LAKE FOREST, Ill. (WGN) — Back at .500 entering Week 5 against the Carolina Panthers, Caleb Williams said the majority of his progress this season is simply getting back into the flow of football.
“When we get going and we’re running the football, when we get going and it’s no-huddle, or it’s passing from the huddle, no-huddle, it’s a bunch of different things,” Williams said. “[It’s about] finding that flow and keeping that flow so everybody can get into rhythm and everybody can feel good.”
Williams came out of Week 4 as the first rookie quarterback selected with the first overall pick to win each of his first two career home starts in the common draft era.
The former Heisman Trophy winner finished 17 of 23 for 157 yards and one touchdown — a 9-yard TD pass to DJ Moore in the third quarter.
With a month of pro football under his belt, a part of Williams’ development process going forward will be putting the puzzle pieces together of how to win each week.
“For me, it’s understanding what we need as a team right now, here in the moment,” Williams said. “Which is no turnovers, protecting the football, and then, being smart with the football. Regardless of what the score is first half, or anything like that, all of our games have come down to the wire so, understanding that [is important].”
Williams didn’t commit a turnover and posted a 124.6 quarterback rating under pressure against the Los Angeles Rams, tops among all NFL quarterbacks in Week 4, despite facing pressure 19.1% more of the time than he did in Week 3 against the Indianapolis Colts. Williams was pressured on 11/26 drop-backs (42.3%) against the Rams and 13/56 drop-backs (23.2%) against the Colts.
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus often refers to the improvements Williams has made as him “leveling up,” but heading into getting ready for the Panthers, Eberflus chose to use another term synonymous with growth and to describe his rookie quarterback’s positive steps forward.
“That’s an evolution thing, right?” Eberflus said. “[We] give him some [stuff] when we first started out and he, like I said, he always leveled up every single time. This is where we are right now and he just kept leveling up. It’s the same thing with games. When you put games together — first one was at home [and he] was okay, right?
“Second one [was] in the noise, right? Then we improved in the noise and next week, got more production. Then last week was just an evolution of that — geting more production out of the group, dispersing the ball around like we’re supposed to, playing point guard like we talked about, and playing clean football.”
Heading into Sunday, the Bears have won seven consecutive home games, the longest active home winning streak in the NFL. It’s also their longest home winning streak since they won ten straight home games from 2005 to 2006.
Chicago won their final five home contests during the 2023 NFL regular season against the Las Vegas Raiders, Panthers, Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals and Atlanta Falcons, before winning their first two home games this year against the Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles.
The Bears will go for their eighth consecutive home win Sunday against Carolina, with kickoff at Soldier Field set for noon CT.