• Caleb Williams included this in the last two weeks: His overall PFF grade of 83.4 over that span ranks third overall and first among rookie quarterbacks.
• Williams made one big throw after another against the Vikings: The Bears ultimately lost in overtime, but Williams’ five big shots are a sign he has what it takes to turn things around in Chicago.
• Unleash your benefits with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all of our seasonal fantasy tools, including weekly ratings, WR/CB Matchup Schedules, weekly forecasts, Launch and squat optimizer and much more. Register now!
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Caleb Williams and the Bears suffered another heartbreaking loss in Week 12, but it’s not all doom and gloom in Chicago.
The highlight of this game is that Williams looks every bit the part of the first overall pick.
Top-Rated Quarterbacks After Week 12 Loss
Williams finished the game with an overall PFF grade of 74.8, the third-highest grade of his career. His five catches tied for the most in Week 12 and tied for the third-most in a single game this season. Williams impressed for the second week in a row. His overall PFF grade of 83.4 over the past two weeks ranks third overall and first among rookie quarterbacks.
It’s no secret that the Bears’ offense struggled early in the season. But the decision to change offensive coordinator to Thomas Brown has not only caused Williams but it’s all an insult.
Caleb Williams is a playmaker. You live with brute bags because he is capable of creating amazing custom games.
L (and I can’t stress this enough) Mao pic.twitter.com/seuDv3IgH6
— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) November 26, 2024
Brian Flores’ Vikings defense is causing havoc on the offensive line, and he’s great at running open routes to the quarterback for his pass rushers. The Vikings get that free rusher on the play above. Typically, the quarterback must be “hot,” meaning he must beat the free rusher with a quick pass. It looks like this hot route will lead to a run back. D’Andre Swift in the apartment. However, for better or worse, Williams always believes he can make the free striker miss and create a bigger play. He does it in this game and then it comes down to an incredible athlete making an incredible shot and making a huge profit.
The Bears’ offensive strategy was clearly to attack the middle of the field. On throws between the numbers, Williams was 22 of 27 for 194 yards and an 82.1 passer rating.
Caleb breaks routes with excellent ball placement. pic.twitter.com/m82KTXu3Ca
— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) November 26, 2024
The Vikings once again demonstrate their heavy pressure, where it is unclear who is blitzing and who is out. A good way to counter this is with throws over the middle of the field because players getting into coverage from the line of scrimmage have to cover a lot of ground. The Bears simply run three vertical routes, and with the fullback running into the deep half, Williams knows he can get the ball over the running back underneath the defenders. He needs to beat the backline defender and his perfect ball positioning allows him to do that and protect his receiver.
Chicago didn’t only attack when the Vikings showed off their high pressure. This happened throughout the game.
Caleb breaks routes with great ball placement (x2) pic.twitter.com/KQymANTALA
— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) November 26, 2024
The pre-motion forces the Vikings to show their hand early as they turn to one high coverage. They end up falling back into the Cover 3 zone and Williams makes them pay by attacking the seam, which is the weak spot in Cover 3. Both receivers at the top of the screen perform quick double moves and become vertical. Caleb does a great job of moving the eyes of downfield defenders and then getting into the seam right behind them in a quickly collapsing window. Once again, he places that ball in the perfect spot to protect his receiver.
After recovering the onside kick, the Bears continue to attack the middle of the field to get them within field goal range and force overtime.
Caleb dominated center field the entire game and finished the game with this gem to get into field goal range. pic.twitter.com/LDpA5ESq97
— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) November 26, 2024
The Vikings go to Cover 3 again, this time with a three-level safety look, and the Bears run three rush routes. Williams reads this perfectly, considering each option and then settling on the back break. He shows incredible anticipation throwing it a second time on a deep safety break on the second break route. Anticipation is high, but he has yet to take the shot. Williams distributes the ball perfectly between the two levels of defense.
Ultimately, this season was a disappointment for the Bears, but the development Caleb Williams The goal is to become a franchise quarterback—whether that leads to immediate wins or not. After a few rough patches, Williams began to turn things around and play at the level everyone expected from the first overall pick.
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