Caleb Williams' Effective Debut Starts Bears on Way to Easy Win

Bears rookie QB directs two scoring drives in two possessions and the Bears went on to earn a 33-6 victory over the Buffalo Bills in their second preseason game.

Caleb Williams makes a completion to DJ Moore from the end zone to help start a long drive to a field goal. / Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Caleb Williams let his teammates do the work and it's exactly what the Bears want to see when the regular season begins.

Williams stayed in for 18 plays and went 4-for-7 for 95 yards while directing two scoring drives in two possessions for a 6-0 lead, then the Bears took it from there Saturday for a 33-6 rout of Buffalo in the second preseason game.

"There is an understandment that it is preseason, that everybody is not going to show their looks versus us and vice versa," Williams said about his first preseason game. "But it definitely feels good to get out there.

"The last time I was out there other than practice was Nov. 18. And you go that long without something, it's tough. But its been great. The guys have made it fun. They've made it easy on me, talking about all our players, they've been great until now. My progress, I would count my progress and support, I would count it to them. They've been great, like I said. So to get out there and have the confidence we had out there it's only going to get better. We can't wait."

The drives led by Williams ended in field goals of 30 and 31 yards by Cairo Santos and went for 58 and 84 yards.

Then Williams departed, along with the starting offense. Eventually the Bears went on to outgain the Bills 340 yards to 200 in a game that got out of hand in the fourth quarter.

"I think it's good for him," coach Matt Eberflus said. "It's the fruits of his labors.

"He's been working his tail off for 15 practices and even before that all through the summer. So it's good to be able to say 'hey, all this drill work, all the things that I've been doing, it's paying off and I can see the improvements.' We're going to look back at this tape and say, 'what can I learn from this.' "

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A 12-yard pass to DJ Moore on third-and-12 kept alive the first drive and he prolonged the second drive with a 13-yard scramble on third-and-9 from the Bills 32.

A 26-yard pass on the move out of the pocket ignited the second drive. Williams moved out to his right and threw across his body to Cole Kmet on the run at the Bills 33.

"So we've been repping this play for a while now, you know, getting those reps in has been key," Williams said. "And you know you come out on game day and the seas part and Cole's running down the sideline and my job is just to get him the ball in space and let our players like Cole and them just do their magic."

There was more involved than repetitions in practice, Eberflus said.

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"His ability to move surprises me," Eberflus said. "His ability to move in the pocket and, you know, adjust his arm angle to deliver good strikes is really impressive. And he's exciting to watch."

An improve flip on a screen that looked like a no-look throw was turned by D'Andre Swift into a 42-yard gain to vault the first drive into the red zone.

"It wasn't a no-look," Williams corrected. "I wish I could claim that it was. I saw him for a quick second and then I really saw his gloves because he had I believe bright orange gloves or something like that.

"So I saw it open and I could feel the defenders kind of breaking through the line on a screen. So the offensive line did a great job making it seem believable as if they were going to let up a sack. And then I tossed it over their heads and we got I think it was 40 yards or so so it was great."

The starting Bears defense was as effective as the offense and left having given up a drive by Bills backup QB Mitchell Trubisky to a chip shot field goal in the second quarter.

Even the backup defense got in on the fun as Micah Baskerville intercepted a Steve Bueschel pass and returned it 50 yards for a second-half TD, and rookie Austin Booker made 2 1/2 sacks to lead a rush that had six sacks on the day. Booker had five tackles on the day, as well. Daniel Hardy contributed 2 1/2 sacks, as well.

"Those guys have got to ascend, right?" Eberflus said. "Those guys have got to show they can do it with the big guys. So that's a part of it. They're doing a good job of one-on-ones when they go up against our starters.

"But it was good to see them today, to get some production for sure."

The reserve defense capped it all off with a fourth-1 stop of Frank Gore Jr. to stop a Bills drive, as Khalid Kareem and Reddy Steward made the tackle. They made it possible for Ian Wheeler to score the second of two touchdowns he had in the second half, an 8-yard run around left end. The other was a 7-yard run.

The Bears return to Halas Hall for training camp starting Tuesday and on Thursday welcome in Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals for a practice, then a game on Saturday at Soldier Field.

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