“He Creates His Own Chaos”: Mad Dog Isn’t Bullish on Caleb Williams

After the Washington Commanders fumbled around midfield with just three minutes remaining in their Week 6 MNF matchup against the Chicago Bears, the game was far from over. They were up by two, and Washington had all three of their timeouts. However, the Bears were able to run out the entire clock thanks in large part to RB D’Andre Swift, though QB Caleb Williams had a big third-down conversion on the deciding drive as well.

They set up arguably the worst kicker in football right now, Jake Moody, for a 38-yard game-winning field goal in brutally stormy conditions. And he hit it to give them the 25-24 win, their third straight. That brings Chicago’s record to a surprising 3-2. They are now just one half-game behind both the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, and tied with the Minnesota Vikings in an NFC North that is living up to expectations so far.

However, despite the recent run of success, the skeptics remain unconvinced by Williams’ individual play under center.

ESPN color commentator Troy Aikman was clearly none too impressed with the QB, and ESPN’s Chris “Mad Dog” Russo counts himself among the skeptics too. Russo believes that despite the winning ways, Williams still makes him “nervous” because he “creates his own chaos,” among other things.

“He creates his own chaos in some of these games. 26 percent inaccuracy rate,” Russo started his rant session on First Take, adding,

“ESPN made sure they gave you that percentage when they said his throws at times can be inaccurate. He fumbled that snap, which cost them an opportunity to win the game late in the third quarter, early fourth quarter. And he’s just, I don’t know, he’s so erratic at times. In the course of the game. Now, at times, he can be great. And at other times you say, ‘Gheez, what are you doing?'”

Rookie head coach Ben Johnson, coming off an excellent stint as the Lions’ offensive coordinator, was supposed to not only improve the Bears as a whole, but develop Williams into a player who would reach his immense potential. As far as Russo is concerned, that has not happened so far.

“The Bears have a history of doing a horrific job with quarterbacks. Justin Fields, Cade McNown, [Mitchell] Trubisky. I mean, this is nothing new,” Russo continued.

“Would you rather have Jayden Daniels … or Williams? … You want Drake Maye or you want Caleb Williams? … The early returns give me Drake Maye… So to me, despite the record, good win, Daniels fumbled, that’s the reason they won the game, but overall, I’m nervous about him if I’m a Bears fan.”

Let’s not forget, the Bears won three straight to push their record to 4-2 last season. That directly preceded a 10-game losing streak.

The team is definitely better constructed and better coached this year. And we agree that Williams isn’t going to be winning any awards for his performance this season. But he has been better than he was as a rookie.

His TD rate has jumped from 3.6 to 5.7. Williams has been throwing the ball further downfield as well, pushing his yards per attempt mark from 6.3 to 7.4. Those improvements have helped him boost his passer rating from 87.8 to 98.0. Not a jump that should be overlooked. A lot of that also probably has to do with the fact that he’s getting sacked at half the rate (10.8 last year to 5.9 this year) he was as a rookie.

The Bears should be able to match that 4-2 start from last year with a home date against the New Orleans Saints next week. Three of their next four games after that are on the road, including a crucial matchup with the division-rival Vikings. If they can win that game, they could have serious designs on a playoff berth in 2025. No matter what the Mad Dog thinks.