The Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams arrangement might work out pretty well.
The Chicago Bears offense has gotten some mixed reviews in camp, but it was humming to start Sunday night’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills. Williams looked immediately comfortable, throwing with great timing and also making some strong passes that showed why he was the first overall pick of the pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.
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Johnson was hired to be the Chicago Bears’ next head coach after two great seasons running the Detroit Lions’ offense, and he was supposed to help Williams reach his peak. Williams didn’t play much, but what we saw on a national telecast was exactly what the Bears were hoping for in the offense.
Williams got off to a hot start after the Bears were backed up on their own 8-yard line to start the game. He hit Colston Loveland to the right side for eight yards, then unleashed a fantastic throw over the middle to Cole Kmet for 28 more yards. Williams kept completing passes downfield, then on a nicely designed play Olamide Zaccheaus came open and Williams hit him for a 36-yard touchdown. Williams completed 5 of 6 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown, as the Bears overcame an offensive penalty on their long drive.
Williams reacted to that touchdown with a big fist pump.
The second drive wasn’t quite as smooth. Williams threw behind a target for an incompletion, the Bills defense sniffed out a screen pass that Williams had to throw away, and then he was a little wide on a third-down pass to Rome Odunze, though it could have been caught. It wasn’t going to be completely perfect for the Bears’ offense all night. Williams came out after two drives. He finished 6 of 10 for 107 yards. The Bears’ offense looked crisp when he was on the field.
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Williams and the starting offense didn’t play in the Bears’ first preseason game last week. That increased the curiosity over seeing the Bears in Sunday night’s game. There have been plenty of negative reports from Bears camp about the offense. Observers have noted the mistakes by the offense in Johnson’s first year running it and inconsistency by Williams, though there have been reports of positive days from the offense as well. Everyone wanted to see on Sunday night, in a nationally televised game, how the Bears offense did in a game situation.
If there were any questions about Williams and the offense coming into their first preseason action, that seemed to be erased in one successful drive.
