Things weren’t going well for Caleb Williams and the starting offense. Despite being at home and facing mostly backups for the Cincinnati Bengals, they couldn’t find any rhythm through the first quarter. All three of their drives ended with a three-and-out. Thankfully, things began turning around in the 2nd quarter. A big 43-yard pass interference helped the offense put a field goal on the board. Then, with four minutes left, Williams led a 90-yard drive, which featured two insane throws and a seven-yard scramble for a touchdown. It was the perfect way to end the afternoon. According to Ryan Poles, it was never supposed to happen, too.
The Chicago Bears GM spoke with the announce team of Adam Amin and Jim Miller during the game. He indicated the original plan was to pull Williams and the starters earlier. However, head coach Matt Eberflus made a judgment call to keep the rookie in the game, hoping he could get over the slow start and find a groove. It worked out. Williams started the game going 0-3. He finished 6-10 for 75 yards and a rushing touchdown. He would’ve had two passing TDs if Tyler Scott hadn’t been interfered with and Rome Odunze hadn’t stepped out of bounds.
Either way, the young quarterback got to leave the game on a high note, which is great for his confidence.
Ryan Poles is correct to credit Eberflus.
A lot of coaches wouldn’t have had the presence of mind or the guts to recognize the necessity of that decision. They would’ve accepted the setback and moved on to next week. Why risk injuries, right? It’s preseason. Eberflus didn’t see it that way. His young quarterback needed as much game experience as possible. Learning to overcome slow starts is essential in the NFL. The Bears head coach provided the opportunity, and Williams seized it.
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One thing Ryan Poles understands is you can’t coach scared. You have to be willing to take risks if it’s for the good of the team. Yes, Eberflus is a defensive guy. That doesn’t mean he is conservative. He’s shown over the past two years that he is willing to make bold moves when the situation calls for them. This was another such example. Rather than baby his rookie quarterback, he allowed Williams to compete. It won’t always work out, but this time it did, and the Bears will benefit from it.
@jack60616 Back in the day, Biggs invested like 300 words of his widely read Tribune column to repudiating the speculation that Ryan Pace was going to trade for Khalil Mack. Two days later, Ryan Pace traded for Khalil Mack.
Caleb should play the entire game Thursday against the Chiefs. He is still making the same mistakes he made early in camp, and he’s not been able to get the ball to playmakers with any consistency. These problems need to be fixed this week.
At best, he’s looking like a Dollar Store Justin Fields out there.
@jmscooby
Brad Biggs is frequently wrong. Hate his “I know it all attitude” in his mailbag. He ate major crow when he said QB Bagent wouldn’t make the roster and he would be on the practice squad his rookie year. Then he said he wouldn’t be the backup, , he would be 3rd string when he made the roster. When he became the backup he tried to save face by saying he was a “co-backup” with QB Walker… brad has a huge ego …
Caleb was only supposed to play the 1st quarter. It ended up being smart to keep him in to allow him the chance to go out on a high note to boost his confidence.
Confidence is critical to the success of a QB. They are like shooting guards. They could be awful, not hitting anything. Then, BAM! They start making plays over and over giving them the faith that they can compete and dominate at this level.
The Bengals preseason game helped Caleb confirm that he belongs and that his unique abilities to create do translate from college to pro.
Bad Briggs said he wasn’t going to play at all…