R-E-L-A-X: Caleb Williams, Bears starting to put it all together

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Carmen Vitali

NFL Reporter

Can we all relax about the Chicago Bears now?

On Sunday, the Bears improved to 2-2 on the season following a 24-18 win over the Los Angeles Rams and more importantly, showed that complementary football is possible in the Windy City.

It was rookie quarterback Caleb Williams‘ most efficient outing as he posted a 106.6 quarterback rating, throwing for 157 yards and a touchdown. It’s a modest stat line that doesn’t adequately show the improvement Chicago’s offense is making on a week-to-week basis.

You wouldn’t have known it from the boos that rang out in Soldier Field after the second offensive series, though.

Improvement hasn’t come in leaps and bounds, to be sure. There were still sloppy moments, especially in the first half as the Bears committed seven penalties and gifted the Rams 60 yards in the process. But the offense rebounded in the second half. Williams led two different scoring drives in the final two quarters, one of which culminated in a laser to give wide receiver DJ Moore his first touchdown of the season. It was a 12-play, 74-yard drive that had a great mix of runs, passes and personnel usage.

It’s almost like offensive coordinator Shane Waldron needed to get to know his players a little bit more. Or maybe the players needed to get to know each other.

We have undoubtedly been spoiled by some rookie performances over the last couple of seasons that have unfairly adjusted our expectations for what it should look like in a signal-caller’s first season. Houston’s C.J. Stroud comes to mind. Washington’s Jayden Daniels this season. But we also have examples of good quarterbacks that might just take a while to develop.

Sam Darnold? Baker Mayfield? Geno Smith? Those are just a couple of the names off the top of my head. These guys needed time and the right situation to thrive. Why aren’t we giving more credence to those situations and recognizing that playing quarterback in the NFL is hard, and drastically different from the college game? Sometimes it doesn’t click right away.

Much less in the first quarter of the season.

Heck, it took Jordan Love, who spent three seasons on the bench in Green Bay learning from a Hall of Fame quarterback and dissecting the playbook inside and out, half a season for his head coach to really trust him enough to run the full offense. Williams didn’t have that type of runway. Almost his entire offense was new to Chicago.

This was always going to take time.

It’s still not a finished product and that’s completely okay. Again, it is and always has been about tangible, incremental improvement. Last week, Williams set a rookie passing record with 363 yards through the air and two touchdowns against two interceptions. This week, Williams took care of the football and led multiple drives that ended in the endzone. The fact that the Bears are stealing wins during the early aughts of the season is a testament to the defense and the team as a whole. Flashy, fun offense may be the goal and entirely possible in Chicago, but there is nothing wrong with leaning into your current strengths in the meantime.

The Bears adjusted and got better as the game went on at Soldier Field on Sunday too, despite some injuries including left guard Teven Jenkins leaving the game in the first half. The penalties led to a lot of third and long situations in the first two quarters, which in turn led to a dismal conversion rate. As in, Chicago didn’t convert a single third down in that span. They then proceeded to convert three of five attempts in the second half, including two on the Moore touchdown drive, including the score itself.

Williams himself got better, too. He completed nine of 10 pass attempts for 86 yards and a touchdown. That was good for a 135.6 rating.

Perhaps the most significant development on Sunday was that Chicago rounded out their offense. They finally got a run game going using D’Andre Swift and getting him out into space, with Roschon Johnson as the changeup back to get the tough yards. Both players had a touchdown. Swift finished with 16 carries for 93 yards. That’s a 5.8-yard average. They ran the ball a total of 27 times, split with 23 pass attempts. It kept the Rams defense on their heels, and mitigated the formidable pass rush, especially along the defensive front and especially in the second half.

This rate of improvement was always the more realistic pace. The Bears are right on schedule with how they’re jelling on offense. They didn’t warrant those aforementioned boos early in the game. That’s not fair to a young player, no matter how highly touted of a prospect he was. I’ve been preaching patience all offseason and that hasn’t changed. We’re getting close to seeing it pay off, too.

Just hang in there, Chicago. Your quarterback is.

Caleb Williams finds DJ Moore for a TD vs. Rams

Carmen Vitali is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.