Bears QB Caleb Williams' optimism rooted in solid ground this time
Whether they’re excruciating or embarrassing, losses to the Packers often leave Bears fans without any hope, ready to fire everyone and start over. But Caleb Williams’ improved performance under new offensive coordinator Thomas Brown was a breath of life found in the rubble of a 20-19 loss to the Packers on Sunday that maybe all is not lost.
It was hardly a renaissance — just 19 points, with Williams throwing for 231 yards and no touchdowns (and no interceptions), with a long pass play of 25 yards to tight end Cole Kmet. When you’re celebrating the offensive coordinator getting the play in earlier, there’s probably still a long, long way to go. In Green Bay, they call that “football.”
Still, this was a more credible performance for the Bears’ quarterback than Mitch Trubisky throwing for six touchdowns against the 31st-ranked Buccaneers’ defense in 2018. Or Justin Fields throwing for four touchdowns in back-to-back games against the 27th-ranked Broncos and 32nd-ranked Commanders last year.
After floundering for three games against the Commanders, Cardinals and Patriots, the Bears’ offense was markedly better under Brown against a Packers team that ranks 10th in the NFL in scoring defense.
The Bears’ offense, in fact, produced more points (19), gained more yards (391) and averaged more yards per play (5.3) against the Packers than the top-ranked Lions’ offense did two weeks earlier — 17 points, 261 yards and 4.7 yards per play. That’s Ben Johnson, the mastermind of the Lions’ offense who many Bears fans are willing to pay any price to replace Matt Eberflus, by the way.
So when Bears players say the encouraging performance against the Packers is something to build off of, the foundation is not the house of cards that it usually is.
“To have a good game — a solid game, I would say — versus a team like that, obviously it goes into practice and the details, coaching — Coach Flus, Thomas, all of them,” Williams said. “So I think being able to be consistent throughout the weeks of practice, film … leads to a consistent path. I just have to stay on that path and keep going.”
Williams and the Bears’ offense face another challenge Sunday against the Vikings. Under defensive coordinator Brian Flores, the Vikings are fourth in the NFL in scoring defense (17.0 points per game).
As Bears wide receiver DJ Moore said, the Vikings’ defense, like almost any defense, is vulnerable. But it takes a good offense to do it. The Packers and Matt LaFleur scored 29 points against the Vikings. The Lions and Johnson scored 31. The Rams and Sean McVay scored 30.
We’ll see if the Bears are there yet. The Packers game was a good first step. Now they have to sustain it.
When they faced Flores’ Vikings defense at Soldier Field last season after Fields’ back-to-back four-touchdown games, the Bears scored six points, gained 149 yards and averaged 4.3 yards per play until Fields was hurt on a sack in the third quarter of a 19-13 loss.
“With all the players we got, I hope we are able to move the ball on all types of defenses — from the No. 1 defense in the league down to the 32nd,” Moore said. “I hope we can keep it up and hopefully get some wins out of it.”
As for Williams, he saw improvement that he thinks will carry over.
“I think communication, the attitude and us just being on details for myself and the whole team,” Williams said. “I think those three things would be huge for us for this run that we’re gong to go on.”
“This run that we’re going to go on?” Pretty optimistic for a team that has lost four straight. But at least this time, there’s some credibility behind that optimism.