ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Chicago Bears moved to 2-0 in the preseason with a 33-6 blowout of the Buffalo Bills on Saturday at Highmark Stadium. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams was the center of attention, leading two early scoring drives and gaining confidence from his first NFL game action.
Williams’ elite talent and feel for the position flashed in the first quarter. He also gathered learning experiences as his development continues.
Still, there was a lot inside the Bears victory worth unpacking for Williams and others. Here are four moments that mattered Saturday.
Just like it was drawn up
From a bird’s-eye view, Williams’ 26-yard first-quarter completion to tight end Cole Kmet felt like a given from the time he took the snap. The play design did much of the heavy lifting with Williams selling a play fake to running back D’Andre Swift, then bootlegging back outside to his right and finding Kmet on a corner route. The tight end gained leverage immediately and had plenty of separation as Bills linebacker Dorian Williams gave chase.
“We’ve been repping that play for a while now,” Williams said after the game. “Getting those reps in has been key. You come out on game day and the seas part and Cole’s running (open) down the sideline. My job is just to get him the ball in space and let our players just work their magic.”
Williams did his part too. He used a pump fake on the run to counteract pressure from defensive end Dawuane Smoot. Additionally, the swiftness with which Williams released after the play fake to Swift impressed coach Matt Eberflus.
“He did a nice job coming out of the fake with speed, which you need to do,” Eberflus said. “Our guys ran their route depths correctly, and they ran with speed too. So they stayed open. A lot of times when you’re doing those keepers, you’re running away from leverage on defense, so you really have to maintain that speed. Cole did that on that play and Caleb did a nice job striking it in there.”
That was impressive execution. Truth be told, Williams maybe could have released the throw a beat earlier with Kmet needing to adjust slightly to a ball that was a hair behind him. But it was also a reminder of how the Bears can set Williams up for success with their playbook and play-calling and how Williams can make the Bears right with his arm talent.
‘Hit the quarterback’
Heading into preseason game action, defensive coordinator Eric Washington had a straightforward directive for rookie defensive end Austin Booker.
“I want to see him hit the quarterback,” Washington said. “Period.”
For as high as Bears coaches have been on Booker’s pass-rushing instincts, agility and body control, they wanted to see production. On Saturday, they got it.
Booker filled the stat sheet with 2½ sacks, three quarterback hits and five total tackles. He combined with Daniel Hardy for a second-quarter sack of Mitch Trubisky. He later took Shane Buechele down twice on the same series for losses of 3 yards and 8 yards.
Booker’s final sack might have been the most impressive. He staggered tight end Zach Davidson off the snap, then looped inside and used a spin move to get past left guard Mike Edwards. Then Booker used his motor to finish the play, diving to grab Buechele’s right ankle as the quarterback tried to get out of he pocket.
You can bet that level of effort will be highlighted in the meeting room.
The Bears are enamored with Booker, whom they believe is a fast-ascending player with great length and innate feel for rushing.
“He’s just tough to hit as a pass rusher,” Washington said earlier this month. “He has a great feel for how to contort his body, how to flip or rotate his hips and shoulders so that he can keep advancing toward the quarterback and put himself in great position to follow through.”
Eberflus liked what he saw Saturday.
“He’s got a really good slip and an ability to rush the passer with speed and (he does) not predetermine what he’s going to do,” he said. “I think that stresses offensive tackles out when a guy doesn’t predetermine or shuffle his feet. He shows that speed-to-power ability and speed-and-spin-inside and those out-and-in-and-out moves he likes to do. It’s good.”
Best of all, the Bears saw Booker hit the quarterback.
Crossed signals
Things weren’t all rosy for Williams on Saturday. On the second play, the quarterback seemed to hold the ball too long, contributing to a holding penalty against right tackle Darnell Wright. Williams’ attempt to extend that play ultimately ended with a throwaway. He also took a hit from linebacker Terrel Bernard near the sideline as he released the ball.
Over time and through experience, Williams should adapt to the timing of things on the NFL level while gaining a better feel for how and when to extend plays.
The Bears’ second drive also stalled inside the red zone on an extended-play incompletion. That Williams throw was intended for receiver Rome Odunze. But the rookie duo wasn’t on the same page during that sequence. Williams, with his eyes on cornerback Kaiir Elam covering Nsimba Webster near the goal line, hoped Odunze would break toward the back-right corner of the end zone in the scramble drill. Instead, Odunze flattened his route and Williams’ pass never had a chance of connecting.
Still, it was a meaningful sequence that offered the opportunity for both players to come together and hash things out. Said Williams: “That comes from time of getting on the same page with the same connection. We talked about it and I actually thought he was going to take (the route) high because I thought he saw (Elam), which he did. He told me he saw the guy that was below him.”
The disconnect left the Bears to settle for a field goal. But for two talented rookies with the potential of having a long and bright future together, the process of learning on the fly in unison is invaluable.
That certainly won’t be the last time a scramble-drill opportunity presents itself for Williams and Odunze. Every experience they get in such situations will be helpful. And every conversation they have in detailing what they each saw will catalyze growth.
Moving fast
Velus Jones Jr. has ample experience running the ball out of the backfield. He did so at Saraland High School in Alabama and had limited opportunities as a ball carrier in college at both USC and Tennessee. So even though he is attempting to reacclimate into a running back’s mindset on the NFL level, Jones is overflowing with certitude.
“It kind of feels the same when you’ve got speed,” he said Saturday afternoon.
Jones’ 4-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run was a snapshot of that speed, a literal footrace against Bills cornerback Kyron Brown to the left pylon after he took a toss left and utilized strong blocking up front from Tommy Sweeney and Larry Borom. Jones’ score was one of six carries he had in the game to punctuate a week in which he made a move from receiver to running back.
His longest gain was a 19-yarder in the fourth quarter in which he bounced off an initial tackle attempt and was able to get to the outside for a big gain.
On the whole, Eberflus had a favorable review of Jones’ halfback stint.
“It was positive,” Eberflus said. “He did a nice job really getting north. He has really good movement. He’s a physical player. You can see him really denting those tackles to fall forward for positive yards in the game, the hidden yards that are in our favor. He’s been good back there.”
Eberflus was noncommittal about whether Jones would remain with the running backs. That’s already a room packed with quality depth with D’Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson, Khalil Herbert and Travis Homer. Undrafted rookie Ian Wheeler also scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns against the Bills and has shown notable upside since the spring.
Jones also had a few bumpy moments Saturday. He mishandled a kickoff, dropped a pitch from quarterback Tyson Bagent on a play that was blown dead by a false start and got tangled up with Bagent and tripped in the backfield on another handoff. That’s all part of the evaluation.
Still, for a player fighting for a roster spot, Jones is pushing to prove he has value within the offense. His combination of speed, strength and change-of-direction ability has always intrigued the Bears. Now they are looking to see how else he might be able to contribute.
