Steelers are laying the perfect trap designed to flip Bears QB Caleb Williams’ hidden strength against him in Week 12
The Steelers are preparing for Caleb Williams’ sack evasion ability.
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has earned two fitting nicknames for his play over the last few weeks. The first one being “Iceman” that was given to him by his teammates for his ability to lock in during late game situations and deliver, showing he has some ice in his veins.
The other nickname given to him by head coach Ben Johnson was “Houdini” in reference to the famous magician for the way Williams has slipped out of sacks and avoided negative losses.
“I don’t know, maybe a sixth sense kind of thing,” Williams said last Wednesday. “I have no idea. In the moment and in those times, I just feel a little color or maybe feel the tackle getting edged and just try and get out of it and make a play.”
Williams’ ability to evade sacks and keeps plays alive are a two-fold advantage. It helps the offense make up for what Johnson has described as a “bad play-call” and it kills the defense that had the initial play defended successfully until Williams spins out of a sack. It can be back-breaking, which is why the Pittsburgh Steelers are trying to get prepared in advance for that specific skillset.
Steelers are trying to gameplan for Caleb Williams’ sack avoidance ahead of Week 12
Earlier this week, the Steelers signed QB/WR John Rhys Plumlee to the practice squad. A versatile athlete that originally signed with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2024.
We’ve seen teams take the approach of adding a speedy quarterback to the practice squad before facing Lamar Jackson or a big-bodied quarterback before facing Josh Allen to get the defense prepared for the style of quarterback they’re going to face in the game.
It’s cool to see a team now doing this to get ready for Caleb Williams, and it could be a designed trap to use Williams’ hidden skill against him on Sunday.
While the Houdini-act is bailing the Bears offense out of sacks and potential negative losses, it’s not to say Williams is then turning those scramble plays into big gains either. But, Williams is trying to be smart when it comes to knowing when it run and when it throw it away. What he needs to get better at is hitting the opportunities that do pop up to really make the defense pay.
While it’s not fully accurate to specific scramble drills after an avoided sack, Williams’ 38.2 completion percentage on the run is concerning and ranks 35th among 40 quarterbacks with 10+ attempts with his 64.9 on-target percentage ranking 25th. He’s also had a handful of drops by his pass catchers on those plays.
So for Pittsburgh, it’s laying a trap in both ways. Ideally, the Steelers would like to keep Williams in the pocket and avoid letting him slip away. And if he does manage to avoid a sack, the secondary will need to tighten down and be disciplined to avoid giving up a big gain on a broken play.
For Williams, learning when to stay and when to go is just as important and something he’s focused on improving in his game.
“Other times, there was a play that I actually avoided a sack, but I could have thrown a touchdown,” Williams explained last week. “It’s those small things, just the big play’s right there. I saw it and I was about to rip it and I just saw a color flashing. He was running right at me. I tried to get out of it, got out of it, and threw an incompletion.”
This will be a fun little chess match to watch between Williams and Mike Tomlin’s defense on Sunday.
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