Caleb Williams learned a valuable lesson in his first professional football game: It’s going to be a bit more difficult than the Pac-12.
The Bears beat the Tennessee Titans 24-17 to open the season on Sunday, but they didn’t get much help from the offense. A punt blocked for a touchdown and a pick 6 helped the Bears earn their first win of the season.
“They did nothing spectacular,” Titans defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons said, per ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler. “What we gotta do is just get the ball. I didn’t see nothing spectacular. They didn’t do s*** on offense.”
After a dazzling preseason, Williams was met with the harsh reality of how difficult the NFL can be. It was a mixed bag for the rookie, who had some big-time plays that show off his athleticism and playmaking ability, but also had a handful of rough plays against a Titans defense that was ready to play in their first game under new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson.
“It obviously wasn’t a game that I’m gonna play in the future, and not the game that I wanted to play for my first game,” Williams said on the Fox broadcast afterward.
Williams completed 14 of his 29 passes for just 93 yards and was sacked twice for a total loss of 29 yards. Sixty-four net passing yards and 2-of-13 on third down is not where Williams wants to be, but it’s just his first game and he was still trying to make plays throughout the game. There were moments when his pocket presence and process in the pocket were slow, leading to difficult plays against a Titans defense that still has a fair amount of good players.
Relying on defensive and special teams touchdowns isn’t a sustainable strategy for winning games, but it wasn’t all bad for Williams in his debut. Keenan Allen dropped what would’ve been Williams’ first touchdown throw and Williams still had a few plays that showed off his outrageous potential even with the low-yardage output.
“I told the guys many weeks ago, we need to play well around Caleb, and we’ve got to continue to do that,” Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said.
Once he settles into the speed of NFL front sevens, the onslaught of plays that go for zero or negative yardage should start to shrink. Williams had a scramble where he made a player miss in the open field and also hit wide receiver DJ Moore under pressure while he was rolling out to his right.
Those are the plays that gave the glimpses of the immense talent he has. He had a couple uncharacteristic misses in the first quarter, including a wide-open Allen deep down the field, but he settled in and eventually complete 8 of his 14 passing attempts in the first half. The second half is where things really sputtered for the passing game, with Williams completing only 6 of his 15 attempts for 40 yards. The defensive and special teams bailed the offense out, but this was not a performance that’s going to win the Bears a whole lot of games this season.
The good thing is it’s only Week 1. Everyone breathe. There aren’t going to be too many season-long referendums to make from the first week of the season outside of the Panthers being horrendous for the second straight season.
Williams will be better. The Bears will be better. There will be some rough games as Williams gets used to the NFL, but there were glimpses of special play there. Perhaps the runway for Williams will be a bit longer than expected, but no reason to panic at all just yet.
The NFL is hard. The players are bigger, stronger, faster and the margins are exponentially smaller. Part of the process of being a rookie quarterback is figuring out what you can get away with. Williams learned that the hard way Sunday, but at least he didn’t turn the ball over like Will Levis did, mistakes that opened the door for Chicago‘s comeback. That’s a baby step to build on. Williams will have some extreme highs as a rookie, but these types of games are also possible as he gets acclimated.
Sunday was a reminder that instant success isn’t guaranteed, but one game is one game for now. Stay calm out there, everyone.