The Chicago Bears’ head coach Ben Johnson recently addressed the team’s ongoing passing game challenges, particularly in light of rookie quarterback Caleb Williams’ performance against the Philadelphia Eagles. In that same matchup, Williams averaged just 47.2% completion percentage, the second-lowest of his career. His historical troubles with precision have been worrisome. He was off-target on an astounding 27% of his throws in this game.
Despite these stats, Johnson had a lot of good things to say about Williams, specifically the young quarterback’s game management. “I know what the stats say. Throw those out of the window. And he’s doing a heck of a job juggling all that ball game,” Johnson said. He reiterated the importance of game management for all quarterbacks. That’s an encouraging sign that Williams is starting to take the right steps to get better.
Throughout the course of this season, Williams has had issues with accuracy. He ranks dead last in the NFL with a 58% completion rate and a laughably bad CPOE of -9%. The Bears’ passing game has faced broader struggles, with all five of Williams’ interceptions occurring against zone coverage. This intel would be especially useful considering the Green Bay Packers run zone on a whopping 68% of enemy dropbacks.
Johnson admitted that there are some factors, including Williams’ accuracy, contributing to the team’s passing woes. That’s not even the primary reason for their failures. There’s a role for all of us in making this passing game better,” he added. First, he pointed to the coaching staff’s and players’ collective responsibility.
Williams seemed to share some optimism about how far this team can go. He explained why the Bears are “so close” to being able to generate sustained success from their passing game. Johnson noted a critical sentiment among the team: “We’re winning in spite of our passing game, not because of it, and none of us are pleased with that right now.” This recognition is a step in the right direction, correctly noting that there is room to do better.
Johnson quickly moved to explain himself after his comments — which were widely seen as an indictment or at least an expression of disappointment with Williams. I know my comment yesterday was very open to misunderstanding. So I wanted to make it clear that I’m not saying this means I’m happy with the quarterback. His goal was to shine light on the passing game as a whole, illustrating the need for improvement. He didn’t want to scapegoat Williams.
Williams has been proactive and mature about attacking his performance, understanding that his incompletions look one way on TV and another way from the sideline and in practice. “I know all the people sitting at home watching thought that was a clearly missed pass and it looked horrible,” he said. He admired the subtleties at play that no one would see behind the scenes.
Johnson is excited about the progress Williams is making. “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,” Johnson noted.
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