People wanted to proclaim Caleb Williams a lost cause after three games, which is typical of fans and media these days. Instant assessment. Zero patience. If you don’t start fast, you’ll never be great. Well, Williams didn’t seem to get that memo. After a highly efficient outing against the Los Angeles Rams last week with 157 yards and a touchdown, he followed it with, by far, the best performance of his young career. He finished with 304 yards passing, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 126.2 passer rating. He also had 34 yards rushing, just for good measure.
It turns out there was a deeper story behind this showing. While the sun shined and the temperatures were beautiful, Soldier Field dealt with some somewhat inconsistent wind conditions. It has been something Williams has tried getting used to since the season began. Against Carolina, he developed a novel solution to the problem. Before each drive, he would take his water bottle and spray it in the air. Whichever way the mist blew told him the direction of the wind, and he’d adjust accordingly.
Caleb Williams continues to show his mental maturity.
Plenty of young quarterbacks would’ve been too absorbed in trying to remember the game plan, playbook, and a thousand other things. Thinking of a solution to deal with the wind in the middle of a game is something veterans do. It is remarkable how calm he can stay amidst adrenaline-fueled conditions. His method certainly didn’t hurt. Most of his passes were on the money all day, particularly the ones down the field. Posting over 300 yards on only 29 throws is pretty impressive.
Bears fans should be excited. Caleb Williams is proving the decision to take him #1 overall was not another miscalculation. He deserved the hype he got. What makes his ascent lately so much better is he’s doing most of it without resorting to his scrambling and out-of-structure plays. He has made a concerted effort to win from the pocket, and he’s doing that. It was the biggest question mark with Williams coming out of college. That he’s already mastering it after five games is a great sign for the future.
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I’ve watched several of the All-22 reviews, and Caleb did miss a couple of opportunities. But how about we hold up on what other teams might have done to the Panthers? KC, for instance, would have had their QB2 in by the third QTR like they did with the Bears last year. They left Caleb in for one reason and one reason only. He still needs practice seeing the field and making the mistakes he made to have it on tape. Also, once you’re ahead, you use that as an opportunity to put stuff on film that the other team… Read more »
@Barry: I agree. While no team plays perfectly (Jared Goff last week was, kinda, but the team as a whole couldn’t have been,) the Bears did miss some opportunities. Given the quality of the opponent, and the injuries they had, both before and during the game, a team like the Chiefs would have mopped the floor with them. That said, the Bears did show several signs of doing the right thing, and a trajectory of improvement, which is good. But if their opponents last Sunday would have been the Packers, Lions, Vikings, Chiefs, or Ravens, a comparable effort would probably… Read more »
@Byron: My take on this is that the Flus defense has reduced its time to put the clamps on. In the first few games of the season, the D was average in the first half, and elite in the second. In the Panthers game, the D got a 3 and out, then gave up the TD drive, and then shut things down pretty effectively, implying to me that their adjustments to account for what the offense is doing happened faster. Maybe Flus is getting better at that, but my suspicion is that at this point in the season, there’s more… Read more »
Am I the only one who saw CHI leave some really good meat on the bone yesterday? I’m glad QB1 is beginning to look like he belongs in professional football, and what the defense is putting on tape continues to be exceptional. Those two things are really encouraging. But the offense had an opportunity to just absolutely emasculate the JV squad of an already-bad team, and I saw multiple plays where Chicago’s offense let the Carolina defense off the hook — missed red zone opportunities, pre-snap miscommunication, and multiple instances where Caleb wasn’t on the same page with his pass… Read more »
@Saul People with our intellect and knowledge do not gain much favor on this site, so do not expect much support here. But that is how I prefer it anyway. Thanks for commenting.