NEWSLETTER
Caleb Williams said it best on Sunday … the Bears got their butts kicked.
“We got our butts kicked today. There’s no way around it,” Williams said in his postgame press conference. “That’s regardless of how we feel, regardless of all of that, we got it handed to us. As an offense, defense, special teams, myself, we got to come out and be better. It’s just totally what it is. We got to be more violent. We got to have our screws screwed, and we got to be on point. That’s not what happened today.”
Caleb Williams Week 14 Plusses
At least it was a good day for the future, with Williams and Rome Odunze hooking up for two scores.
The Caleb Williams to Rome Odunze connection was strong on Sunday, and that’s always a plus, even amid an embarrassing blowout loss.
Williams and Odunze hooked up four times on five targets for 42 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday in San Francisco, and their first touchdown connection was a thing of beauty by both rookies. The throw, the catch, and the finish by Odunze to come down with both feet in bounds with his back to the end line.
As Brendan Sugrue pointed out on X, that catch had a 24.8 percent catch probability, making it the fourth-most improbable reception of the week. Not too shabby.
Their second touchdown connection featured a terrific route from Odunze and an equally impressive throw from Williams. While we ride out the death march in December in Bears football, seeing these two operate with shared success will excite me.
Caleb Williams Week 13 Minuses
Slow out of the gates … again.
Another week, another slow start. In the last two weeks, Caleb Williams has completed 11 of 24 passes for 61 yards, zero touchdowns, and a 52.8 passer rating in the first half. In the second half, Williams is 26 of 38 for 329 passing yards, five touchdowns, and a 134.8 passer rating.
No one inside Halas Hall has any answers. Thomas Brown has done no better than Shane Waldron in getting the offense out of the gate, and it’s become frustrating. Every week, whether Brown or Eberflus is doing the talking, we hear about what a good week of practice and preparation it was, but we also see the offense sleepwalk through the first half.
Not only has it not improved, but it’s gotten worse since Thomas Brown took over for Shane Waldron. The slow starts went from a problem on the first few drives to one that now exists throughout the first half.
The Bears finish strong. They’ve been excellent in the second half, and Caleb Williams has played some of his best football down the stretch in games. But that’s not a winning formula, and it has to change. No one inside Halas Hall seems to have an answer, so perhaps we’ll have to wait until the next head coach enters the fold and revamps the entire offense over the offseason.
Let’s talk about the six sacks on Sunday.
Williams was sacked six times on Sunday, with five of those sacks coming on third down. We know the offensive line isn’t good, but some of these sacks fall at Williams’ feet. There were three sacks that Williams could have avoided, and he has to do so moving forward. Josh Norris put together a reel of all six sacks and broke them down in a recent post on X. I have sacks 2, 4, and 5 as sacks where Williams had an open receiver and should have fired the ball before the sack.
Throw of the Week
The throw of the week is the first touchdown throw to Rome Odunze. As impressive as a catch as it was for Odunze, it was a perfect ball by Williams, placing it where only Odunze can go up and get it, something they’ve whiffed at a few times this season. So, seeing them get that right this time is a significant plus and a scenario we’ll see a bunch moving forward.
Final Thoughts
Caleb Williams looks the part and has done some awe-inspiring things this season, but he has to do his part in cutting back on sacks. He’s not putting the football in danger, but he needs to take more shots, more risks, and shake that Matt Eberflus play-it-safe mentality that crippled Justin Fields before him. Just trust your talents, kid. Let it rip.
