It was another week, and another near-heart attack for most Chicago Bears fans. Yet, in the end, Caleb Williams and these Bears were able to pull it out.
When it mattered most, Williams and the offense got it done; two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to come back and beat the Giants. On what would end up being the game-winning touchdown drive, Williams hit rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III for a massive 27-yard gain to set them up inside the red zone. It was that play that solidified exactly what fans had been thinking all game.
“When Lu gets the ball in his hands, and he’s one on one, he’s pretty dangerous," Williams told the Bears media in his postgame presser.
Yes, Caleb. We all agree. And, as a matter of fact, that goes well in conjunction with a disturbing trend fans have noticed all season long.
Caleb Williams' Luther Burden comments should be enough to get Olamide Zaccheaus benched
Halfway through the season, and fans continue to see Olamide Zaccheaus take more offensive snaps (and touches) than Burden. Yet, when we have seen Burden get the ball in his hands, he's looked like he's on a completely different level than Zaccheaus.
Against the Giants in Week 10, Burden actually played a season-high in snaps with 33. Zaccheaus, meanwhile, still played 39 of his own.
Enough is enough. We've talked about this plenty, and even though the Bears beat New York on Sunday, it was in spite of the veteran. On this afternoon, Zaccheaus had a whopping three drops.
One of those drops was on a pass from Williams that was lasered, perfectly, into the corner of the end zone where only Zaccheaus could have caught it. Fortunately, the Bears were still able to score a touchdown on that drive thanks to an 8-yard run by Kyle Monangai.
At this point, though, Williams and head coach Ben Johnson have to know the truth. They have both said all of the right things out of respect to Zaccheaus, the veteran. But, it is about time for a change. Coming into Week 10, Zaccheaus was averaging a miserable 5.3 yards per target.
How about Burden, you might ask? He was sitting pretty at 11.4. For those doing the math at home, yes, that's over twice as much as Zaccheaus. The numbers don't lie. The film doesn't lie. Three drops, in a close game, should be the final straw.
It is time to give less snaps to Zaccheaus and more in favor of the rookie, period.