Bear Digest

Is Supporting Bears Cast Failing Their Rookie QB?

The Bears know QB Caleb Williams needs as much support as possible as a rookie starter but several instances in Sunday's game say he's not getting it.

Gene Chamberlain

Defensive end Laiatu Latu knocks the ball away from Bears quarterback Caleb Williams for a critical stip-sack Sunday.
Defensive end Laiatu Latu knocks the ball away from Bears quarterback Caleb Williams for a critical stip-sack Sunday. / Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images
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At this stage in his development, Caleb Williams needs all the help he can get.

After all, the Bears were supposed to be the best situation any quarterback drafted first overall has had but the surrounding cast has failed the rookie quarterback at least as much as he has struggled.

On Sunday, it was play calling, execution of blocks and the lack of any running game at all combining to make it difficult for Williams. Then again, he also found ways to hurt his own chances at the win with inexperience.

Williams could have been better helped on a strip-sack by Laiatu Latu in the fourth quarter, leading directly to a Colts touchdown for a 21-9 lead. Tight end Cole Kmet was blocking on Latu and couldn’t prevent the strip-sack from behind.

“That’s a guy they took pretty high in the draft this year, so obviously he’s talented, but I need to be able to give a better run sell there to begin with and even if he beats me a little bit later in the down,” Kmet said. “By then the ball’s going to be out.

“I’ve got to be better from the start of the snap, and that resolves the issue there. But that’s all on me. I’ve got to be much better than that.”

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The attention to detail, in general, is what all veterans need to do to help Williams and other rookies.

“I just have to be better there and I think other guys can say that across the board,” Kmet said. “We have to be better there. We have to hold ourselves accountable in that regard from player to player. And execute better in that way. And then bring the young guys along as well.

“Obviously you have Caleb and Rome, two very very talented guys out there, but they're rookies in this thing, too. So we have to help them along as well. And I think we did a better job of that this other day. But we can be even better.”

Williams’ cause was also hurt by Shane Waldron’s play call on fourth-and-goal from inside the 1 just before halftime when the Bears ran what they call “speed option,” an option pitch away from the “big boy” defensive lineup they were facing.

“In fact, Shane and I watched the tape at 6:30 this morning and we talked that through,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “Again, that's got to be a better call and a better matchup there.”

They also need to just help by running it better in general. When Roschon Johnson leads in  rushing with 30 yards on eight carries, and the offense has gotten worse each week at running the ball, something is wrong. On Sunday, it meant only 63 rushing yards.

It becomes a case of better utilizing running back skill sets.

“I think we have three unique guys that have skillsets that we can really utilize as we get going during the course of this year and it's important that we do that,” Eberflus said.

Some things will continue to simply be rookie situations. They’ll be things Williams picks up as he gainst more experience. He could have actually checked out of the failed fourth-down option toss after seeing how the Colts lined up against it.

“Yeah, you want to be able to let him operate, too,” Eberflus said. “We  thought at 10 (seconds on the play clock), he could potentially be checking it, and he snapped it at 5.

“That's an operation we have to do better together. That's an everybody thing and we have to do it better.”

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.