In 2018, Caleb Williams launched a pass into the end zone as time expired. Wide receiver John Marshall caught it for a 53-yard touchdown to help Williams and Gonzaga High School win the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship game.
On Sunday, Williams was on the wrong side of a game-winning Hail Mary in his return to the D.C. area. But if not for Williams’ play on Sundayโthe good and the badโthere wouldn’t have been an opportunity for Jayden Daniels to spoil Williams’ homecoming with a Hail Mary completion of his own.
For Williams on Sunday, It Was a Homecoming to Forget
Another slow start, a lack of situational awareness, and an abandonment of the check-down game spelled doom for Williams and the Bears for much of Sunday’s contest against the Washington Commanders.
We’ve said this all season, and, unfortunately, we continue to say it: The Chicago Bears are downright bad in the first quarter. Chicago is the worst first-quarter team in the NFL, totaling a league-worst 275 yards and 17 first downs. They’ve scored one touchdown in the first quarter in seven games this season. Sunday was the latest chapter in their opening quarter struggles, which included a three-and-out that lost 10 yards on their first drive and a six-play drive that gained 30 yards and ended in the second of Tory Taylor’s seven punts.
Let’s talk about that opening drive.
1ST & 10 | CHI 30 | 15:00
The Bears opened the drive with a handoff to D’Andre Swift, who went for one yard behind right guard Matt Pryor. That was the ‘here we go again’ moment for Bears fans who have watched this offense underwhelm on the opening possession all season.
2ND & 9 | CHI 31 | 14:28
On the second play, Williams bobbled a shotgun snap, which led to a sack and a loss of six yards, setting up the all-too-familiar third-and-long on the opening possession.
3RD & 15 | CHI 25 | 13:40
Then came the expected pre-snap penalty, a delay of game penalty on Chicago, which cost them five more yards and set up an even more difficult third-down attempt.
3RD & 20 | CHI 20 | 13:23
On a 3rd & 20, Williams escaped pressure in the pocket and got beyond the left hash mark, where he missed a wide-open DJ Moore, placing the ball behind Moore. The kicker is that Moore has space, and it appeared that he could convert, or at least come close if Williams’ pass was where it needed to be.
Three plays. A one-yard run, a bobbled snap followed by a sack, and a hugely inaccurate pass to a wide-open Moore. It was a drive that lost 10 yards and resulted in a punt by Taylor. This can’t keep happening. If the Bears are going to be competitive down the stretch, they have to figure out their first-quarter woes.
Unlike in recent weeks, Williams and the Bears’ first-quarter woes continued for the first three quarters. Williams missed receivers. Washington’s pass rush harassed him all game as Chicago offensive linemen went down with injuries. Williams also didn’t use the check-down as he has in recent weeks.
The film also looks much different in design than it has in the last month. On Sunday, Shane Waldron seemed to have abandoned some things that worked. The timing and spacing weren’t great on the routes that Waldron dialed up for his receivers.
Still, that’s not an excuse. Williams was flat-out bad for three quarters on Sunday.
Williams Thirved in Winning Time
If there’s a reason why we shouldn’t panic about Williams from Sunday, it’s how he played in the fourth quarter. Williams and the Bears were down, and nothing was working, but the rookie quarterback backed up his words that nothing matters to him but wins by staying on task in the fourth.
Williams was 6-of-11 for 95 yards in the fourth quarter and led not one but two game-winning drives in the final seven minutes. He gave his team a chance to win that game. Williams completed a pass to DJ Moore that helped set up the first scoring chance. He stood tall in the pocket in the face of pressure and delivered a strike to Moore on the sideline. He also showed off his improv skills on the next drive when he escaped pressure to the right, deked a pursuing defender, and hit Allen with a crazy throw.
Williams’ winning gene was there, and it’s been there much of the season. Like many things Williams does, it’s something we haven’t seen here before. On the season, Williams is 39-of-60 for 402 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception through the air in the fourth quarter.
This doesn’t excuse the first three quarters. Still, it’s comforting to know that he consistently plays some of his best football in winning time and gives the Bears a shot to win any close game down the stretch. If not for the Hail Mary, that’s a point we’re taking significantly more comfort in this week.
Final Thoughts
The sky is not falling. The Bears didn’t draft the wrong quarterback. Their offensive line stinks, and their head coach may (does) stink, too. But their season didn’t end on Sunday.
Williams has to be better. We’ve seen that he can. Waldron has to be better. We’ve also seen that. If the Bears can use their lackluster Week 8 performance the way they did with their Week 3 loss to Indianapolis, I expect to see a much-improved performance against the Cardinals and Patriots the next two weeks before the real fun starts against Green Bay on November 17.
For that game and the rest of the season, Chicago has to figure out its first-quarter struggles before then. If it’s going to have success down the stretch against the division, it has to start faster and play with more consistencyโthere’s no two ways about it.