4 reasons for Bears fans not to overreact to Caleb Williams' horrendous pass

You've probably seen the concerning Caleb Williams video by now, but at the Chicago Bears Family Fest open practice on Sunday, he attempted a head-scratching pass that was nearly picked off. As he scrambled to his right away from pressure, Williams tossed a meatball that was sort of towards the sidelines but not nearly far enough. It fell into a crowd of defensive backs and should have been intercepted, but a receiver appeared to knock the ball loose, saving the play for the offense.

Make no mistake: this was a horrendous throw and I won't defend it. There's absolutely no excuse for any NFL quarterback in that situation not to simply yeet that ball into the stands. You prevent a backbreaking sack or turnover while simultaneously giving a cool souvenir to a lucky fan.

Predictably, hot takes and overreactions to this throw spread across social media like a virus. But there are plenty of reasons for Bears fans to stow their panic and remain calm.

1. It's one throw

I really can't make it any simpler than that. There's plenty of video footage over the past week of Williams completing terrific passes, enough that one bad one shouldn't send Bears fans spiraling.

2. Williams is going to be imperfect, and that's okay

Every quarterback, from Patrick Mahomes on down the list, makes mistakes. They are human, after all, and Williams is no different. He's going to make mistakes. He's going to turn the ball over when he shouldn't or take a sack when he had an open receiver. As long as the good outweighs the bad, these mistakes are bearable.

3. The defense plays for the Bears, too

It's human nature to want to see a lot of touchdowns at practice, which would require the offense to absolutely torch the defense. But if the Cincinnati Bengals taught us anything in 2024, it's that defense still matters. Instead of fixating on Williams' bizarre decision to throw that ball on Sunday, how about focusing on the defensive line for getting immediate pressure on Williams?

Williams evolving into a franchise quarterback will be fantastic for the Bears and their fans, but it won't amount to much if he's expected to score 30+ points to get a win. The Bears need a stout defense to complement a growing offense, and that's what we saw at practice on Sunday.

4. Seriously, it's just one throw

Okay, technically this is three reasons with one repeated at the end, but the fact is it makes no sense at all to panic over a single pass attempt in early August. As J.J. Watt said on social media last month, training camp stats truly don't matter the way fans think they do. It was a bad pass, and I guarantee that head coach Ben Johnson will grill Williams for it in their next film session.

As aforementioned, Williams has been having an explosive week in training camp, with almost every practice being called 'his best day yet'. He's been dishing out several highlight-reel throws to multiple targets that are getting posted on the Chicago Bears' social media accounts. Bears fans should go back and watch a few of those if it helps, and get ready for more of the same the next time Chicago practices this week.

Caleb William — Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

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