Caleb Williams’ game-losing interception is another tough learning lesson for the young quarterback
Williams thought he had the game-winning touchdown in hand, but the Packers’ preparation got the best of him.
With all of the hype going into Sunday’s game between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers with the top spot in the NFC North up for grabs, the two teams absolutely delivered in Week 14.
Ultimately, it came down to the big plays in key moments. Something that’s easy to say for any game’s outcome but it honestly holds true when you watch that game back.
After the Packers took an early lead with some explosive touchdowns in the passing game, the Bears battled back with some exciting plays of their own made by quarterback Caleb Williams, but the consequential play of the night was the one Williams was unable to make when it mattered.
The play warrants an up-close look, therefore, I brought in A to Z NFL’s Kyle Crabbs to help break it all down.
Keisean Nixon was prepared for what the Bears wanted to do
Kyle: Plays happen when preparation meets opportunity. It seems as though Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley had CB Keisean Nixon prepared for the biggest moment of Green Bay’s win over Chicago.
With the Packers leading 28-21 and the Bears facing 4th & 1 from the Packers’ 14-yard line, Chicago went back to the well on a concept that hit pay dirt for them the prior week against Philadelphia. Caleb Williams went under center to run a stretch play action fake before booting to his left, while tight end Cole Kmet faked a second-level block before releasing into the secondary to streak up the field uncovered. The flash fake from Williams and the running back fast to the flat occupied the eyes of Packers defenders, just as it had done against the Eagles the week prior.
But Green Bay’s backside coverage player, Nixon, identified Kmet as a threat while safety Evan Williams, LB Quay Walker, and LB Edge Cooper all stretched with the same route to the flat, playing the sticks. And Nixon, who was working backside in coverage elsewhere, dropped his man & spiked an angle that quickly closed the space that Kmet had initially established for himself in Green Bay’s secondary.
Had Nixon not hustled so hard, or had he not seen a very similar concept on film that broke Philadelphia’s back the week prior, the end result could have been very different. Instead, Williams double-clutched his decision before lofting a throw up for Kmet, with similar touch and hang-time as he had last week. By the time the football arrived, the throwing window was closed. And the Packers had won the football game. It’s a tough lesson for a young Chicago team to learn — but their effort to go back to the same well twice in consecutive weeks failed to secure the game-tying score. Credit to Nixon for seeing it unfold and preventing the Packers from suffering the same fate.
Caleb Williams admits he could’ve thrown a better ball to Kmet
Kole: A lot of factors went into that final fourth-down play that sealed the game for Chicago. Crabbs is absolutely right, Johnson went back to the same well in a similar situation to try and ice the game for Chicago but I don’t fault him for that decision at all. It’s a great play design made possible by the way the Bears were running the football leading up to that point.
“They were doing that pretty much the whole game,” Packers safety Xavier McKinney explained. “They were running and they were play-action booting us. And we had to honor the run. They got what they wanted. It was a good play call. I’m not going to lie. (Kmet) was open. It was a good play call so you can’t really be mad at it. We just made a better play.”
While it’s true Nixon made a helluva play diagnosing the play and dropping back into the passing window, it’s worth examining Williams’ decision-making as well.
Similar to last week against the Eagles, the play was designed to go to the flats, but D’Andre Swift was covered up by the Packers. That caused Williams to look for Kmet and while he saw the opening he wanted, he also saw Nixon closing in on the window. Instead of leading Kmet to the back corner of the end zone, he tried giving his guy a 50/50 ball in a favorable size matchup and just didn’t put enough on it.
“In those moments, it’s a got-to-have-it moment,” Williams said “And they had a guy trailing me, so I didn’t feel like I could go get it myself. Just got to give Cole a better shot at it. I think next time, just extend him a little bit more and kind of lead him. But in those moments, you want to put the ball in play and trust your guy or try to have your guy go make a play and just got to give him a better ball.”
Everyone was quick to point out DJ Moore on the play. Moore was coming across the formation in the backfield behind Williams and, yeah, might have been open if Williams waited just another second. But, again, I don’t fault the decision Williams made to give Kmet a chance. It was there initially, I think he could’ve just made a better throw getting the ball there or a faster decision.
Kudos to Nixon, he made the play when it absolutely mattered and it completely altered things in the entire NFC with four games left to be played in the regular season.
Chicago Bears News
Ben Johnson’s first taste of Bears-Packers rivalry didn’t go as planned, but it showed the kind of team Chicago must become to compete
The Bears came up just short and lost a lot in the process on Sunday.
