option that we could have gotten to,” Johnson said to reporters.
Looking back at the play, Williams had rookie running back Kyle Monangai wide open in the flat to his right, who easily could have found some space for the offense while moving the chains. Williams just didn’t see him and stared down Odunze the entire way after the play action fake.
It was one really, really, bad play. And after watching the rest of the game, there wasn’t a lot of bad decisions made by Williams on Sunday beyond that critical mistake. But, when you make a mistake that bad, everyone’s going to judge the entire game off that one play.
In those moments, Williams needs to start having some better decision-making and making sure he checks all his reads before firing. Small teaching moment amid a lot of other offensive mistakes for the entire unit, but every little learning moment matters for Williams’ development.
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