It’s always instructive when a player faces the same team for a second time. For a rookie quarterback like Chicago’s Caleb Williams, the second matchup is a good opportunity to gauge progress against a constant variable.
In Week 16, Williams showed very real growth in his all-around game from the first time he and his Bears met the Detroit Lions. It didn’t translate into a win; Chicago dropped its ninth straight game and the second in four weeks to Detroit.
Don’t blame Williams. The No. 1 overall pick looked like a much better quarterback in Sunday’s 34-17 home loss than he showed against the Lions on Thanksgiving. The raw numbers reflect the uptick in Williams’ play:
Week 13: 20-of-39, 256 passing yards, three TDs, five sacks
Week 16: 26-of-40, 334 yards, two TDs, two sacks
The way in which Williams ran the offense showed considerable progress from a month earlier. Williams consistently showed confidence in his pre-snap read and did a good job of getting the ball out quickly. Trusting his eyes and his receivers has been an ongoing issue for Williams all season (and also at USC), but there was much less of that in the second matchup with the Lions.
His touchdown strike to Keenan Allen is a great example:
Caleb Williams DART to Keenan Allen for the 45-yard TD
📺: #DETvsCHI on FOX
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Allen runs a fantastic, subtle route to get Lions rookie CB Terrion Arnold to bite on the shallow release. That presents a window of opportunity for Williams to hit the veteran wideout before the safety closes that window.
A month ago, Williams probably holds this ball an extra count, or unnecessarily moves off his spot. Not here. This is a well-timed throw with great accuracy, creating a touchdown to take advantage of Allen running a great route and exploiting a small mistake in coverage.
Given that the Bears lost left tackle Braxton Jones and left guard Teven Jenkins to injuries during the game, Williams handled himself capably. There were still some “what are you doing?!” plays, but fewer than the last meeting. This is a game the Bears can point to as one where Williams took a big step forward in his quest to ameliorate some concerns and doubts about his potential to become Chicago’s long-term quarterback.
Unfortunately for the Bears, Williams’ fellow top-10 rookie did not have a good overall game. Wideout Rome Odunze fumbled the ball away on his first two touches. The first came on a botched exchange with Williams in the backfield that looked like Odunze tried to pin the ball to his hip instead of taking the ball cleanly. The second came after a catch, with the Lions defense punching the ball free.
Williams did later connect with Odunze for a very nice fourth-down conversion, a deliberate jump ball that allowed the physical wideout to use his strength and positioning to win.