Bear Digest

Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson combine forces to trick the Cowboys

Film study involving last year's Matt Eberflus Bears defense and this year's Cowboys defense turned up the opportunity for key flea flicker TD.
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams fires downfield for a touchdown against Dallas in the first half Sunday during a 31-14 win.
Caleb Williams fires downfield for a touchdown against Dallas in the first half Sunday during a 31-14 win. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Caleb Williams waited and waited, forever it seemed.

D'Andre Swift tossed him what he called a "free throw" lateral, kind of high. As the defense closed in, Williams had just enough room after catching it to heave the ball downfield 62 yards in the air to rookie Luther Burden for the touchdown.

The ball traveled the longest distance any has traveled before being caught this season in the league, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, and the Bears had a 65-yard flea flicker touchdown on the first trick play Ben Johnson has really called in one of their games. The 14-3 lead it provided against Matt Eberlus' Dallas defense would later be expanded in a 31-14 win.

"Something we worked at in practice and I either underthrew Luther a couple of times (then) or just missed it," Williams said. "I told Luther, just, you won't outrun me in the game and just run and they did a great job on the O-line. A flea flicker is a really long play.

"For them to be able to hold up and be able to allow D'Andre to toss the ball back to me, kind of did a free throw floater kind of thing. After that I just let rip and go make a play."

Johnson wouldn't take the credit for the flea flicker, but gave it to his staff for watching film. It was at least partially another gift from the Eberflus era in Chicago.

"We have gadgets up every week," Johnson said. "I give the staff a lot of credit. They're going through and they're watching the tape and finding things that may or may not fit from whether it was Dallas this year or some of the stuff we were watching of Chicago's defense from yesteryear.

"That was really a staff find, and, like I said we worked it all week and felt really comfortable calling it this week."

Williams thought it could go if he just managed to avoid underthrowing it like he did in practice.

"It worked pretty well," Williams said. "The guys did a great job, wide receivers-wise, luring the DBs and safeties to sleep and after that it's head down and run and just look up (for the ball)."

While the flea flicker commanded attention, Rome Odunze started the scoring with a 35-yard catch that involved Williams' eyes. It was Williams eyes that the Bears said needed to be in the right place more often. They were when cornerback Trevon Diggs slipped and fell at the very start of the play.

"So it's a five-step drop on that and I looked down the middle for a little bit," Williams said. "When I peeked over after my first couple of steps I ended up seeing No. 7 (Diggs) slipping and Rome threw his hand up, did a great job with that, and we were just on the same page."

The other key to the game was their 19-play drive, just the opposite of those two big-play scores. The third-quarter march ended with the fourth-and-goal TD pass to DJ Moore over the middle as Johnson gambled and it paid off in a three-score lead.

The Cowboys defense couldn't have liked being on the field so long.

"It's a long time," Moore said. "Nineteen plays, and I didn't even come off the field for none of them. They (Dallas) were tired. You could see it. When we started getting closer and closer to the red zone. You could see they were wearing down."

They had to be because even the Bears were getting antsy and worn down.

"I was hoping that he would call a pass play so that we could score," Williams said. "We ended up running the ball well and getting that going and then obviously being able to find the strike (to Moore)."

The big scored were nice, the long drive and defensive plays in the fourth quarter clinched it. It was a far cry from their previous home game when they blew the 11-point lead against Minnesota in the fourth quarter.

Johnson had told everyone they hadn't met championship level in their practices last week. They did it Sunday.

"The first two weeks had not gone the way that we wanted to," Johnson said. "It's early but we've got to get the issues fixed. I thought the guys were committed to that."

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.