Bears interim coach Thomas Brown has a lot on his plate, but QB Caleb Williams' growth remains top task
Bears interim coach Thomas Brown has had a lot thrown at him in his whirlwind of promotions, but there’s still one clear priority for him and the organization: Keep rookie quarterback Caleb Williams on the rise.
Williams took flight when Brown stepped in as offensive coordinator and play caller ahead of the Packers game, and the biggest concern about making him head coach after Matt Eberflus’ firing was that it seemed risky to tinker with what was working well for Williams.
The Bears had many problems — virtually everything but the punter, who had a busy day — in their 38-13 loss to the 49ers on Sunday. And while Williams finished with a 116.9 passer rating for his fourth consecutive game at 95 or higher, he hardly looked like he was progressing.
The game was over at halftime when the Bears were down 24-0, produced four net yards on offense, hadn’t crossed midfield, punted on all five possessions and Williams was 6 for 9 for 27 yards. The rest of what he did to finish 17 of 23 for 134 yards and two touchdowns was merely mildly encouraging.
Brown is adjusting to his new role in a hurry and has some margin this week to tweak his approach before the Bears’ visit to the Vikings on Monday, but didn’t see any difference in his and Williams’ communication on the sideline than when he was offensive coordinator up in the booth.
“As far as what we discussed, it was the same as it was before,” Brown said. “It just happened faster and obviously in real time because I was on the grass.”
Williams remains the driver of the Bears’ long-range ambitions. His short-term success matters, too, and it’s Brown’s best path to a head-coaching job here or elsewhere.
In a total reversal of their plan going into the season, the Bears once again are hoping their rookie can carry them as everything around him crumbles. That’s not good.
While Williams is the key, everything about the Bears has an effect that traces back to him.
He got sacked seven times Sunday, which is sadly unremarkable for someone who has been sacked a league-high 56 times.
Williams got sacked five times on third downs, and Brown was equally frustrated with those plays as he was with what led up to them because they’re “often directly correlated to what you do on first and second down.”
In the Bears’ 0-for-5 start on third downs, they faced an average of 6.2 yards to go. They have the sixth-longest distance to go on third down in the NFL at 7.5 yards on average.
Williams threw incomplete on first and second down one of those series, but generally long third downs are a result of a struggling running game. That’s a perplexing problem for the Bears, who were top-two in the league in rushing the last two seasons but 23rd this season.
Brown said running back D’Andre Swift is “a really good one” and the offensive line has “a core group,” but neither is executing to perfection. He wants more disciplined blocking by the line and more playmaking by Swift, because “the best backs are the ones that can create for themselves.”
Improving all that against the Vikings to clear the way for Williams will be difficult. They’ve allowed the sixth-fewest points (18.5), gotten the fourth-most sacks (40) and given up the fourth-fewest yards per carry (3.9).
Fixing the Bears’ defense is a whole other job for Brown, but that issue affects Williams, too. If he’s down double digits, it forces him to try to throw his way back into the game against a turnover-hungry defense that knows he has no alternative.
It’s likely Brown will solve all those problems this week, but any headway he makes on his to-do list helps take care of his top task: Helping Williams propel himself and the team toward next season.