Evaluating QB1: A Very Disappointing Night for Caleb Williams ...Middle East

Caleb Williams’ first game of the season is in the books, and it was, well, very reminiscent of the games we watched last season. There was some early magic in the air, but like Williams’ accuracy, it evaporated as the game progressed, and the mistakes mounted, an all too familiar story for Bears fans.

The opening drive was economical and looked like Ben Johnson’s plan in action. Williams’ new head coach stressed taking what’s there and raising his completion percentage north of 70 percent during training camp.

On the opening drive, Williams made sure the Bears never went broke. Taking the checkdown, his poise in the pocket improved, and he flashed the tools that keep us coming back with a scramble-throw missile to Rome Odunze that was easily one of the best completions of the week across the entire league before capping the drive off with a rushing touchdown, where he reached a top speed of nearly 21 mph.

Everything about the drive was what we wanted to see from Williams and the Bears to open the season. Unfortunately, Williams’ touchdown scramble—which had a 17.8 percent scoring probability when he took off from the 16-yard line—would be the last time he got Chicago into the end zone until they were down 10 points with 2:02 left in the game, and Williams found Rome Odunze in the end zone.

Caleb Williams Week 1 Stats

Pluses

Outside of the first drive, there wasn’t much to be encouraged by from Williams, but this completion to DJ Moore for 30 yards was one of the few times we saw Williams on time on a downfield look. In fact, he even correctly double-hitches to account for the corner, knocking Moore’s route a little wide, knowing he needed to come back toward the middle of the field.

Even on that one, when Williams was on time and made the right read and decision, the ball was too high to Moore for my liking.

The throw to Odunze on the opening drive was sexy, but this was the best throw of the night by Williams:

I thought this was the throw of the night for Caleb Williams last night. Motion, play-action, hits the back foot and throws a strike to DJ Moore on the money from the far hash.Need to see more of this. pic.twitter.com/LDZsnPhhMD

Williams is on time and rips a dime off with a defensive tackle getting up on him while walking Joe Thuney back into his lap. Kudos to Johnson for the design, and Moore for selling the vertical route by leaning inside the post before getting into his break toward the sideline.

Plays like these give me some hope that this offense, with Williams, can be successful. The problem is that there were too few of them on Monday night.

Minuses

Before we get into the overthrows, I watched a handful of instances this morning where Williams looked at a shot in the intermediate to deep part of the field and passed on the look for his checkdown. Here’s one early: He had DJ Moore running a corner route, with Olamide Zaccheaus running a sit on the same side to draw the corner and create a window for Williams to hit Moore.

I paused this clip 2.1 seconds after the snap, and we see Williams through the read, which looks like a left-to-right read with Loveland being the second read and Moore and Zacchaeus being one, depending on what the zone coverage does with their routes. If Williams fires right then, he has a window to hit Moore for a chunk play.

I don’t know why he went back to his backside, and the play gained eight yards on the completion to Loveland, but this is a good example of last night’s ” misses,” where Williams took the layup while passing on a chunk play in the second and third levels.

Again, we don’t know what they’re telling Williams in the quarterback room. We know there was an emphasis on taking layups, but this play (and Monday as a whole) seems like an overcorrection, whether on the part of Williams, Johnson, or some combination of the two.

Another play that I have down in the minuses in my notebook was Williams’ nine-yard scramble in plus territory in the second quarter. It looked like a nice positive in real time, with Williams escaping traffic in the backfield and putting a nice open-field spin move on a defender. Still, I have Williams missing two open receivers here. First, he misses Rome Odunze, who was coming open on an over from the top of the screen over the middle, right in Williams read on that side:

After Williams passes on the Odunze look and has to avoid pressure in the pocket, he’s head down and in scramble mode. He misses Moore almost 20 yards downfield with plenty of space. He has to see things like this.

They say you’ll never go broke taking the checkdown, and Williams has obviously had that drilled into his head since Johnson arrived, but you’ll never get rich missing multiple downfield looks in the same play, either. That absolutely has to improve.

The offensive line has to be much better there, too. The pressure came from an incredibly basic stunt, and Drew Dalman—who I had down for a few negative plays in pass pro last night—has no clue what’s going on.

Here’s another ugly overthrow on the first fourth-down conversion attempt in the first half:

The good news is that Williams sees Moore win early and is ready to rip it. The bad news is that it is badly overthrown, leading to a turnover on downs deep in Minnesota territory. These are the things I was referring to last night in the nightcap, when I said Chicago couldn’t land the knockout punch it needed to avoid the late-game meltdown.

Then we have this one, which doesn’t require much of an explanation:

Concerning pic.twitter.com/o5oHQ03RBJ

And this one:

How did Caleb Williams miss Dj Moore by this much .. it might be time to have some conversations pic.twitter.com/0tML5sny1O

This isn’t necessarily a Caleb Williams minus, but something I found frustrating watching the film this morning that I hope Ben Johnson addresses this week:

Olamide Zaccheaus has done a lot well since arriving in Chicago, but he quits on this scramble drill on the top of the screen near the boundary, and that’s not the type of offense Ben Johnson promised we would see. If he’s sprinting and getting into that gigantic open space over the middle, Williams has a wide-open look when he plants and reads near the opposite boundary after escaping the pressure.

Final Thoughts on Caleb Williams’ Week 1 Performance

The bottom line is this: Caleb Williams left too many yards on the field tonight. Whether it be missed reads, turned down reads, the pass protection not holding up well most of the night against any pressure involving more than four rushers, or Williams’ inaccuracy, the execution wasn’t anywhere near good enough.

Williams made some throws that will keep you coming back and keep Ben Johnson confident in Williams’s long-term projectability in his brand new offense, but the second-year signal caller has to be significantly better.

Outside of Johnson’s opening script, there were timing issues galore, questionable decisions, and missed opportunities, which led to Chicago losing a very winnable football game late last night.

I do not doubt that the offense is going to click eventually. The design and concepts that I watched last night were promising. Williams’ skillset remains promising despite having plenty of room for growth. Still, what we saw in the first game of the season left plenty to be desired and has me feeling like there’s still a significant developmental gap for Johnson and Williams to bridge.

Hence then, the article about evaluating qb1 a very disappointing night for caleb williams was published today ( Tuesday 09/09/2025 - 11:20 PM ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Evaluating QB1: A Very Disappointing Night for Caleb Williams )

Also on site :

• Antoine Griezmann’s Atletico legacy is secure but can he finally achieve his Champions League dream?
• On Easter Monday, Pope Leo XIV Proclaims Joy of Risen Christ, Remembers Those ‘Tormented’ by War: ‘The Truth Does Not Remain Hidden’
• Michigan has a long-sought title in its sights, but UConn’s Dan Hurley has a bigger prize within reach