Caleb Williams made special plays to keep the Packers and the rest of the NFC on their toes, but still left too much meat on the bone
His rollercoaster performance continued in Week 14’s loss.
The Chicago Bears lived and died by the play of quarterback Caleb Williams during Sunday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers and it’s not the formula head coach Ben Johnson wants to have on offense.
After a slow start on offense, Chicago trailed 14-3 going into halftime and needed some special plays out of their young quarterback to keep the game within reach. Williams made some high level ones in the second-half that kept everyone watching on their toes.
“Caleb Williams, I mean, he’s a tough guy to sack,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said after the game. “It’s amazing the stuff that he can get out of. And then he’s, obviously, he can throw extremely well and extremely accurate on the run. And he made a ton of big-time throws tonight, where he got out of some crazy stuff and made some huge plays for them.”
LaFleur wasn’t the only person on the Packers’ sideline in awe of some of the plays Williams was making throughout the game on Sunday, willing his team back into it late in the fourth quarter.
“I’ve watched Caleb all season throughout some of the film, and he does some really cool stuff on the football field,” Packers quarterback Jordan Love added. “I think he’s a really good player, and obviously I think just his playmaking ability to be able to get out of some of those, there’s some times where you think he’s bottled up, and there might be a sack, and he’s able to get out and extend his play. He’s a really good player, and obviously I think he’s going to keep getting better, it’ll be a good matchup going forward.”
In the end, the play Williams couldn’t make sealed Chicago’s fate in Lambeau after his fourth-down pass intended for tight end Cole Kmet in the end zone was intercepted by Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon. As bad as that play was to end the game, the slow start from the passing game is something the unit needs to prioritize fixing moving forward.
Bears will struggle to go anywhere until Caleb Williams can play a complete game
Going into the week, Johnson specifically called out the team’s passing attack on offense saying “we’re winning in spite of our passing game, not because of it.” It was a very public, and rare, show of frustration from the team’s head coach with the intention of lighting up his offensive players.
And it wasn’t just directed at Williams, but he certainly plays a big piece into the issue as the quarterback and with some of the misses he had.
It’s hard to say the message was entirely well received. Williams started the game 0/5 passing and going into halftime completed just 6/14 attempts with a 50.3 passer rating.
“I think it was more of us shooting ourselves in the foot and not making the plays and the small details,” Williams told reporters after the game. “That’s something we spoke about in the locker room before we came back out (after halftime) is focusing on the small details, doing our job, execution.”
In the second-half, Williams was playing out of his mind and played one of his best games when it came to throwing on the run, hitting three outstanding throws to Kmet, Olamide Zaccheaus, and Devin Duvernay that few quarterbacks can make. While the second-half was a different story, the slow start proved to be just a little much for the Bears to overcome.
“It just comes down to small details for me,” Williams added. “I think it comes down to foot work, getting in rhythm faster and then small details for us in the passing game, making sure everybody is where they need to be and communicating that properly. Just creating the right mindset on those drives and going into the drives.”
Like what’s been the case all season, Williams showed some high-level stuff on Sunday but the inconsistencies left too much meat on the bone for what could have been. It’s still early, but the Bears need to find a way to bring out a complete game from their quarterback if they have any desire to win these type of games in the future.
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