Caleb Williams did not have the opener he wanted. On the surface, he didn't play poorly. He had over 200 yards passing, led the team in rushing, and scored two touchdowns. However, he only completed 60% of his passes. A closer look at the tape showed him missing some premium opportunities for big plays because of inaccuracy. Unsurprisingly, the media sphere lambasted him for it. The Chicago Bears had a 17-6 lead, and Williams' inability to close the door in the third quarter allowed the Vikings to rally for the win. It was a gut punch.
Already, people are talking about a possible QB change. That won't happen anytime soon, but it tells you how nervous people are about Williams' lack of progress. Then you have Kurt Warner. The Hall of Fame quarterback is notorious for his criticism of the Bears quarterback last season. However, that was not the case after Monday night. After watching the film, Warner revealed that he thinks Williams played better than he got credit for. He made mostly good decisions all night and had four outstanding plays and 25 good ones. The primary issue was inaccuracy and his tendency to play the game too fast.
It wasn't helped by the lack of a running game and not always being in the right play call. Things his counterpart, J.J. McCarthy, didn't have to worry about.
Caleb Williams is operating in foreign territory.
This offense he's learning under Johnson is almost totally alien to him. Caleb Williams spent almost his entire football life playing a shotgun, spread offense, where he used his natural gifts to make plays. Johnson runs the more classic under-center system, built around running the ball and play action. It requires precise footwork and timing, and a quarterback needs to process a lot of knowledge in such a system. Williams only just started learning to do such things last year and that was under an atrocious staff. What Johnson has done with him over the summer is load his plate with everything. In such cases, you'll often see a young quarterback struggle.
Warner understands that. His eye is far better trained than most people's. He believes there were a lot of encouraging things about Williams' performance in the game. With time and growing comfort in the system, he should play much better in the coming weeks.
