Copyright Yardbarker
The Chicago Bears were winners of four straight games before second-year quarterback Caleb Williams endured an outing he'd probably prefer to forget in Chicago's 30-16 loss at the Baltimore Ravens (2-5) that dropped the Bears to 4-3 this past Sunday. During a Monday appearance on Chicago sports radio station ESPN 1000, first-year Bears head coach Ben Johnson defended how Williams played at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium. Ben Johnson shares surprising take about Caleb Williams' play in loss ot Ravens "He played better this game than I think he had the previous two," Johnson said, per Ted Nguyen of The Athletic. "When you look at it, all 60 minutes, and I’m not saying it’s perfect. I actually came away from watching the tape [Monday] morning encouraged that we took a step in the right direction here this week. I know for some people it’s hard, maybe, to rationalize because the result wasn’t there. But yeah, I saw tangible growth from him. He’s working his a-- off." While facing a Ravens defense that had largely failed to impress throughout the season, Williams completed 25-of-38 passes for 285 yards with no touchdowns. He also tossed a brutal fourth-quarter interception deep in Chicago territory when the Bears were trailing by just three points. The Baltimore offense ultimately took advantage of the short field. Concerns about Williams' accuracy issues continue to hover over the 23-year-old heading into November. According to Pro Football Reference, he ended Week 8 ranked 24th in the NFL among qualified players with a 61.9 percent completion percentage, 17th with a 52.9 adjusted QBR and 20th with a 90.2 passer rating on the season. Do advanced stats show criticisms of Caleb Williams are a bit unfair? The Bears expected that Williams would be the top quarterback from his draft class when they made him the No. 1 overall pick in the spring of 2024. While 2024 third-overall choice Drake Maye is currently a legitimate MVP candidate, Williams continues to look more like a work in progress than a future elite player at the position. Nevertheless, ESPN's Ben Solak suggested that some are being too harsh regarding their criticisms of Williams this fall. "By (expected points added) per dropback, Williams is just about average for the season at 0.03," Solak wrote on Wednesday. "For perspective, Baker Mayfield -- whom some were calling an MVP candidate through September -- is at 0.05. ...Williams suffers a little in success rate -- 42.1 percent, below league average -- which is a good proxy for the down-to-down consistency of the passing game. But he excels in explosive pass rate at 17.8 percent, seventh highest among all quarterbacks." In theory, Williams should have an opportunity to produce a bounce-back performance when the Bears play at a Cincinnati Bengals (3-5) side responsible for a dreadful defense this coming Sunday. As of Tuesday morning, ESPN BET had Chicago as a 2.5-point road favorite for that contest.
