Caleb Williams Sees It Coming Together Now Only After Defeat

Two touchdown drives and a rookie passing yardage record couldn't get the Bears a win but did provide QB Caleb Williams with a reason for optimism going forward.

Caleb Williams throws over Zaire Franklin en route to a Bears rookie record for passing yards with 363. / Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams couldn't enjoy the record number he put up or even his first two touchdown passes.

What he could enjoy was the process in a 21-16 loss Sunday to the Colts.

"It sucks every single time, you know, taking a loss, it never never gets easier, never gets better.

"And so, you know, say that I still am proud of my guys I'm proud of the steps we've taken so far. You know, the things we did today compared to last week and the week before, the steps we were taking, you know, super excited about this future of the offense, the team, the defense, special teams."

By steps they took, he referred to the timing and execution of the passing attack. When he wasn't sacked and separated from the football, or didn't throw to opposing cornerback Jaylon Jones, Williams was throwing it down the field in a way the Bears hadn't done in either of his first two games.

It wasn't winning football. However, he saw it as losing football that could be used at a later date to win.

The first drive of the fourth quarter might have been when Williams showed what he's truly capable of doing. They drove 70 yards in 13 plays to a 1-yard TD pass he threw to Rome Odunze. They converted on all three third downs during the march.

However, the two-point pass failed and the Bears still trailed 14-9. Later, he threw to tight end Cole Kmet for a 6-yard TD.

His 363 passing yards broke a rookie record of 314 set by Mitchell Trubisky in December, 2017 against the Lions.

He finished with 33 completions in 52 attempts, a passing total winning teams normally don't have.

"I mean, I'm, you know, I do whatever team needs, you know what I mean?" Williams said. "And so if it's fifty times, it's 50 times, I can't have the two turnovers with those 50 attempts, you know."

On this day, for the third straight game, the Bears had no running game to complement his passes, so they needed the attempts and completions.

"And so if it comes down to being 50 attempts and us slinging the ball around, if it comes down to being, you know, 10 attempts, it's, it's whatever team needs, whatever the team needs to get the win," Williams said.

Their running attack completely bogged down at the goal line with a goal line stand inside the 1 by the Colts in the second quarter, the final play an ill-fated and possibly ill-advised option toss to D'Andre Swift for a 12-yard loss.

"I guess maybe I didn't get in the edge fast enough or, or whatever case may have been, but they didn't crash pre, you know, how they how they normally do or how we saw them film," Williams said of the edge defenders. "And, you know, they made a good play, had a had an extra overhang player over there. And it may have been, you know, because of the pistol or whatever case may have been."

Williams said he had the option of changing the play but didn't.

More than those failed plays and the strip sack he endured in the second half, Williams might have regretted simply not coming through for the defense before they finally wore out late.

"They work hard each week to go out and do what they do," Williams said.

"They do it well. And we're going to get better offensively.

"Obviously, you know, defense playing lights out. You know, obviously they don't want points being up on the board, but to have, I mean, I think it was two (Bears) interceptions or so, you know, to have two interceptions on their side is all we need for offense, you know."

Williams is ready to play the waiting game. There are 14 left and if improvement on offense comes sooner than later, there can be better days even when the schedule toughens later.

"Like I said, it's a long season," he said. "And so being able to, you know, adapt, change and adapt to the players and people that we have in these rooms because we got special guys, whether it's offensive line, running backs and, you know, wide receivers.

"And so, you know, being able to adapt and all of that. I think it starts from communication and been that's something that's constant throughout a long season, throughout a game where, you know, rhythm, you know, starting fast, you know, throughout a game that you know, you want to you want to get things going, you want to be consistent, you want to be explosive, all these different things."

They'll try to put those things all together next week against the Rams, but do it this time with a win.

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