There is no longer any denying it. The Chicago Bears offense is a mess. One would think fans shouldn’t be surprised at this point, but this team keeps finding ways. Shane Waldron delivered another clunker in the play calling department, constantly unable to get the running game going. Excluding scrambles by Caleb Williams, the Bears managed 55 yards rushing on 27 carries. It isn’t just bad. It’s historically bad. On top of that, the offensive line allowed another four sacks, pushing the season total to 13.
Yet despite all that, Williams managed to have the best passing day a rookie quarterback has had in franchise history. He finished with 364 yards, obliterating the old record of 297 set by Mitch Trubisky in 2017. He also had two touchdowns. Unfortunately, he also committed three turnovers. One of his two interceptions was an atrocious decision on a late throw. The other wasn’t really his fault. It hit his receiver in the hands before bouncing to a defender. The other was a strip-sack in which Cole Kmet got beat by Colts rookie Laiatu Latu.
It wasn’t perfect. Still, it was another big step forward for the young quarterback.
Caleb Williams is making legitimate progress.
Has it been perfect? No. Everybody anticipated he’d have a roller-coaster season as he got used to the speed and complexity of the NFL. That said, what he accomplished on Sunday should not be overstated. He got zero help from his running game again and baffling decisions from his coaching staff. Yet he still managed to keep his team in the game with an assist from the defense. If not for a brutal 4th down call at the goal line or a Hail Mary that came up one yard short, the Bears would’ve won that game.
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There is still plenty of work to do. Caleb Williams has to speed up his clock further to avoid unnecessary sacks. He also has to keep fine-tuning his deep ball. Too many big plays were left on the field. For all the talk about Justin Fields, he only cracked 300 yards once in his three seasons with the team. Williams did it in his third game. If the Bears can somehow get themselves out of the mud and run the ball better, they could ease the pressure on their young quarterback.
If you aren’t encouraged by this performance, then you aren’t looking at the big picture.
