LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Chicago Bears rode their run game to victory Friday against the Philadelphia Eagles to improve to 9-3. What has emerged as the strength of the Bears’ offense has mitigated areas in which the team has struggled during a five-game win streak.
Against the Eagles, second-year quarterback Caleb Williams notched the second-lowest completion percentage of his career (47.2%) and was off target on 27% of his throws. The Bears leaned on the run to generate 281 yards in the 24-15 win, while concerns over Williams’ accuracy were raised.
On Monday, coach Ben Johnson addressed those concerns in the bigger context of the passing game.
“Everybody’s got a role to play to get this pass game cleaned up,” Johnson said. “We’re winning in spite of our passing game, not because of it, and none of us are pleased with that right now.”
Before the Bears got on the practice field Tuesday, Johnson clarified those comments.
“I think when I made that comment yesterday, it’s easy to construe it as I’m not happy with the quarterback,” Johnson said. “That’s not the case whatsoever. He continues to get better each and every week, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how he played last week.
“I know what the stats say. Throw those out of the window. He’s doing a really good job managing the ball game. That’s step No. 1 for the quarterback. And so he’s going to continue to get better. The process is really good right now with how he approaches the week, the way he’s taken the coaching, the way he’s applying the coaching. I’m very pleased with that. I think we’re going to continue to see him ascend, whether the stats tell the story or not.”
Williams’ accuracy issues aren’t the only reasons behind the passing game struggles, but they are notable. The former No. 1 pick ranks last in the NFL in completion percentage (58%) and completion percentage over expectation (-9%), according to Next Gen Stats.
Against a defense that Johnson said “might be the best we’ve seen all year,” Williams’ accuracy struggles could be exposed further when the Bears visit the Packers on Sunday. Green Bay has played zone defense on 68% of opponent dropbacks through 13 weeks. All five of Williams’ interceptions this season have come against zone coverage.
Williams said he feels the Bears are “so close” to the passing game producing consistently. And like his coach, the quarterback believes that his stat line from the Eagles game doesn’t tell the full story of why certain passes didn’t connect.
“Obviously I miss a pass, and it looks a certain way to everybody, and everybody doesn’t know all the details,” Williams said. “So you go into that and you look at the stats and you look at all these percentages and whoopty doo, right? So you go into all of that and then from there, we come back here and we actually look at the film. Was I in the right spot? Was my drop right? You always look at yourself first and then you go look at the other guys and were they at the right spot? Were they at the right spot at the right time? You try and tie those things together.
“That’s the fun part about football. That’s the fun part about playing this position. It’s the fun part about a long season is you have these ups and ups and downs, you also have these moments where you may not be hitting on all cylinders. And then you have these moments where you know it feels like you can’t miss. We’re trying to get to the point where we feel like we can’t miss.”
