The Chicago Bears were thrilled to have Caleb Williams back on Sunday after three games without him. It was obvious the offense missed the young quarterback’s playmaking ability. What nobody knew for certain was how healthy Williams would be. Hamstring injuries are tricky to return from. They can linger for a long time. Would the quarterback be like his old self? The answer in Atlanta was no. He wasn’t the off-script magician everybody knew and loved. He was something different. Something more dangerous.
Williams looked in total control throughout the game. Despite four sacks by the Falcons defense, it didn’t seem to matter. The Bears quarterback finished 30-for-36 for 305 yards and a touchdown. It was a level of efficiency this team has rarely seen from him prior to this season. One of the biggest digs on Williams was his inability to consistently connect on the easier throws, living too much off big plays. This was one of the first games in which he did both, and Atlanta had no answer for it.
It was so good that both Tom Brady and Kurt Warner admitted that it was the best performance of his career.
Caleb Williams may have reached his final form.
One of the biggest fears among NFL teams was that the quarterback would one day learn to play the game properly. That meant mixing his off-script wizardry with a steady diet of completions from the pocket. As a defense, you can learn to defend one or the other. Never both at the same time. This is why the Bears were so excited to draft him. They knew if they could get him to that point, this team would become a viable contender in the NFC. Sunday was a clear example of why.
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Remember, Brady and Warner are staunch NFL traditionalists when it comes to the quarterback position. They believe that you must learn to execute with precision from the pocket if you want to win championships. For them to say Caleb Williams has evolved in that department is impossible to ignore. Fans have already seen what this type of evolution can become. They’re seeing it every week with Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. They saw it years ago with Steve Young. The combination is lethal.
Maybe the injury was a blessing in disguise.
There is no doubt that Williams wasn’t nearly as eager to run in this game compared to others. Sure, he was willing to move when necessary, but it’s pretty apparent he was reluctant to fully test that hamstring. This compelled him to play the game more from the pocket. That meant stacking completions and staying ahead of the sticks. Run the game like a point guard rather than a sharp shooter. It might not be as flashy, but it’s effective when done right. Williams handled the role to perfection.
The smart thing for him to do is stick to this approach. Continue distributing to his playmakers, and only bring out the Superman cape when the situation calls for it. We saw what Ben Johnson’s offense was like when you had one piece of the puzzle. Jared Goff could do the pocket stuff in Detroit. Williams could do the off-script stuff last year. What happens when you combine the two? Nobody wants to know.
