Caleb Williams Actually Stopped Eberflus From Ruining Game Even Before Hail Mary

The final sequence of the Chicago Bears' loss in Washington remains burned into the memories of fans even three days after it happened. Caleb Williams leads a go-ahead touchdown drive and hits a two-point conversion to make it 15-12. The Commanders get the ball and drive to their 48-yard line, aided by some conspicuously soft coverage calls by head coach Matt Eberflus. Then on the final play, they hit a 52-yard Hail Mary for the win. It was gutwrenching, and nobody was more upset about it than Caleb Williams.

Mind you, it wasn't just because the quarterback hates losing. Based on emerging information, it is because he seemed to recognize that Eberflus wasn't on top of everything. One big example everybody came on the second-to-last play of the game. The head coach was distracted by how the defense was aligned that he was starting to drift onto the field. This would've resulted in a costly penalty. Williams, aware of this, rushed to pull his coach back to the sideline. It was a timely display of intelligence by the rookie QB.

It didn't stop there with Caleb Williams.

After Washington converted that play for 13 yards with six seconds left, the Bears set up for the Hail Mary. Again, the quarterback noticed a problem. This time, it was cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, who was busy jabbering at fans in the back corner near the end zone with his back to the play. Williams is seen waving at him to get back to his assigned spot before the ball is snapped. Stevenson didn't turn around until the play was five seconds into progress. By that time, the guy he was supposed to cover, wid receiver Noah Brown, had already found a lane into the end zone.

Williams' reaction when Brown caught the tipped pass says it all.

What does it say when the quarterback has better situational awareness than the head coach? Caleb Williams was on top of everything in those final moments. He led the go-ahead drive, prevented a huge penalty, and knew Stevenson was out of position. Yet Eberflus didn't, and he had timeouts to spare. Those kinds of mistakes lose you games.