ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams had a plan for what the Buffalo Bills defense would do on third-and-9 on his second NFL series.
Then they switched it up on him. Welcome to the NFL.
But Williams didn’t panic.
He said he thought Bills safety Damar Hamlin would rotate to one side, but Hamlin “bluffed” and had over-the-top defense on wide receiver Rome Odunze, Williams’ vertical target. The quarterback’s eyes then went to his running back, who was covered.
“I saw the seas part,” Williams said. “I realized it was two-man, and I took off.”
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Bears fans might believe they saw their own biblical figure on Saturday when Williams’ debut included this 13-yard run on third down, a highlight-reel, 26-yard throw on the run and another third-and-long conversion to receiver DJ Moore.
It’s only the preseason. Williams knows that. But on his 20 plays, the Bears had two scoring drives — a pair of field goals. For an offense that has looked choppy in practice, Saturday reminded everyone of what Williams can do.
“There’s an understanding that it is preseason,” Williams said. “That everybody’s not going to show their looks and what they would do versus us and vice versa. But it definitely feels good to get out there. The last time I was out there on the field other than practice was November 18. You go that long without something, it’s tough. But it’s been great.”
Williams’ first dropback looked too similar to what has transpired often in training camp. The pocket collapsed, he rolled to his right, and while keeping his eyes downfield, ultimately threw it away. But two plays later, on third-and-12, he stayed in the pocket and delivered a first-down throw to Moore.
Caleb Williams’ first completion is a laser for a first down
📺: #CHIvsBUF on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/934KG1UBTw— NFL (@NFL) August 10, 2024
“Poise in the pocket,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “Riding the pocket there. Keep two hands on it when he was in the pocket and then throw a strike.”
On the next snap, the Bills defense came free, but that was by design. It was a screen play. Williams flipped it to D’Andre Swift, who ran 42 yards. And no, it was not a no-look pass.
.@DAndreSwift goes for 42yds 💨
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/ASlD1bVJmf
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 10, 2024
“I did see him. It wasn’t a no-look, I wish I could claim that it was, but it wasn’t,” Williams said. “I saw him for a quick second. I really saw his gloves because he had, I believe, bright orange gloves on. … So I saw it open and I could feel the defenders kind of breaking through the line, which they should on a screen. Offensive line did a great job making it seem believable as if they were going to let up a sack, and (I) toss it over the head and we got … 40 yards or so.”
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On the next drive, when a penalty got the Bears out of the shadow of their end zone, Williams faked a handoff and rolled to his right, outrunning the Bills defensive end. He pump-faked to get a defender in the air and buy time before ripping one to tight end Cole Kmet for 26 yards.
“We’ve been repping this play for a while now,” Williams said. “Getting those reps in has been key. You come out on game day and the seas part and Cole’s running down the sideline. My job is just to get him the ball in space and let our players … do their magic.”
.@CALEBcsw with a dart to @ColeKmet 😮💨
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/BDsZNDhLai
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 10, 2024
We could also learn something about Williams from his final play. On third-and-9 from the Buffalo 18, he launched one to the end zone as he got hit. When Williams released the pass, Odunze had flashed open. Had Williams seen it? The pass went incomplete and seemed like more of a prayer than anything, but on the field, Williams lay on the turf frustrated. He felt it was a missed opportunity. He explained why.
“Rome and I talked about it, and that comes from time of getting on the same page and same connection,” he said. “We talked about it and I actually thought he was going to take it high because I thought he saw the guy — which he did — he told me he saw the guy that was below him, one defender and then one of our teammates down the right sideline. I thought he was either going to settle or go to the back pylon. He started coming out flat and by then I had to let the ball go. I tried to give him a chance and put it back pylon to see if he could run under it.”
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Bears fans have been here before, getting excited about little moments in an exhibition game that they want to mean more. It happened in Mitch Trubisky’s debut and Justin Fields’, too. We won’t know what Saturday in Buffalo is the beginning of, exactly, but Williams did what the Bears wanted to see.
He protected the football. The operation was sound — there were no pre-snap penalties. He made big plays on third down. It’s just the start of … something.
“There’s certainly positivity there,” Eberflus said. “We’re not going to squash that. I do feel like we have a lot of work to do and a lot of things to accomplish as a football team, not just Caleb. We all got to play good around him. It’s important that we keep improving before that first game.”
Said Moore, “Outstanding. He did good. Those first two drives were amazing. He went out there with a bunch of confidence and he did good.”
Here are a few other notes after the Bears’ 33-6 preseason win over the Bills …
• Defensive ends Austin Booker and Daniel Hardy converged on the quarterback twice for sacks. Booker, the Bears’ fifth-round rookie, continued to show his upside with 2 1/2 sacks and three QB hits. “He’s got a really good slip, and an ability to rush the passer with speed and not predetermine what he’s gonna do ahead of time,” Eberflus said. “I think that stresses the offensive tackles out when a guy doesn’t predetermine or shuffle his feet. He shows that speed to power and speed and spin inside, those out and out moves he likes to do.” Hardy has had an impressive camp and had earned one of the final spots on our recent 53-man roster projection.
First NFL sack for @austinbookerr 💪
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/upiEzto1Bk
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 10, 2024
• The Velus Jones Jr. experiment at running back began in the third quarter and ended with Jones outrunning the Bills to the pylon for a 4 -yard touchdown. You can see what the Bears see — Jones’ ability to hit the line with a head of steam. He finished with six carries for 34 yards. “It was positive,” Eberflus said. “He did a nice job really getting north. You saw he’s got really good movement. He’s a physical player. You can see him really denting those tackles to fall forward for positive yards in the game, the hidden yards that are in our favor.”
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• Second-year linebacker Micah Baskerville read the checkdown and jumped it, picking off a Shane Buechele pass and returning it 53 yards for a touchdown. With Noah Sewell still sidelined, Baskerville is in the mix to make the team. He should certainly be a candidate to return to the practice squad.
• Offensive lineman Ryan Bates did not play. He left the field near the end of Thursday’s practice, but Eberflus said Bates will be fine. Matt Pryor got the start at right guard with Coleman Shelton at center.
(Photo: Rich Barnes / Getty Images)
