Justin Fields has a single touchdown pass for a low-wattage Pittsburgh Steelers offense. That’s one more passing touchdown than the Chicago Bears have in the 2024 NFL season so far.
That’s not an outcome many expected after Chicago shipped its former first round pick off before making Caleb Williams the first overall selection in last spring’s draft. Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner, arrived in a unique situation. He had a knack for big throws and arguably the best receiving corps any top overall pick has ever had as a rookie. But despite some promising moments, the first two weeks of the Williams era have been a frustrating slog back through the worst moments of Bears history.
There are a few reasons for that, but one stands above the rest. Chicago’s offensive line is letting its franchise quarterback get pounded into dust in the pocket. It’s exactly the kind of problem that can derail a young passer’s development.
feels like Danielle Hunter pounced from a solid 2.5 yards away pic.twitter.com/3ifEn6inAV
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) September 16, 2024
Let’s begin with the positives. Williams had moments where he escaped static in the pocket to extend plays. He led a 61-yard field goal drive to keep Chicago in this game late. When he wasn’t blitzed, he completed 80 percent of his passes. There were moments where you could see the concept of a franchise quarterback among a pile of rough sketches.
Caleb Williams doing a nice job of stepping up to avoid pressure and finding the receiver with a big payoff. pass placement isn't quite there but it'll come pic.twitter.com/agfKFLWtkO
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) September 16, 2024
But look at the Bears’ Twitter feed and you won’t see a single passing game highlight. Check out the Texans’ and you’ll see at least seven clips or pictures of Williams getting sacked or intercepted, including this abject failure in which Cole Kmet, running in motion, is utterly unable to alter an otherwise unblocked Will Anderson’s course to the quarterback on what could have been a Chicago scoring drive.
WELCOME TO AREA 51 🛸
📺: @SNFonNBC pic.twitter.com/xyv4m1zjdv
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) September 16, 2024
There’s no good way to spin the Bears six drives that started the second half, a stretch of four punts, three three-and-outs and two interceptions. Without the efforts of a rising defense, this game would have been a blowout.
That’s endemic of, well, long stretches of the last three decades of Chicago Bears football. Justin Fields was a luxury schooner dashed against the rocks and scuttled by the choppy seas of underwhelming offensive design and an offensive line that contributed to sacks on more than 12 percent of his dropbacks. Jay Cutler arrived as a high-potential pocket passer with the Denver Broncos and saw his sack rate nearly double as a Bear en route to never realizing his NFL potential. Mitchell Trubisky … well, that one probably isn’t on the offensive line, but still.
Make no mistake, Sunday night’s performance against the Texans’ pass rush was a giant, regrettable mess. Williams dropped back to pass 44 times. He was sacked seven times, hit 11 more and pressured on 23 of his passing plays. Nearly half the time he was asked to throw the ball, he did so under duress. This led to a 33 percent success rate on early downs, which in turn created a litany of third-and-long situations. So even when Williams showed off the athleticism that makes him special:
Will Anderson couldn’t believe he missed this sack on Caleb Williams 😅
📺: #CHIvsHOU on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/QO7l96W6pn— NFL (@NFL) September 16, 2024
It didn’t matter, because he’d only pick up a modest chunk of yardage rather than the 10-plus yards he needed. As a result, the Bears only earned 10 first downs all night that weren’t the result of Texans penalties. What’s worse, it gave opponents a clear blueprint on how to reduce a Chicago offense that was supposed to be a Corvette into a 1988 Mercury Tracer. Houston blitzed 20 times on Williams’ 48 dropbacks. This led to five sacks and three completed passes.
Another 3rd down sack for the @HoustonTexans!
📺: #CHIvsHOU on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/zqPcmLYhKP— NFL (@NFL) September 16, 2024
The Texans saw a Tennessee Titans pass rush that blitzed 11 times in Week 1 and limited Williams to 32 passing yards in those situations and said “more, please.” That’s a big deal when you play in a division with Brian Flores’ Minnesota Vikings — the team that led the league with a ridiculous 51 percent blitz rate last fall. Or with a guy who had 4.5 sacks in Week 2 alone like the Detroit Lions’ Aidan Hutchinson. Or with the Green Bay Packers and their top 10 blitz and pressure rates.
But even when things went relatively according to plan, Williams’ ball placement was an issue. You can see him escape pressure and miss DeAndre Carter a few paragraphs above. You can see him stand in the pocket and miss D.J. Moore below.
D.J. Moore walking off the field after incomplete passpic.twitter.com/TABhDuNl6d
— ✶ Ⓜ️𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕤 ▶️ ✶ (@_MarcusD3_) September 16, 2024
The fact this is happening in Week 2 to a rookie quarterback isn’t a big deal. It just means Williams, unique as an athlete as he may be, isn’t especially different than the rest of the league’s historic first year passers. He’s got flaws that need to be shaved off like precision cutlery and will have to trust the Bears can be the whetstone that helps him carve up defenses down the line.
It also suggests he’s liable to develop the bad habits that plagued similarly toolsy but ultimately less vaunted high profile young quarterbacks like Fields or Blake Bortles or Tim Couch or David Carr or, what the hell let’s say Daniel Jones too, before him. Opponents know Williams has completed eight passes for 47 yards in the 31 times he’s been blitzed. They’ll have plenty of opportunities to send extra guys to the pocket because the Bears’ lack of early down success is creating obvious passing downs late in drives.
There is going to be an onslaught of bonus linebackers and safeties invading the rookie’s space. It may be a small miracle if Williams simply makes it to the end of his debut season unscathed.
The Bears have time to fix this. Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright, Chicago’s starting tackles, are better players than they showed Sunday night. Shelton Coleman shouldn’t be a problem at center. Pro Football Focus called the Teven Jenkins and Nate Davis duo one of the league’s best guard combinations. This group *should* improve, creating time for Williams to throw and space for an underwhelming ground game to churn out yards. Factor in healthy Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze and there’s still a chance the Bears are the ascendant team they once looked like in the offseason.
But Sunday night’s loss in Houston suggests there’s a very simple way to derail the Chicago offense under Caleb Williams. It’s the same way to derail the Chicago offense under Justin Fields. Dial up the pressure until things fall apart, then watch history repeat itself.
