After a chaotic rookie year that included the mid-season firing of his head coach and a 5-12 record, Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears appear to have finally meshed in year two. The 24-year-old sophomore currently ranks 11th overall in passing yards and his sleuth at 10-4, and his newfound play caller, Ben Johnson, couldn’t be more proud of him.
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“I’m just really excited about getting the basics down in this offense,” Johnson exclaimed during his latest trip to the podium. In suggesting that “a lot of the elements” of the offense are beginning to be “unlocked,” he ultimately suggested that, in terms of Williams’ development, “The game is starting to slow down for him, so that’s encouraging to see.”
“He’s throwing some of these in-breakers with anticipation, which I think is a tough thing for young quarterbacks to do at times. He’s trusting what he’s seeing, and he’s delivering accurate balls,” Ben observed, in what is a strong endorsement of his QB weapon.
The Bears HC admitted that he isn’t sure what exactly it was that “unlocked” Williams on Sunday afternoon, but when your quarterback completes more than 60% of his passes for 242 passing yards and two touchdowns, you tend not to question things. And seeing as a rematch with the Green Bay Packers is now on their horizon as well, it’s not as if they have the time for questions anyway.
Earlier, Williams struggled to overcome the Packers’ defense in Week 14. He was hurried nine times, blitzed 12 times, pressured 15 times, and sacked once throughout the 28-21 loss.
The Packers’ pass rushing will presumably take a step back following Micah Parsons’ ACL tear, but they are still the favorites in the eyes of both the public and oddsmakers. Nevertheless, Johnson “knows his guys have been looking for another opportunity to compete against this team,” and he seems confident in their ability to make the most of the opportunity.
“You just try to make sure that you don’t make the same mistakes and try to continue to attack them in a certain fashion… They are changing. Micah is out, so you’re trying to forecast what they might do to match certain personnel groups or slow down our run game, and that’s a difficult thing to do when that injury happened last game, so we’ve got to be prepared to adjust and play accordingly.”
While Williams was able to produce two touchdowns against the Packers, he also managed an interception. It’s now readily apparent that it’s going to take more than 186 passing yards and 19 completions to beat Jordan Love, so with the Bears’ defense looking as stout as ever following their 31-3 win against the Cleveland Browns, the onus will be on Williams to deliver a standout performance and find a potentially decisive win for the NFC North title.
