After spending months waiting anxiously for the day to arrive, Chicago Bears fans finally got their first opportunity to watch Caleb Williams — in a preseason setting, but still — on Saturday afternoon, as the Bears visited the Buffalo Bills in their second exhibition game of the summer. Williams and the rest of Chicago's starters sat out their weather-shortened preseason opener against the Houston Texans in the Hall of Fame Game.
Fortunately for Bears fans, it was well-worth the wait, even if it meant ceding the floor to a Brett Rypien/Tyson Bagent battle for the back-up QB spot last Thursday night in Canton. Caleb Williams' performance in his limited preseason debut in Buffalo was far more impressive than the karaoke chops he displayed while singing John Legend's “Ordinary People” during the premier episode of Hard Knocks, though that admittedly isn't an exceptionally high bar to clear.
Caleb Williams leads the Bears to a field goal on 1st preseason drive
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus is on record saying that he expects that Caleb Williams to play somewhere around 50 snaps during the preseason, and after a quarter of action in Buffalo, he's already gotten 18 of them out of the way. On drive number one, Williams was asked to pass only three times, but on each play he provided Bears fans with good reason to be excited.
On his first drop back of the game, Williams calmly evaded the pocket and rolled out to his right, throwing the ball away as a holding penalty was called on second-year right tackle Darnell Wright. Two plays later, Williams stepped up in the pocket and delivered a dart into a tight window to DJ Moore for a gain of 12 to give the Bears a 1st down. No hesitation whatsoever.
Then, on the very next play, the off-schedule creativity of the rookie QB was put on display, as Williams stepped up once again to avoid the pass rush, dumping the ball off to D'Andre Swift who went for 42 yards on the long catch and run. Chicago's drive eventually stalled in the red zone after three consecutive Khalil Herbert carries accounted for just six yards.
Full Array of Skills on Display as Williams and the Bears take a 6-0 lead
With the offense backed up to their own 4-yard line, Williams took over and engineered a 12-play, 84-yard drive that was aided early on by an illegal contact penalty called on a play in which Williams uncorked an attempt to Rome Odunze for the first time in preseason action. Williams would look Odunze's way only one other time, on a 3rd down overthrow into the end zone.
A short completion to DJ Moore in the flats went for 15 yards, and two plays later, Williams made what was the most impressive play of his NFL debut… a beautiful deep ball to Cole Kmet down the sideline that went for 26 yards into Bills territory. Putting his Hard Knocks Slip ‘N Slide lesson to good use, Williams would scramble for 13 yards on a 3rd and 9.
In total, Williams went 4-for-7 for 95 yards, with 1 rushing attempt for 13 yards to boot in one quarter of action, leading the Bears offense to 6 points in two possessions. Although he was never under serious fire or facing too much of a blitz from the Bills, it was evident that Williams' poise in the pocket had not been understated, and the arm talent was as good as advertised. On both the 3rd and 12 throw to DJ Moore and the laser down the right sideline to Cole Kmet, Williams made the sorts of throws that Bears QB's just haven't ever been able to consistently make.
As a lifelong Bears fan, I gotta be honest, it almost brought a tear to my eye.
Who knows, maybe by December the Bears will be in the Playoff hunt, Caleb Williams will already have Rookie of the Year locked up, and I'll be on the verge of full-blown bawling every time he drops back to pass.
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