Even Caleb Williams is Shocked by Bears' Strategy After Another Clunker

The Chicago Bears are still searching for their offensive identity after dropping their third consecutive game on Sunday to the Indianapolis Colts. 

The Bears once again struggled to run the ball, recording 63 yards on 2.3 yards per carry, and had rookie quarterback Caleb Williams throwing 52 times. The 50-plus pass attempts caught the first overall pick by surprise at the end of the game.

"I threw the ball 52 times? Jeez,” Williams said (h/t ESPN’s Courtney Cronin). Williams set the Bears’ single-game passing record by a rookie, completing 33-of-52 passes for 363 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.

While that is impressive, Bears fans would’ve liked to see more balance as they weren’t getting blown out to warrant Williams dropping back 50-plus times on Sunday. Chicago’s running backs had a combined 25 carries, which isn’t enough to combat your rookie quarterback throwing that many times behind a struggling offensive line.

When you look at Williams’ collegiate career at USC and Oklahoma, he had one game where he threw the ball 50-plus times, which was the Cotton Bowl against Tulane in 2023. Williams completed an efficient 37-of-52 passes for 462 yards, five touchdowns, and an interception.

However, this isn’t college anymore and for the Bears to be successful this season, they need to find balance on offense. 

Heading into this season, fans in the Windy City thought things would be different under new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Even though the Bears have a ton of weapons at the skill positions, the offense looks worse under Waldron than it did last year with Luke Getsy running the show.

Nevertheless, the Bears hope to pick up their first win next week at home against the Los Angeles Rams. But it won’t be easy as the Rams are coming off a tremendous comeback win against the San Francisco 49ers.

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