Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams truly had a tale of two halves that didn't exactly set him up to be ranked among the elite players in the NFL.
The first half started out great for Williams, who led a 10-play drive that ended with his nine-yard touchdown run to take the lead 7-0. He finished the half completing 13 of 16 passes for 112 yards and rushed four times for 32 yards with a touchdown.
Chicago's last 30 minutes offensively are pretty forgettable until late in the fourth quarter. In the first five drives of the second half, the Bears had 66 total yards before Williams connected with Rome Odunze in the end zone for a one-yard touchdown.
The Bears did get the ball one more time, but the laterals on the play were not enough as Chicago lost to the Vikings 27-24. Williams completed 21 of 35 passes for 210 yards and one touchdown, and added another 58 yards and a score.
How did Williams do overall in the Vikings loss?
It was far from a perfect game, but real progress was made. Williams made many better decisions in the pocket despite taking two sacks.
The best part of his game was how he was able to escape the pressure without making bad decisions. Williams didn't get much help from the offensive line outside of Joe Thuney as the Bears struggled in pass protection and getting the running game going.
A lot of people are going to look at the stats and think that it is just more of the same from Williams in 2024, but that isn't true. He was more poised in the pocket and made quicker decisions. There were times when he wasn't able to, but that was more on the offensive line struggling.
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No one thought this thing was going to improve overnight, but again, progress was made by Williams. More work needs to be done, though.