Bear Digest

Hit on Caleb Williams and Detroit's Comments Make for Fun Rematch

Around the NFC North: The Amon-Ra podcast revealed the Lions were told to target Caleb Williams at the sidelines if he got tricky, resulting in an interesting rematch Dec. 22.
Gene Chamberlain|
The hit Jack Campbell had on Caleb Williams near the sidelines at Detroit on Thanksgiving.
The hit Jack Campbell had on Caleb Williams near the sidelines at Detroit on Thanksgiving. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Apparently Caleb Williams will now need to alter his scrambling maneuvers or face winding up like Trevor Lawrence did, or worse.

The Lions-Bears game later this month at Soldier Field looms even more interesting now after it was revealed on the Amon-Ra St. Brown podcast how Dan Campbell told his team to treat Williams along the sidelines if he tries anything tricky by faking as if he was going out of bounds on a scramble.

"The craziest part is before the game, in our team meeting, Dan was talking to us and was showing us clips of Caleb going out of bounds, going back in, going back in, going out," St. Brown said. "He said, 'No you don't.' The beginning of it was, 'No you don't,' and then it was clips of him doing that. (Campbell) said, 'I already warned the refs, the refs already know.'

"So when it happened in the game, I'm like, I already knew there was no flag because he was about to go out of bounds, came back in. Jack (Campbell) hit his ass, everyone was like, 'Yeah.' All the Bears were like, 'What the? That's a flag.' We're like, 'Bro, he literally went out and came back in and took it.' "

Actually, he didn't go out of bounds or it would have been a penalty.

Williams only led them to believe he was going out of bounds by the way he pulled up near the boundary. He never really got within a few feet of the line. As a result it was entirely a legal hit, although it certainly looked like linebacker Jack Campbell had specifically targeted his knees with a legal shoulder shot when wrapping up and tackling would have sufficed.

Williams called it a "funky" play afterward and said he felt Campbell had tried to go at his knees.

It's basically the old second base argument in baseball. The fielder's legs are exposed on the relay throw and he's close enough to the baseline to be taken out by the base runner without a penalty being called, but do you do it in a way to end the fielder’s season even if it is a legal play?

It's all a part of the game Williams needs to learn. At the NFL level, they're fast enough and big enough to end your season in a hurry.

Officials protect the quarterback who protects himself. The QB who doesn’t do this is fortunate to avoid injury.

Justin Fields used to slide too late often, in an effort to squeeze an extra foot or two from a play. Then he and teammates would be upset when he didn't get the call on a hit.

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It's basically the same thing for Williams with being tricky on his fakes. Patrick Mahomes, in the past, has tried theatrics at the sidelines, and learned when to use this type of thing while avoiding big shots.

Williams is going to get this type of treatment even if he is only 17th in the league among quarterbacks in rushing yards. He has 378 yards on 59 rushes, but his 6.4-yard average is third in the NFL among QBs.

The other end of all this is Detroit plays the Bears again in Chicago in a few weeks and Jared Goff isn’t a scrambler, but he does tend to hold onto the ball a long time in the pocket with pass rushers coming.

So interest in a game that figures to be meaningless for the Bears against the Lions will be high and build.

NFC North On SI Ratings

1. Lions, 2. Viking, 3. Packers, 4. Bears

Detroit Lions

John Maakaron, Detroit Lions On SI

This Week: Green Bay at Ford Field, 7:15 p.m. Thursday

Most impactful player on offense: The Lions have a lot of weapons that give them flexibility on offense. They’ve won games despite quiet games from Amon-Ra St. Brown, Sam LaPorta, David Montgomery, Jahmyr Gibbs and Jameson Williams at different points this year. As a result, the most impactful player is the guy getting all of them the ball, quarterback Jared Goff. The Lions are at their best when he’s in a groove, and while he doesn’t have to play at the level he did in October all the time, Goff is the player the Lions can most ill afford to lose.

Keys to victory: The Lions have to generate takeaways. They’ve gone two straight games without one, and have been able to win regardless. However, the one takeaway they got against Green Bay turned the tide of the game completely. With all the injuries on defense, the Lions could be in danger of getting gashed with a trio of defensive linemen uncertain to play. As a result, getting takeaways will make life easier defensively as well as generate momentum for the offense.

Green Bay Packers

Bill Huber, Green Bay Packers On SI

This Week: At Detroit Lions, 7:15 p.m. Thursday

Most impactful player on offense: Josh Jacobs has changed the offense. The Packers are running the football 50.7 percent of the time, the fourth-highest rate in the NFL. Last year, the first season with Jordan Love as the starting quarterback and Aaron Jones leading the backfield, the Packers ran the ball 43.0 percent of the time. In 2022, the final year with Aaron Rodgers, they ran the ball on 43.4 percent of their offensive snaps. Jacobs is an old-school workhorse. The more carries, the better. That run-first mentality seemingly has made the entire roster more physical, which is just what you need in December and January.

Keys to victory: The Packers have to take care of the football. It’s the most cliché thing on earth, obviously, but Green Bay seems to have hit its stride with a three-game winning streak and Detroit has been beaten to a pulp by injuries. The Lions’ offense remains a powerhouse, though, and a shootout could be on deck. The worst thing the Packers can do is hand the Lions some freebies, like they did with Jordan Love’s pick-six before halftime of the first game.

Minnesota Vikings

Joe Nelson, Minnesota Vikings On SI

This Week: Atlanta at U.S. Bank Stadium, noon Sunday

Most impactful player on offense: Justin Jefferson is the easy answer, but it's high time we give credit to Sam Darnold. The Vikings are 12 games into this campaign and Darnold has posted a passer rating of 103.5 or higher 10 times. He had nine such games in his career before signing with the Vikings. It's impossible to ignore the boneheaded plays that pop up in the red zone from time to time, but he's been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and he's making himself a boatload of money ahead of his expected free agency after the season.

Keys to victory: Pressure Kirk Cousins. There's no doubt that Cousins is feeling intense pressure upon his return to Minnesota, but the heat is turned up after he threw four interceptions last week. The Falcons are a middling team in a bad division while Sam Darnold is playing at a higher level for the contending Vikings. Cousins is more than capable of shredding a defense, but Vikings fans know all too well that Cousins can fall apart when he's dealing with consistent pressure. That has to be the game plan Sunday in Minneapolis.

Chicago Bears

Gene Chamberlain, Chicago Bears On SI

This Week: At San Francisco, Sunday at 3:25 p.m.

Most impactful player on offense: Easily Caleb Williams. The Bears offense malfunctioned throughout the first nine games while offensive coordinator Shane Waldon called plays. As soon as Williams had interim head coach Thomas Brown working with the offense, his passing became more potent. Williams’ 99.2 passer rating in those three games is 18 points higher than under Waldron. They've averaged 22 points in those games, 2 1/2 points more than under Waldron. Suddenly veterans DJ Moore and Keenan Allen are factors after they were invisible at times before Williams’ improvement.

Keys to victory: Physical play on both sides of the ball. It's the only thing the 49ers respect. A team that stands up to the 49ers along the defensive front in the running game and in pass protection has a shot, especially with key players like Nick Bosa and Trent Williams out. It seems unlikely the Bears can do this with the running game as their ball carriers break the fewest tackles in the league, according to Stathead/Pro Football Reference. But Cole Kmet, Moore and Allen in the passing game can do damage if the line gives Williams time. The defensive line needs to defend the run all game like it did in the second half against Detroit.

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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.