After what was such a promising start to Chicago Bears starting quarterback Caleb Williams' night, it ended in miss fires on passes and a three-point loss to division rivals Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.
Williams finished 21 of 35 for 210 yards and one touchdown, while adding a team-high 58 yards and one touchdown in the loss. It was a mixed bag game where he was on fire with just three incompletions in the first half. However, the offense struggled to get anything going until late in the fourth quarter.
Now entering Week 2 at 0-1 against their division rivals, the Detroit Lions, the Bears are desperate for a win and need to bounce back against the team Ben Johnson coached. Williams might be able to provide that spark in a big way.
Williams could be in for a massive game against Detroit
FanSided's Ryan Heckman shared his Week 2 quarterback predictions on who will stand out and who will fold. Heckman likes Williams leading the Bears to a win over the Lions while scoring over 30 points in the process.
"The Lions watched Green Bay put up a respectable 27 points in their Week 1 defeat. But, Detroit's defense looked all out of sorts at times. It could have been much worse. The Lions failed to sack Jordan Love at all while also being denied even a single takeaway.
This Lions team looked like one without an identity on either side.
And now, they have to go up against a coach who knows them better than just about anyone in Ben Johnson. The Bears are going into Detroit and putting up 30-plus points on Johnson's old team."
Chicago showed those tendencies in the first three quarters of being an offense that can succeed. Williams had to carry the offense for most of the game, but D'Andre Swift got it going in the second half when the Bears committed to running the ball more.
Johnson admitted after the game that he needed to run the ball more with either Swift or Kyle Monangai. An established running game could help Williams not take so much heat in the pocket and feel he needs to do so much with the ball in his hands.
It's what led to his intentional grounding call in the third quarter, resulting in the missed Cairo Santos 50-yard field goal. Williams went back to those old tendencies because of how much the running game was struggling.
Read more: Bears bold prediction promises for ultimate Cairo Santos redemption story
The positive is that Williams showed off the wheels and how athletically gifted he truly is. There is hope that he can explode onto the scene in Detroit and make the Lions pay.