For an offense to function at a high level, there must be complete trust between the quarterback and the play caller. That is why the relationship between Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams was always the central focus of this season. Would they be able to mesh? Early signs were promising. Williams started the season with seven touchdowns and one interception in his first four games. However, things have taken a wrong turn since then. After Sunday’s loss in Baltimore, the quarterback has two touchdowns and three interceptions.
What’s worse is that he exhibits many of the bad habits that haunted him last year. He still isn’t comfortable handling pressure, holds the ball too often looking for big plays, and can’t complete passes with any regularity. One can’t help but wonder what this is doing to their relationship. Adam Jahns of CHGO picked up on something noteworthy after the game. It sounded like Williams and Johnson were not on the same page regarding the quarterback’s biggest mistake of the game, leading one to wonder if a disconnect exists between them.
Williams had time after a play fake to running back Kyle Monangai. He bounced between the “L” and “T” in Baltimore in the end zone before firing a pass over the middle to receiver Rome Odunze.
And then cornerback Nate Wiggins undercut his pass and intercepted it.
“It was a good read: Rome man-to-man with the guy that caught the pick,” Williams said after the Ravens’ 30-16 victory at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday. “I just didn’t give a good ball to Rome.”
Another review of the film might change Johnson’s mind but he didn’t see the play similarly.
“Just in my mind, there might have been another option that we could have gotten to,” Johnson said.
Ben Johnson isn’t throwing Williams under the bus, but he’s coming close.
You can clearly see on the play that Kyle Monangai is wide open as an outlet option. All Williams had to do was check it down for easy yards. There was no need to force the throw to Odunze, especially when it was still only 16-13. The game was still very much winnable. That interception led to a Ravens touchdown, and basically derailed everything. It didn’t help that the penalty issues persisted. Ben Johnson didn’t call out Williams by name, but it was clear from his description of the offense’s problems that he wasn’t happy with the quarterback.
“You see flashes of some explosive plays and some really good things happening, but the penalties, to me, is what stands out, first and foremost,” Johnson said. “We still have some of the pre-snap issues. There is the occasional not getting lined up quite right. There is the occasional not getting the motion quite right. That stuff adds up, and it hurts us. We get away with it occasionally, but it’s just not the way you win in this league.”
The quarterback is the one who gets everybody lined up. He is the one who calls for motions. It wasn’t a coincidence that Johnson mentioned those two things. They are Williams’ responsibility. The head coach knows he can’t come right out and say the quarterback is the problem. It would look really bad. Yet those comments are impossible to misconstrue. Williams was the primary reason for the offensive issues on Sunday. That is not to say the two are at odds, but it’s clear they aren’t on the same page right now.
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