3 things Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams can build on from his Week 3 performance, including taking no sacks

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams had his best game of the season Sunday in a 31-14 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Williams threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns — earning him NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

He threw a 65-yard flea-flicker to Luther Burden III for a touchdown and a 35-yard TD to Rome Odunze. He also connected with DJ Moore and Cole Kmet on scoring passes.

Here’s a look back at what went well and what the Bears believe Williams can build off from the Week 3 victory.

1. No sacks for the first time in Williams’ career.

For the first time in 20 NFL starts, Williams did not take a sack. It’s only the third time he was sacked fewer than twice in a game. The Cowboys hit Williams just once in the game.

It was a solid effort from the Bears offensive line, and Williams was sure to credit the “the big boys up front.” It was also a tough look for the Cowboys pass rush, which hasn’t looked the same since trading All-Pro Micah Parsons before the season. With no pressure, Williams was on time with most of his targets.

“When we are talking about him playing with his feet, playing through the hitches and yet he’s not having to move off the spot, it really helps him out immensely,” coach Ben Johnson said. “That’s where, if you’re trying to get to (read) two or three and you’re feeling some pressure, you’re seeing some color and your eyes go down and they are off the spot, that’s where the timing and rhythm of everything we are trying to get done is thrown off.”

That wasn’t happening Sunday.

The win showcased what Williams is capable of when given a clean pocket. His 142.6 passer rating and his 10.6 yards per attempt were both career highs. While he can be a weapon when he’s scrambling, he didn’t really need to Sunday.

2. Playing on time means playing accurately.

Johnson credited his quarterback for playing on time. Johnson said Williams is “playing with his feet” more than he was in the spring or summer. That doesn’t mean scrambling. That means having his drop-backs in sync with the receivers, and it means having a good enough feel for the pocket to make adjustments with his feet when pressure does come.

The result was a more accurate effort. Two weeks ago, the discussion around QB1 in Chicago was his poor accuracy after a Week 1 loss to the Vikings. Johnson said then that the footwork and accuracy are related.

“When he was doing it properly, the ball came out on time and he was delivering accurate footballs,” Johnson said after the opener.

The accuracy issues disappeared in Week 3. Johnson thinks that is directly related to his footwork. Against the Cowboys, the footwork was on point — the offensive line definitely deserves credit for those clean pockets — and the result was accurate throws. Per NFL Next Gen Stats, Williams was 7-for-13 for 186 yards and four touchdowns on passes that went at least 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. He went 12-for-15 on shorter passes.

Overall, he completed a season-high 67.9% of his passes.

Asked what one thing he feels more confident with now than he did a few weeks ago, Williams pointed toward his footwork.

“I would say just the consistency with my footwork keeping me in rhythm,” Williams said. “Then other than that it’s getting up to the line, getting the guys out of the huddle, being able to make checks or alerts or whatever the case may be. Those would be the things that have been building confidence for myself and everybody else on the offense.”

3. Comfort is key.

Johnson called out his players for their practice habits last week. In doing so, he challenged them to do better.

“I think our practice habits are yet to reflect a championship-caliber team,” he said a week ago.

By all accounts, the result was a good week of practice that Johnson said he could feel on game day. The Bears were locked in for three days ahead of the Cowboys matchup.

That doesn’t they won’t make mistakes in practice. With Williams, Johnson likes that the coaches don’t have to repeat anything the next day. The quarterback might make a mistake, but he’ll come back the following day and know what he needs to do on that particular play.

“What I’m most impressed at with him and his process is the next day, he really locks everything in from the day before,” Johnson said. “We don’t have to go back and revisit it again. He’s a quick study in that regard and because of that, we can load up the game plan more each week. Week 3 it was a lot more than Week 1. Hopefully that’s our new normal here going forward.”

If the offense is able to handle more plays in any given week, that will give Johnson — the play caller — more options on Sundays.

“You just start getting a better understanding of the offense and what we’re trying to do,” Williams said. “I think (it’s) the consistency of just taking a step each week and trying to be positive.”

Johnson stressed before the season that his offense would be a work in progress. On more than one occasion, he referenced the Week 5 bye as a good opportunity to check in and potentially make changes. After the Raiders game Sunday in Las Vegas, the Bears will take inventory of what they liked and didn’t like from the first four games. Then they will make adjustments.

3 things Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams can build on from his Week 3 performance, including taking no sacks

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