Tag: Caleb Williams

Caleb Williams is extremely fixable, even if the Bears once again had the most Bears finish possible

Williams commanded a quick-hit offense and wasn’t afraid to run in one of his finest games as a pro.

The Chicago Bears made the last move they could make before firing current head coach Matt Eberflus. They sacrificed his offensive coordinator Shane Waldron instead. Waldron took the blame for a three-game losing streak that effectively vacated Chicago’s hope of a quick turnaround in its latest rebuild.

In his stead came interim coordinator Thomas Brown. Brown entered a no-win situation with a team unraveling under a head coach without a future. He seemingly gave young franchise quarterback Caleb Williams a mandate; get rid of the ball early or get the heck out of there, we’re not dancing our way to sacks any more.

Williams’ shaved his average time in the pocket down considerably, dropping from 2.9 seconds from snap to pass in Weeks 1 through 10 to just 2.1 seconds in the first half against the Green Bay Packers. This was a big deal; Williams thrived in a fast-action offense. He delivered clutch throws on time and accurately. Despite entering Sunday’s game as a 5.5-point home underdog, he was one blocked Cairo Santos field goal away from getting the Bears a much-needed win.

This was the best game Williams had played in over a month. It’s proof the Bears have a player capable of being the franchise quarterback they so desperately need — they just need to maximize his talent in a way they couldn’t with high profile rookies like Justin Fields or Mitchell Trubisky before him.

After one half, Williams had 145 yards of total offense. Chicago as a team had gained just 142 total yards through the entirety of Week 10’s 19-3 loss to the New England Patriots. 60 of those yards came on the ground — a career high after just 30 minutes of play. When his pockets shrank, he made a concerted effort to drive forward rather than dance where a loss was almost guaranteed.

Sometimes that led to big gains on the ground. Others, clean strikes to open targets downfield.

His impressive play wasn’t limited to quick hits and drive-extending scrambles. He showcased the vision and touch that made him a Heisman Trophy winner in situations where his legs limited the Packers’ willingness to blitz. When given a clean pocket, Williams looked great.

One week after being sacked 10 times by a bottom-five pass rush, Williams was sacked thrice against a Green Bay team whose 6.7 percent sack rate is right in the middle of the pack among NFL defenses this year. The lone sack before Chicago’s scuttled game-winning drive was the result of a very Bears miscommunication where they seemed to forget Brenton Cox Jr. existed.

The Packers blitzed on obvious passing downs and failed to crack a quarterback who looked broken just seven days earlier. Williams completed 10 of 12 passes on third or fourth down for 112 yards. He ran four times for 40 more yards to pick up four more vital first downs. He did stuff like this:

to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, there are special traits to his game that give him a higher upside than Fields or Trubisky before him.

He was also given a boost by a run game that found traction in fits and starts. Williams’s versatility played a role, but D’Andre Swift averaged more than five yards per carry. This created a little extra leverage in play-action situations — a spot where Williams failed to thrive under Waldron.

If that holds true, it’s going to open up new pages in Brown’s playbook. It’s a viable technique to create the time for downfield routes to develop in a way we didn’t see Sunday. Only three of Williams’s 23 completions traveled more than 12 yards downfield, but I’ll be damned if I don’t want to see how this back-shoulder connection with fellow rookie Rome Odunze develops with proper space in the pocket.

Williams wasn’t perfect. His “my guy or no one at all” launched a third-and-goal target to Odunze into the stands and forced a field goal attempt. A deep shot to his streaking rookie teammate was just slightly too flat, caroming off the young gun’s outstretched fingertips. His deep shots required juuuuuust a touch more finesse.

But the quarterback who showed up in Week 11 did enough to win. He let last week’s disappointing loss to the Patriots stay in the past, eschewing the bad habits that have derailed other talented rookies in similarly grim situations.

That’s exactly what he needs to do to survive the Eberflus era. The Bears, in all likelihood, do not have their 2025 head coach on the sideline right now. But they’ve got their 2025 quarterback there, and that’s a great place for the next coach to start.

Matt Eberflus ruined Caleb Williams’ heroics (again) before the Packers’ late FG block

Caleb Williams deserves so much better than the NFL’s worst coach.

For the second time in a month, Caleb Williams inconceivably put the Chicago Bears in a position to win in the final moments of a close game against the Green Bay Packers. And for the second time in a month (remember that disastrous Hail Mary defense?), Matt Eberflus seemingly did everything possible to throw it all away with horrific game management.

Let’s take it to the Bears’ fateful last possession, with Chicago down 20-19.

Williams broke contain after taking back-to-back sacks to set up a 3rd-and-19 and found Rome Odunze for a dart of 16-yard pass. Then, on fourth and short, Williams delivered a magical 21-yard back-shoulder pass to Odunze to keep the Bears’ hopes alive.

Please note the clock after Odunze catches the ball. There is 1:27 left. Even with the Bears in a good position for a potential game-winning field goal at the Packers’ 42-yard line, this would’ve not been the time to turtle for a rational team. Instead, Chicago officially ran just two more offensive plays after this sequence — a short 12-yard pass to Keenan Allen along with a Roschon Johnson run right up the middle to nowhere.

The key distinction here is what happened after Allen’s catch. When the Packers took a timeout with 35 seconds left, Chicago probably should’ve run a couple more real plays to get closer to a game-winning attempt for kicker Cairo Santos. The Bears even had a timeout in their back pocket in a worst-case scenario. Williams deserved to help his team more after being the one to put the Bears in position to win with his heroics in the first place.

Instead, Eberflus had the Bears completely turtle and settle for a 46-yard field goal. Now, listen, 46 yards for professional kickers is very doable. That is an attempt a professional kicker should make a majority of the time without breaking a sweat. But the thing is, the Bears could’ve gotten closer and had plenty of time to do so. The football gods do not smile upon that kind of conservative thinking.

Eberflus forced the Bears to stop playing, and he got what he deserved when Santos’ kick was blocked:

The actual margin in talent between most NFL teams is minimal. If you look at the scoreboard every week, most games finish within one score for a reason. That’s what makes a coach’s game management paramount — especially in the clutch — because every strategic decision counts. They are often the literal difference between winning and losing.

That is now twice in a month where Eberflus has let the Bears and Caleb Williams down with a genuinely foolish end-game thought process right after Williams put his teammates on his back. It’s why the overmatched coach has to be fired at all costs — and sooner rather than later — for Williams’ talents to really flourish on a potentially great Bears team in the future.

Caleb Williams actually apologized to Bears teammates for his part in Shane Waldron’s firing

Kudos to Caleb Williams for acting like a mature adult.

It’s been a tumultuous few weeks for the Chicago Bears. They haven’t scored a touchdown since before Halloween, they haven’t won a game since mid-October, and head coach Matt Eberflus’ seat is now scorching hot after the dismissal of former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

However, part of the microscope still has to center on No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams. While there were flashes of Williams’ individual talent and gifts in the early season, the hopeful franchise quarterback has been a shell of himself as the Bears offense has cratered at midseason. For reasons related to him (and his general supporting circumstances), Williams has not looked like the player many believed would pull Chicago out of the NFC’s basement. He should really know “it’s not his fault.”

And as reported by Fox’s Jay Glazer, Williams did not shy away from this reality. He apparently apologized to the Bears for playing so poorly lately that he helped Waldron get fired:

I give credit to Williams for acknowledging the elephant in the room and taking some responsibility as the quarterback of the team. This is especially the case in knowing that it isn’t all his fault. Still, in the end, the NFL is a results-driven business. Actions speak so much louder than words.

For the Bears, it’d be nice if Williams started backing up these kinds of gestures with stellar play on the field.

Caleb Williams rookie season is quickly turning into a nightmare

Meet the new Chicago QB, same as the last Chicago QB…

It wasn’t that long ago that the number one overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, Caleb Williams, was being picked across the board as a potential winner of the “Offensive Rookie of the Year” award and being touted as the next rookie phenom in the league. Over the last few weeks as the starter for the Chicago Bears, Williams has come way back down to Earth as his rookie season has hit a major wall.

 

While there are certainly multiple factors going into the lack of success for Williams and the Bears as of late, the rookie has not been playing up to the level we saw at USC that made him such a highly touted prospect. Over the last three starts, Williams and the Bears have not scored a single touchdown despite boasting one of the best receiver groups in the entire league. In a head-to-head with fellow rookie Drake Maye this past Sunday, Williams looked far behind Maye, who has a much worse supporting cast.

 

Of course this isn’t to say this lays completely at the shoulders of Williams or that this is going to cement his future in the league. Williams is behind one of the least consistent group of offensive linemen in the league, and with his tendency to hold onto the ball and locate the big play, it has been a disaster when it comes to his sack numbers.

We have seen high levels of play from Williams in a few games this season, and no one questions the talent level that exists for him. If Chicago wants to stop the bleeding and help salvage the rookie season of Williams, they must adapt better on offense and lean into his skillset more. If the protection can start holding up and Williams is able to get more comfortable with better play calling, this offense still has a shot to emerge in the near future.

Matt Eberflus’ initial plan for fired Bears OC Shane Waldron shows why he still really needs to go

Matt Eberflus has no idea what he’s doing.

After an alarming three-game losing streak, the crumbling Chicago Bears had to do something like fire now-former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Maintaining the status quo would’ve only deepened the Bears’ malaise.

But let’s not beat around the bush.

Until further notice, head coach Matt Eberflus still has to go, too.

Right now. Not in a week. Not sometime next month. Not the likely day after the 2024 season because the Bears have strangely never fired a coach midseason. Right. Now.

Beyond the mountain of evidence we already have that Eberflus isn’t fit to coach a professional football team, he somehow gave us another telling display of incompetence while firing his first official scapegoat. If left to his devices, it’s apparent he’ll only do more damage to a team that has seemingly already quit on him.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Eberflus’ initial plan to change things up in Chicago was simply moving Waldron’s place up to the booth during Bears games. (He stayed on the sideline during the action.) Ah, yes, letting Waldron see more of the field from a bird eye’s view while still calling broken plays with no sense or rhythm would be the ticket.

That was his “big” change, dearest readers.

My goodness. Eberflus could not be more in over his head:

It’s unclear what happened to change Eberflus’ mind before eventually firing Waldron. During staff meetings, someone perhaps might have been in his ear before switching to the right decision. But the mere fact that Eberflus still initially wanted the same person running an irreparable offensive scheme from another place in stadiums shows exactly why he should no longer be the Bears’ coach.

Don’t be surprised when Eberflus gets eight more weeks from one of the NFL’s most dysfunctional organizations anyway.

Bears players reportedly wanted Caleb Williams benched before Shane Waldron’s firing

This is the stupidest day in Bears history, a record that will subsequently be broken by every subsequent day in Bears history.

In vintage Chicago Bears fashion, they deployed a half-measure to solve their recent lifeless woes when they fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron on Tuesday. It’s almost certainly a ploy for head coach Matt Eberflus to try and keep his job as his coaching seat gets hotter by the week because he needed a person to scapegoat. Nonetheless, the Bears haven’t scored a touchdown in two weeks, so someone simply had to go.

The more interesting part of this development is how it concerns the struggling Caleb Williams.

The rookie No. 1 overall pick is now completing roughly just 60 percent of his passes and is averaging a paltry 6.1 yards per pass attempt. His Bears offensive line isn’t blocking well for him, and even when it does, Williams isn’t seeing the field well or putting many passes on target.

Still, it would be silly to bench the franchise’s only hope for the future amid all this chaos … right? Because, you know, as usual, it’s not all his fault.

Well, not according to some anonymous Bears players. Per a report from Marc Silverman of ESPN 1000 in Chicago, some unnamed Bears veterans apparently wanted Williams benched for backup Tyson Bagent before they fired Waldron.

Oh boy. It keeps getting worse, doesn’t it?

The Bears are a dysfunctional mess all around. In other news, the grass is green. Also, everyone pays taxes and eventually dies.

WATCH: Patriots LB smiles while helping up hopeless-looking Caleb Williams

It was pure dominance by the Patriots’ defense

New England Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings was having fun against the Chicago Bears on a day when the defense ruled. The defense recorded nine sacks and 13 quarterback hits on the afternoon.

Jennings had a stellar day, recording four tackles and two sacks on the afternoon. He helped lead the charge for a unit that was all over Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams from start to finish. In many ways, it was a return to form for the Patriots defense.

Cameras caught the end of one play where Jennings had a huge grin on his face while helping a hopeless-looking Williams off the ground. He continued to smile and gave Williams a pat on the helmet after helping him up.

The sack and smile were a microcosm of what was a celebratory day for the Patriots.

They picked up their third win of the season and established their dominance on defense. The team still has work to do, but Sunday was a step in the right direction.

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The Bears might bench Caleb Williams for Tyson Bagent because of their offensive struggles

Caleb Williams’ job might be in jeopardy.

Never in a million years would you think a team with both Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent on their roster would consider playing Bagent over Williams. Not even for a second.

The Chicago Bears might be that one-in-a-million team.

It’s no secret that Chicago has struggled recently. The Bears have lost three straight games since starting the year 4-2 and have only scored 27 points over the last three weeks. That includes the lifeless game Chicago just played against the Patriots.

One would think the team might not overreact to this admittedly awful stretch after Chicago’s start to the season. You’d also like to think they’d be completely committed to the guy they drafted as their franchise quarterback.

Unfortunately, that may not be the case. ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that Chicago is considering benching Williams for Bagent.

“I would expect that they’ll be some sort of change in Chicago on the offensive side of the football. Is that changing the play caller? Is that changing the quarterback and benching Caleb Williams for Tyson Bagent? I think all these things are being discussed in the building today.”

There you have it, folks. It’s not definite that this will happen, but it sounds like it’s legitimately being discussed. That fact alone is pretty shocking.

We’ll see what the Bears ultimately choose to do when the time comes.

Caleb Williams admits Patriots QB Drake Maye is an ‘explosive’ talent

Game recognizes game for Caleb Williams, especially when it comes to Patriots QB Drake Maye

Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams is excited to face fellow New England Patriots rookie Drake Maye on Sunday.

Williams is having a strong start in his first NFL season for a Bears team that is currently 4-4. He has recorded 1,665 passing yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions. He has also shown his ability to run with the football, as he has tallied 38 carries for 221 rushing yards.

The North Carolina product has been tasked with turning around a rebuilding Bears franchise. There are parallels between him and Maye, as both signal-callers are viewed as the future face of their franchise.

Williams had high praise for Maye, who he called an “explosive” talent, as transcribed by NESN.com’s Gayle Troiani.

“I think his game is exactly what y’all saw in college,” Williams said. “I think he’s explosive. I think he’s accurate. I think he’s a tall, strong figure back there in the pocket. I think he makes plays for his team.”

The matchup between Williams and Maye has been one of the more anticipated games on the Patriots’ schedule. We might be witnessing the future of the quarterback position in real-time.

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Adam Schefter threw cold water on idea of Ben Johnson becoming Bears head coach in 2025

Would Ben Johnson really coach the Bears? Adam Schefter is doubtful.

As a firestorm of controversy engulfs incumbent Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus, some folks have already connected the dots about red-hot Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson potentially coaching the Bears in 2025.

But during a conversation on ESPN’s Get Up Thursday morning, Adam Schefter was (rightfully) unsure that Johnson would leave a perfect situation in Detroit only to expose himself to the Bears’ rampant dysfunction. Honestly, given how the Bears have continually got in their own way over the years, Schefter makes a great point.

Even coaching the talented Caleb Williams can’t be that attractive for a coordinator who could have a head-coaching job absolutely anywhere he wants:

While it’s worth noting that Schefter isn’t exactly reporting anything here — which doesn’t rule out the possibility of Johnson coming to Chicago — everything he says does ring true.

Should Johnson choose to leave Detroit this winter, he will be one of the hottest NFL head-coaching candidates in a long time. And with a candidate like that, everyone with an opening will want to bring Johnson to their organization. But that doesn’t mean he’ll seriously entertain everyone. Johnson is so exceptional that he can afford to be patient selective.

If he takes an interview, it’s probably with the intent of eventually taking that job. And in that regard, why would Johnson potentially sink himself by coming to the Bears? It doesn’t make much sense.

Buckle up, Bears fans. Something tells me this little saga is just getting started.