Caleb Williams to play hero for Bears’ losing offense, but that wasn’t the plan originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — During his time at USC, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was a one-man band. With a leaky offensive line and the appearance of a 10-man defense, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner was the lead singer, drummer, bassist and songwriter who made the Trojans sing.
That weight forced Williams to play a lot of hero ball, leading to some newsworthy plays and decisions that draft analysts and scouts worried would turn into bad habits in the NFL if Williams found himself in a similar situation.
That it wasn’t supposed to be the case in Chicago.
The Bears drafted Williams and spent the offseason building a supporting cast around him. Running back D’Andre Swift, wide receivers Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze, and tight end Gerald Everet were supposed to solidify an arsenal that would make life easy for Williams as he took his first steps in the NFL. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, hailed as a great teacher and versatile play-caller, was supposed to help take the pressure off Williams early by letting the Bears rely on the running game and not asking Williams to be the entire offense.
Through three games, nothing went as planned for the Bears’ attack.
The Bears can’t run the ball. They’re 30th in expected points added per carry and 31st in rushing success rate. Their offense is last in DVOA, and they’ve asked Williams to drop back more than 50 times in each of their last two games while failing to provide adequate pass protection.
“I threw the ball 52 times? Holy crap,” Williams said afterwards Bears’ 21-16 defeat to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 3.
Williams’ plan to “take the pressure off” appears to have been abandoned without a viable running game.
This season, Swift is averaging 1.8 yards per carry. He is averaging less than 2 yards per carry before and after contact. That means his blocking has been poor and he is not making his shots miss. Without any semblance of a ground game, the Bears have had to put the onus on Williams in each of the last two games.
While Williams didn’t arrive in Chicago expecting to be Superman right out of the gate, he’s ready to carry the Bears if that’s what it takes.
“No, I don’t fight those feelings,” Williams said Wednesday when asked if he has to fight the urge to play the hero in a one-dimensional offense. “I’m more of a guy, and I said this, I was talking to Shane this morning … I thought, if I’m going to throw the ball 50 times, I’m going to throw the ball 50 times. But if we’re in a flow, running the ball, getting four yards a pop on the play, let’s keep giving the ball to our running backs and let them be special.”
“Like I said Sunday after the game, I’m going to do whatever it takes to win the game and I’m happy to do it. I’m here to win games, so we’re going out there, we’ve got to get the offense going, we’ve got to get the ground game going, I’ve got to get better at not losing the ball and a lot more. We’re going to get better.”
Williams showed some growth in the Bears’ loss to the Colts.
But the Bears’ passing game didn’t really click until they were down by two points, and the Colts focused on not giving up explosive passes. When the Bears were down by two points Sunday, Williams completed 15 of 19 passes for 133 yards, two touchdowns and a passer rating of 130.9. The rest of the game, he completed 18 of 33 passes for 230 yards, two interceptions, a fumble and a passer rating of 51.3.
He’s a rookie with just three career games. The system doesn’t help him, the line is leaky and there’s an APB missing for the running game. Sunday’s performance should be viewed as a positive, with plenty of room for improvement. Williams knows he can’t lose the ball and put the Bears defense in a tough spot. Accuracy on 10+ yard passes needs to continue to improve. Operations and communication need to improve.
There’s reason to believe that all of that will happen once Williams settles in and gets the help he’s been looking for from the Bears’ developmental pillars who haven’t held up their end of the bargain so far.
But for now, Williams may have to don his cape and save a 1-2 Bears team that is in danger of flopping after an emotional offseason.
He’s ready to do it and has the talent to lead the Bears’ offense out of control. But the Bears can’t ask him to do that for long. After all, that wasn’t supposed to be the plan.
