Chicago Bears starting quarterback Caleb Williams had one more chance to prove he's comfortable in head coach Ben Johnson's offense in the preseason finale against the Kansas City Chiefs.
This was an important game for Williams as they were facing the Chiefs' starters on defense after playing the Buffalo Bills' backups in last week's 38-0 win. Williams was looking to carry momentum into the regular season.
The question would be how would he look in the second game in Johnson's offense.
Williams' second game in Johnson's offense
Chicago's opening drive on offense was as ugly as it could get. Williams dropped the ball on an attempt to hand the ball off. Two plays later, he was pressured and threw the ball away. Williams did connect with DJ Moore on third and long for 14 yards, but was five yards shy of the first down and the Bears went three and out.
The second drive went a little better, with one first down made. Williams had a couple of nice completions to D'Andre Swift in the flats (with a flashy hurdle) and Colston Loveland for a short gain. One bad play was Williams stepping up in the pocket with four rushers in the wrong direction, and he took a five-yard sack. Another drive ending in a punt for the Bears.
Progress was made on the third down thanks to some nice runs by Swift. Williams had three completions for 17 yards, but his best play was scrambling for 18 yards on the drive. It was capped off by a Cairo Santos to make the score 17-3 Chiefs with the lead.
The last drive with Williams at quarterback was part of the two-minute drill and it was done to perfection. He connected with Olamide Zaccheaus for 25 yards early in the drive. Later, Williams found Odunze for 37 yards down to the Chiefs' three-yard line. It was capped the next play with Williams hitting Odunze for a touchdown to make it 20-10 Bears lead.
Williams finished the game completing 11 of 15 passes for 113 yards and one touchdown. He also had 18 yards on the ground on two carries.
Overall, it wasn't a horrible game for Williams. He worked from under center and in shotgun. There was more pressure on him from the Chiefs' defensive line than he faced with Buffalo, but he worked through it well without a bad turnover.
The completion percentage was over 70% which is a positive, as it was Johnson's goal for Williams to hit that. Chicago leaned more on running the ball to help them move the ball down the field in the beginning..
Williams shined on the final two drives of the first half and that's where he was at his best. He gained confidence throughout the game.
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There are some areas for improvement at Williams, as the operation was not as smooth as it was last week. However, the strong close to the half was a significant boost. Williams and company will have two weeks to work out the issues before the Bears' first regular season game against the Minnesota Vikings.