Bear Digest

Caleb Williams Thrill Show: Coming Soon to an NFL Field Near You

Analysis: It would be easy to be too excited about Caleb Williams' start considering he completed only four passes, but then again there's plenty to like considering past Bears offensive failures.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams escapes the pocket on a 13-yard scramble to convert third-and-9 against the Bills.
Caleb Williams escapes the pocket on a 13-yard scramble to convert third-and-9 against the Bills. / Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
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It seemed like a trailer, the movie highlights of coming attractions, more than the beginning of the Caleb Williams saga.

It teased perfectly.

Caleb Williams got on the field only for 18 plays, two drives and in the long marches to two Cairo Santos field goals it quickly became apparent what could be ahead for the Bears.

Williams threw on he run, he pulled sleight of hand with what seemed to be a no-look screen pass, he converted third-and-long with a bullet throw and even ran for a first down. It even came with a slide.

Williams thoroughly entertained in less than 20 plays, only four completions and without leading a touchdown drive, although he might have had one if D'Andre Swift had been able to maintain his feet at the end of a 42-yard bolt with the no-look screen that wasn't really a no-look. It sure seemed that way, though.

"So I thought he (Williams) did a really nice job, you know, you know, getting the ball to (Swift) cleanly," coach Matt Eberflus said. "And obviously Swift is a guy that can be really  dynamic and really, really has got a lot of good speed and he's just got to kick his feet up at the end there."

Williams compiled a 101.8 passer rating with four completions. He hit DJ Moore to convert a third-and-12 from his own 28. How often do Bears quarterbacks convert third-and-12 from their own 28, preseason or otherwise?

If you're looking for signs Williams is "the one," then this was probably a bit premature.

Defenses play vanilla in preseason, but also remember, too, that the offense doesn't really game plan anyone, either.

On the next possession, his assignment looked far more severe after a punt to the 3-yard line. No problem, although an illegal contact against Buffalo on a failed third-down throw made it all possible.

The bootleg-style throw on the run to Cole Kmet along the sidelines from the Bears 41 accounted for 26 yards and suddenly all of those comments about how Williams wouldn't be able to throw outside the pocket in the NFL like he did in college seemed much quieter.

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Williams got the Bears into scoring position on the drive with a 13-yard run on third-and-9 from the Bills 32.

How Justin Fields-esque.

"My back was covered and I saw the seas part, realized it was two-men (coverage) and took off," Williams said.

Two-man was always a coverage the Bears found difficult to beat with Fields at quarterback. Green Bay loved playing it against the Bears, and had done so even before Fields, when Mitchell Trubisky was at quarterback. But Williams recognized it and knew what to do.

The drive resulted in a field goal after Williams threw it deep beyond Rome Odunze at the pylon in back of the end zone, a play they had more or less rehearsed. They couldn't connect, though.

"I thought he was going to either settle or go to back pylon," Williams said. "He started coming up flat by then I had to let the ball go and I tried to give him a chance and put it back pylon, see if he could run under it."

It all easily could have been interpreted as, or labeled, a prelude to much bigger things. Williams wasn't about to fall into that trap. The twinkle in his eye said something else.

"The human nature urges to kind of take that breath and say, obviously that felt good to get back out there," Williams said. "And then that says you have to scale back and say also there's a lot of work to do.

"I mean, you have to understand where we are and understand, you know, what we have and where we're headed. That's the most important thing. But you also have to be where your feet are."

Where those feet are is Week 2 of preseason. But they sure seem to be in a better place than they've been in the past after Week 2 of preseason.

It was merely the trailer. The first act really begins in about four weeks.

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.