The Week 9 cleanup process at Halas Hall includes heightened attention on a passing attack that was far too slow to get going during the Chicago Bears’ 18-15 loss to the Washington Commanders on Sunday.
Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams had only five completions through three quarters, with the Bears netting just 23 passing yards as they headed into the fourth.
A late rally by Williams and the offense was encouraging as the Bears took a three-point lead in the final minute. Still, there’s significant room for improvement across the board as the team turns its attention to this weekend’s game in Arizona.
Here is the Week 9 rundown.
The buzz
Reminder: Williams is still a rookie, three weeks shy of his 23rd birthday and still only seven games into his NFL career. Still, as a captain and one of the Bears’ most important leaders, his ability to demonstrate steadiness and calm throughout a week like this is crucial.
Williams certainly hit all the right notes Wednesday during his weekly gathering with the media, offering an honest perspective on Sunday’s gut-wrenching final-play loss while showing a mature approach to focus on an important game this weekend.
“We had our 24-hour period to feel how we felt,” Williams said. “But we have to move on.”
As the Bears have slowly worked through the autopsy findings from Sunday’s defeat — the one decided on Jayden Daniels’ 52-yard touchdown pass to Noah Brown as time expired — Williams hasn’t dodged the reality of how crushing that setback was.
“In that moment, you’re angry,” he said. “You’re furious that you just lost and that you lost that way.”
Still, the Bears quarterback has worked through the emotions of that loss and continues pushing to do his part in keeping the team upbeat and locked in.
“Everything’s exploding on the outside,” Williams said, “and we have to control what we can control. Control everything in the interior, in here. And we have to focus on going out and winning this game we have now (against the Cardinals).”
Williams has done so by assessing his own struggles, using his thumb rather than his index finger to point out the flaws that contributed to Sunday’s subpar performance. The Bears didn’t score their first points until the final minute of the third quarter. And the passing attack’s slow start was a major hindrance.
“There’s obviously a sense of accountability I have to take,” Williams said. “I didn’t play well in the first half. We had stalled drives, and that goes back to (our work) throughout the week.”
As for Williams’ participation in the regular captains’ meetings with coach Matt Eberflus, the quarterback called Wednesday’s session “a grown-man talk” with players offering direct feedback on what all needs to improve.
“We want to win,” Williams said. “It’s that simple. Obviously the coaches do. He does. We all do. It’s just being able to come together and find ways to do that.”
Spotlight play
Immediately after Sunday’s loss, Williams owned up to the 15-yard sack he took on his final play before halftime, a loss that pushed the Bears out of field goal range and derailed their most promising possession of a clunky first half.
The Bears had third-and-12 at the Commanders 25 when Williams was quickly pressured by Frankie Luvu. The Commanders linebacker exploded off the snap, racing around rookie left tackle Kiran Amegadjie and fighting through Bears running back Roschon Johnson to get to Williams.
In 2.2 seconds, the play was ruined as Luvu corralled Williams. In fighting to keep the play alive, though, the Bears quarterback wriggled free but was ultimately smothered 7 yards further back — by Daron Payne at the Washington 40.
Instead of having a Cairo Santos field goal attempt to cut into the Commanders’ 9-0 lead, the Bears instead had to punt and fizzled to the end of their second scoreless first half this season. That was a lesson for Williams on situational awareness and learning when to say when as it relates to his ability to create broken-play magic.
“That’s the toughest part about the job,” Williams said. “You want to go out there and make plays and do special things. But you also have to understand that’s (a big) play. If we get those three points and get some momentum, it would definitely have helped us.”
Up next
The Bears get the luxury of facing another bottom-tier defense Sunday as the Cardinals rank 26th in the league against both the pass and the run while allowing 25.6 points per game. Jonathan Gannon’s defense has been particularly dreadful on third down, allowing opponents to convert 52.1% of their opportunities. That’s the worst in the league.
Eighth-year safety Budda Baker — drafted in the second round of 2017 with a pick the Cardinals acquired from the Bears in a trade-up — is the biggest weapon on the Arizona defense. Baker is an athletic, instinctive and versatile playmaker who can wreck a game if he’s not properly accounted for.
The Cardinals have allowed only one 300-yard passer this season — Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert threw for 349 in a Monday night loss two weeks ago. But the Cardinals defense hasn’t been particularly effective in pressuring the quarterback. Defensive end Dante Stills leads the team with three sacks, and the Cardinals rank 24th in sacks (15) and 27th in sack rate (6.1%).
The big number: 39.6
Williams’ passer rating through nine possessions of Sunday’s loss to the Commanders. After the Bears’ first possession of the fourth quarter, Williams was 5-for-17 for 43 yards. He rallied to complete five of seven passes for 88 yards on the final two drives. Still, the quarterback’s 59.5 rating for the game was his worst since Week 2 and came after he had posted three consecutive games with a rating above 100.
Final word
In an undeniably disappointing performance overall on Sunday, Williams showed an encouraging ability to bounce back late, rising to the occasion in the fourth quarter and putting the Bears in position to steal a win.
“Very encouraging,” Williams said. “Because we stayed in it.”
An argument can be made that the quarterback’s five most impressive plays of the game came on the offense’s final two possessions — one took the Bears all the way to the 1-yard line and the other resulted in a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute.
Topping the list of Williams’ flashes: an off-script 22-yard completion to Keenan Allen on the Bears’ final drive.
Off play-action, Williams was in danger almost immediately after completing his play fake, confronted deep in the backfield by defensive end Dorance Armstrong. But the quarterback used a stutter step to break free and get out on the edge. Then, as four defenders charged at him, he showed an impressive combination of composure and playmaking flair, flipping a touch pass into open space to Allen, who gained 9 more yards after the catch.
If that wasn’t Williams’ best throw of the afternoon — a perfectly placed deep ball to DJ Moore for 27 yards on the previous possession was. All of it was evidence that the quarterback has the requisite moxie to meet game-defining moments in the fourth quarter.
Said tight end Cole Kmet: “For us to respond from down two scores to come back and take the lead with 20-some seconds left, I think it’s a great thing and something we can build on going forward.”
For decades, Bears fans have grown accustomed to quarterbacks who can’t really recover from a sloppy start or — in the case of Williams’ predecessor, Justin Fields — quarterbacks who can’t consistently punctuate impressive performances with a game-winning finish.
Even with a loss, Williams showed steadiness and playmaking talent late in Sunday’s game, which should fuel the offense and increase his teammates’ belief in him.
