On the surface, losing by one score and having a chance to put together a game-winning drive against the Houston Texans on Sunday night gives me some optimism. Houston is a legitimate Super Bowl contender. They have one of the best offenses in the league. Ultimately, Caleb Williams and the Bears couldn’t pull off the upset, but they came close āĀ even with plenty gone wrong for them.
The Chicago Bears’ defense is why they were in this game, but we’re going to talk about Williams and the offense today. There were breakdowns around Williams in Houston, but the quarterback made some critical errors late, serving as the final nails in Chicago’s coffin.
In my instant player grades on Sunday, a few commenters believed I was letting Williams off the hook with a C+ grade. In my re-grades today, I moved Williams’ grade down slightly to a C-. So, I still believe Williams’ performance was better than Week 1, where I initially graded him at a D (of course, some thought I was too harsh on him then).
After the tape, I don’t believe Williams was as bad as some want to consider. I’m also not letting the rookie off the hook for anything.
Three Things from Sunday Night’s Loss that Caleb Williams Needs to Fix
1. The Interception That Wasn’t
Midway through the third quarter on Sunday ānight, Williams launched a cross-body pass that was intercepted (easily) by Houston cornerback Kamari Lassiter.
Caleb Williams' worst play on Sunday was this cross-body throw to Rome Odunze intercepted by Kamari Lassiter (and called back on a holding penalty away from the play).
This is a prime example if you're looking for a play that worked in college but won't work in the NFL. — Patrick K. Flowers (@PatrickKFlowers)
If you’re looking for an example of: ‘This worked in college but won’t work in the NFL’ this is it. Williams escapes the broken pocket to his right and slings this one back across the field to Odunze, but it never had a chance.
Those throws give NFL defenses too much tiļ·½me to react and hardly ever turn into anything good. Chicago Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus said as much during his press conference on Monday.
āYou never want to throw across the field on a scramble because the [defenders] have more time, moreš¬ space to close,ā . āThatās just a great learning experience for him and exposure for him to be able to learn from that.ā
A holding call oān linebacker Henry ToāoToāo made this nothing more than a teaching moment. But next time, Williams might not be as lucky.
2. NFL Windows Are Small and Close Fast!
Williams’ two interceptions came on consecutive drives to end the third quarter, and they were backbreaker plays from the Bears, who had a chance to take the lead numerous times in the second half.
The first interception came on a 3rd & 16 from the Chicago 40. Let’s take a look:
STING IS STINGIN' 🐝
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans)
📺:
Bears HC Matt Eberflus called this one a 50-50 ball, implying that DJ Moore needed to fight harder for it, but Williams underthrew it. If he had gotten the ball to the sideline, Moore likely had the catch. Or at worst, it’s where only Moore can catch it.
NFL windows are small, and mere feet make all the difference regarding ball placement. If Williams throws this a few feet closer to the sideline, we’re having a different conversation today.
On Williams’ second interception, we have another example of the difference between NFL and college windows, this time in how quickly they can close. Here’s the play:
On Caleb Williams' second interception, he has Rome Odunze wide open underneath but chooses to force it downfield into triple coverage.
Hindsight is 20-20, and it's impressive that he gave himself a chance to throw on that play; we still have to take the safe option there. — Patrick K. Flowers (@PatrickKFlowers)
First thing’s first: Kudos to Williams for even having a chance to throw this ball on this play after escaping Danielle Hunter after Hunter blew by Darnell Wright with a spin move.
Williams gets free to his right, and it’s a scramble drill now for the receivers, who begin to head to the sideline. Cole Kmet was the intended target in the second level, but Kamari Lassiter (who made the interception) did a terrific job of seeing Williams lock onto Kmet and breaking off of Rome Odunze underneath.
At that point, Williams has to see that and pivot to Odunze, the safer throw. But again, the špoint of how quickly windows close in the NFL, this is the moment where Williams decided the ball was going to Kmet, and this is what the window looked like:
If Williams releases that ball a half-second sooner, again, we’re having a different conversation today.
3. Footwork
Overthrows have been an issue for Williams in the first two weeks of the season, and this miss to DeAndre Carter was one of them. This came on a 3rd & 3 on the third quarter’s first drive, and the overthrow results from uncharacteristically lousy footwork.
The footwork has to be better here on this overthrow to DeAndre Carter. We've seen how quickly Caleb Williams can reset his feet while climbing; he simply didn't do it here. That's an easy fix. — Patrick K. Flowers (@PatrickKFlowers)
We’ve seen how quickly Williams can reset his base on throws he makes while climbing the pocket; he didn’t do that here. I know Williams says he doesn’t get nervous, but I have to insist that this is some nerves. He knows how to stop on a dime and reset his base for these throws, and he has to do that moving forward.
āQuarterbacks talk about throwing off-platform and all those things, but they still have their feet planted in the ground, and they do a good job of getting their shoulders around and getting their feet planted towards the target area,ā Eberflus said on Monday of Williams’ footwork. āItās important that we start with the ground up, and heās no different than any other quarterback.ā
To Eberflus’ point, Williams’ feet are neither flat nor square with his target on this throw, and the result is indicative of that.
A Tale of Two Halves
Did you notice anything about all of that? It all happened in the second half. From the early third-quarter miss to Carter, the interception that wasn’t, and the ones that were, it all happened in the second half. The first half was significantly better for Williams.
This fišrst-quarter throw tšØo DeAndre Carter is a perfect example of Caleb Williams:
1) Working in structure
2) Textbook footwork
3) Throwing with anticipation
He’s got it. He just has to continue to clean up the plays that don’t look like this.
This first-quarter throw to DeAndre Carter is a perfect example of Caleb Williams:
1) Working in structure.
2) Textbook footwork.
3) Throwing with anticipation.
He's got it. He just has to continue to clean up the plays that don't look like this. — Patrick K. Flowers (@PatrickKFlowers)
I mean, come on … look at where DeAndre Carter is when Williams gets ready to fire this and where the ball ends up:
That’s A+ anticipation by Williams.
Here’s another example of the big three:
Another one …
— Patrick K. Flowers (@PatrickKFlowers)
A 3rd Down completion to DJ Moore.
Last one, and perhaps one of the best tš¹hrows of the night, was a 3rd & 3 completion to Cole Kmet late in the fourth quarter.
More excellence from Caleb Williams on Sunday:
Williams finds Cole Kmet in a dirty pocket, gets his feet set, and nails him in stride as the defender levels him.
Wait for the end zone angle; it really tells the story. — Patrick K. Flowers (@PatrickKFlowers)
š¦¹Williams is working in a dirty pocket, finds Cole Kmet, and hits him in stride (allowing a nice run after the catch) to extend a drive late in the fourth quarter. Williams gets through his reads, finds the correct read, and sets his feet to make an accurate throw just before he gets leveled by the defender.
Look at 1) the pump that draws Azeez Al-Shaair away from Kmet and 2) how soon after the release, Williams took the hitšÆ, but his eyes never came off the spot.
Was there bad? Yeah, absolutely. I’m not giving the rookie a pass on anything. Was there plenty of good? You bet. I know it’s tough to keep things in perspective in real-time, but the tape tells the whole story. Things aren’t nearly as bad as they seemed to some 48 hours ago.
