Bear Digest

Caleb Williams and Offense Plagued Again by Slow Start in Loss

The last play cost the Bears a loss but if their offense and Caleb Williams had started faster a Hail Mary pass might not have been enough for Washington.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams tries to get past Daron Payne on a QB draw in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 18-15 Bears loss to Washington.
Caleb Williams tries to get past Daron Payne on a QB draw in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 18-15 Bears loss to Washington. / Peter Casey-Imagn Images
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Bears first overall draft pick Caleb Williams thought he handled all the hype over his matchup against No. 2 pick Jayden Daniels well.

He didn’t handle it with a win or with any points in the 44 minutes of the game.

The Bears looked on offense early against Washington in an 18-15 loss the way they did against the Colts and the Texans, two other road losses they had.

Never mind the heartbreaking Hail Mary their defense gave up. That was on the defense for one play, ruining an otherwise noble effort. The offense, though, had no excuses for a week off and coming back like they were still on the bye.

“We got to be better in the first quarter,” Williams said, in a statement repeated at Halas Hall probably more times than any other one this season. “That starts with me coming out fast.

“That starts with, you know, us coming out fast. You know, we keep getting the ball early on.

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“We got a great defense to help us stay in it, but we got to be better and play complementary football.”

Williams directed a pair of last touchdown drives, including the go-ahead score in the final minute, before they lost on the Hail Mary.  But he had his own share of mistakes earlier.

He was sacked well out of field goal range just before halftime and when he was, he had first spun out of the tackle, then went backward and was out of range.

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“I got to get the ball out, be better with that,” Williams said.

If he had just thrown it away, the Bears would have been kicking a 43-yard field goal but he took a 15-yard loss.

He had another similar situation in the first half when he could have had a first down running with it and slid short after he had been winding his way through the defense by scrambling in the backfield.

‘Yeah, I after I did all the little shenanigans in the backfield and I got vertically, I actually thought I had the first down and and I looked over and I slid and turned when the dude was coming,” Williams said. “I should have just taken the hit and fell forward, but I slid, kind of slid sideways, thought, I had it and didn't.”

Williams seemed out of sort in the passing game throughout the first half and even into the third quarter. He was 3 of 8 for 33 yards passing in the first half and eventually finished 10 of 24 for 131 yards. They definitely seemed to lack the momentum and timing they had in the passing attack prior to their bye, at least until the fourth quarter.

“We could have played better on offense throughout the whole game to put ourselves in better position and we will,” Williams said.

The pressure of playing in his home town against the No. 2 pick in the draft wasn’t a concern, he said, although something seemed to be bothering him early. It's a good thing he looked past that one because Daniels threw it for 195 more yards. Daniels completed 21 of 38 for 326 yards and a TD or a 92.7 passer rating.

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“Yeah, I think I did a pretty good job in tuning it out emotion-wise,” Williams said.

“Just another football game.”

Except for the ending with the Hail Mary pass by Daniels.

“Obviously it's a a heart wrenching play to have,” Williams said.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.