Bear Digest

Why it's a good week for Caleb Williams to keep being Houdini

Perhaps the best way to counter the unpredictability of Brian Flores' blitzing Vikings defense is with their own unpredictability and Caleb Williams' legs.
Gene Chamberlain|
With the Vikings likely to send blitzes Caleb Williams' way, one method for battling them is with his unpredictable scrambles.
With the Vikings likely to send blitzes Caleb Williams' way, one method for battling them is with his unpredictable scrambles. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

For Caleb Williams, facing Brian Flores' Minnesota Vikings defense is a bit like playing three-dimensional chess at high speed.

Sometimes he has done it well, even without a win to show for it in three tries. One way Williams can combat the myriad blitzes and coverage disguises is buying time with his legs. And of late, the Bears quarterback definitely has had no problem doing this.

"He's probably one of the more challenging coaches that I've had to go against so far in my career," Williams said. "Obviously I haven't played every single team yet and every single D-coordinator, but up to this point, he's been that. It's all 70-plus plays that you have or so, it's a full mental—you've got, every single play, he's challenging you to the full mental capacity that you are and can be.

"This is always a fun game going vs. Flo and his defense and all of his players over there that he has on that side of the ball. It's always fun going vs. a D-coordinator and a team like this."

Williams is 71 of 113 (62.8%) for 741 yards with four touchdowns, no interceptions  and a 93.6 passer rating. The last game draggged down his numbers, the 27-24 season-opening loss at Soldier Field.

He had 94 yards rushing on 16 attempts against the Vikings, and inthe last two weeks he prolonged plays or made big plays by using his feet repeatedly. The advent of a better Bears running attack is something that could benefit Williams this time. It took the Bears at last four games to get that working.

Normally Ben Johnson wants to get the ball out of Williams' hand quickly but maybe there is merit this week to hanging onto it in specific situations.

“Well, yeah, I think having a healthy running game certainly  helps the pressure number, because when a defense has respect for stopping your run game, then it certainly slows them down in their transition to pass rushers," Johnson said. "So that could be part of it. But yeah, I think I've got a lot of confidence in our O-line right now and what they're doing. We've got some really clean pockets throughout, tight ends are a big part of our protection scheme, so our backs and even our receivers get involved occasionally with our dropback pass game as well.

"So I think it always starts there, but there's no mistaking  what Caleb can do. He just, he feels it, and the way he evades is, I think, it's second to none.”

Johnson had referred to Williams as Houdini after Sunday's game with his escape ability. If a QB escapes the rush against the blitz, there are fewer defenders in coverage to prevent big gains on passes or runs. It's almost uncanny at times how Williams anticipates the rush.

“I don’t know, maybe a sixth sense kind of thing, I have no idea," was how Williams described it. "In the moment. and in those times I just see a little color or maybe feel the tackle getting edged and just try and get out of it and make a play.”

It basically will be about the unpredictable element with Williams' feet letting him avoid the rush and throwing against the Vikings' unpredictable blitzing. It would be so much easier for Johnson just to face a defense more predictable, but in three games Minnesota has sacked him just seven times, twice in the last game.

"I think it takes me back to my early days in Miami, when you'd go against New England, you know?" Johnson said. "You just didn't know what they were going to be each week. Some weeks they would come out and throw it 50 times. Other weeks, they'd come out and run it 50 times. And, you know, same thing with their defense, you just didn't know what front they were going to major in, and what they were keying in on."

At the same time the Vikings  have been warning against the volatile element of Williams' scrambling.

It's all going to make for an entirely unpredictable aspect to Sunday's game.

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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.