INDIANAPOLIS — Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams didn’t believe his ears.
‘‘I threw it 52 times? Jeez,’’ he said.
It wasn’t good for him or the Bears, who slogged through their second consecutive road defeat, losing 21-16 to the Colts in a game that for periods had all the excitement of a darkened cellphone screen.
A Bears offense searching for its identity didn’t find it Sunday, when it decided to drop Williams back to pass a whopping 56 times. He was sacked four times, including when rookie defensive end Laiatu Latu stripped the ball from him at the Bears’ 11 midway through the fourth quarter. It was the most significant play of the game.
A franchise counting on Williams improving with each game needs him to stay healthy throughout the season to reap the benefits. That won’t happen if the Bears keep throwing this often.
A team that plays outdoors in the cold must run the ball better than it did Sunday, when offensive coordinator Shane Waldron called rushing plays that averaged 2.3 yards against the NFL’s worst defense against the run.
Williams was diplomatic when he was asked whether the team’s offensive identity might be him becoming only the 10th Bears player to throw 52 passes or more in a game.
‘‘I do whatever the team needs,’’ he said. ‘‘If it’s 50 times, it’s 50 times. I can’t have the two [interceptions] with those 50 attempts. If it ends up being 10 times and I complete nine of those 10 and we have 300 yards rushing and four touchdowns? . . . I’m fully aware, fully ready to do whatever the team needs.’’
This isn’t what he needs. Or what the team needs.
Williams went 33-for-52 for 363 yards with two touchdowns, two interceptions and a 80.8 passer rating. All are career highs and, on the surface, prolific. Justin Fields threw 40 passes only once with the Bears and, even then, totaled only 166 yards.
You shouldn’t believe your eyes any more than Williams did his ears, however. Much of the damage Williams did came in a fourth quarter in which the Bears were chasing points against a defense playing soft coverage.
When the Bears trailed by two scores or more, Williams went 15-for-19 for 133 yards with two touchdowns and a 130.9 passer rating. The rest of the game, he went 18-for-33 for 230 yards with two interceptions, a fumble and a 51.3 passer rating. Take away the 44-yard Hail Mary to DJ Moore at the end of the first half that fell a yard short of the end zone, and Williams had a 44.5 passer rating when the game was within one score.
Asked whether he was worried that Williams might have provided a false positive, coach Matt Eberflus praised his ability to operate in what essentially was a two-minute drill for the entire fourth quarter.
‘‘Sometimes you’re down by a score, sometimes you’re down by a field goal,’’ he said. ‘‘You certainly have to move the ball in that situation.’’
Thanks in part to the miscues of Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson, who finished with a passer rating of 39 and two interceptions, the Bears were down by five when they forced a punt with about seven minutes left.
On the first play of the ensuing drive, the Bears blocked with five linemen and two tight ends against a four-man rush. Still, Latu beat tight end Cole Kmet around left end.
‘‘I just lost there,’’ said Kmet, who had 10 catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. ‘‘I gotta be better. Disappointed in my technique.’’
Williams said rookie Rome Odunze, who had a career-high six catches for 112 yards, had just popped open behind a linebacker. Latu punched at the ball with his right hand as Williams began his throwing motion. The ball squirted forward and was recovered by the Colts’ Grover Stewart.
The moment felt a lot like when Mitch Trubisky and Fields would fumble late. So did the interceptions Williams threw.
Three plays after hitting Odunze down the left sideline for a 47-yard gain in the second quarter, Williams was late in throwing a short route to DeAndre Carter and was picked off by cornerback Jaylon Jones.
Jones got a second interception when Williams threw into a tight window in the third quarter and hit Odunze in both hands, only for the ball to carom into Jones’ right arm.
‘‘He looked good — besides the turnovers,’’ Moore said of Williams.
That’s a huge caveat. The turnovers are what cost the Bears the game.
Kmet said that Williams ‘‘at times looked like the No. 1 overall pick.’’ But he didn’t do so often enough or in the right moments.
Williams wasn’t as good as the stat sheet showed, and the Bears’ offensive identity remains murky. Odunze said the offense was ‘‘making steps,’’ Kmet said it ‘‘felt better’’ and Moore said it felt like it was ‘‘coming alive.’’
Just imagine what they’d say if the Bears scored more than two touchdowns.
‘‘Having the offensive identity . . . I think it is brewing,’’ Williams said. ‘‘I think it is a lot closer than it was the week before or weeks before. And I think us figuring that out is going to get this thing going. I think we’re right there.’’
It didn’t feel that way against the Colts.
Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams was much more productive. But coaching was an issue, and the defensive line was not as dominant as it had been in the first two games.
Johnson also had an interception but said he couldn’t get over allowing a 44-yard completion to Pierce.