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Schrock’s Report Card: Grading Caleb Williams, Bears in much-needed win vs. Rams originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
CHICAGO — Exhale.
After three weeks of poor offensive football and questionable coaching decisions, the 2024 Bears needed a day like Sunday’s 24-18 win over the Los Angeles Rams at Soldier Field.
It wasn’t always pretty.
The Bears’ offense was once again a brutal mess to start the game.
Quarterback Caleb Williams and Co. opened the game with three straight punts, one of which came after an 8-play, 9-yard drive that lasted 6:14.
But the Bears’ defense kept them in the game, and the offense finally found its rhythm in the second half to eke out a much-needed win over the short-handed Rams.
A week of talk about leadership councils and team meetings ended with the desired result.
The Bears are 2-2. Back to neutral. Ready to enter October with everything in front of them.
“I think really just getting the urgency across to everybody in the building, really,” cornerback Jaylon Johnson said after the win about the message this week. “To the players, coaches, I mean, there’s a strong urgency right now. We can’t wait and say, ‘Oh, well, we have time.’ No. We’ll never have this team like this again. I think we just need to take advantage of opportunities. Get on the same page, communicate, really have eye-to-eye communication, and just go out there and find ways to win.
“We did that.”
Here’s a report card from a pressure-lifting win for the 2-2 Bears:
A look at the box score won’t wow anyone, but Sunday’s game was the best game of Williams’ young career.
The No. 1 overall pick did a good job of playing clean, efficient football. He recognized and took the shots downfield when they were presented and quickly hit the checkdown when they didn’t.
Williams went 17-for-23 for 157 and one touchdown. He didn’t turn the ball over and made two top-level throws — one for a touchdown to DJ Moore and one down the seam to Cole Kmet to set up a D’Andre Swift score.
By his own admission, Williams is getting more comfortable and finding a rhythm.
Williams and Moore had a miscommunication late in the first half on a pass in the end zone. Moore took accountability for the miscue. The two talked it over at halftime and got on the same page in the second half.
The Bears are still putting all of their pieces together.
Sunday’s second half, which saw them use tempo, stay ahead of the sticks, and mix and match personnel, was a vital development and a good sign for what’s to come.
CALEB WILLIAMS GRADE: A-minus
TEAM GRADE: B (Pass protection needs work)
So much has been made about the Bears’ lack of a ground game early on, but they finally got it going in the second half.
The Bears’ first drive of the second half was the type of physical football they’ve been trying to find through the first month of the season.
Williams and Co. engineered a 12-play, 74-yard drive that saw them manhandle the Rams at the point of attack. Williams capped off the drive with a scoring strike to Moore to make it 17-9.
“That’s the juice now,” wide receiver Rome Odunze said of the Bears’ physicality on that opening drive of the second half. “It’s the juice, for sure. Especially in football when you are moving the ball with bad intentions, violently with the run game and removing people from where they want to be. That’s always fun.”
Running back D’Andre Swift rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, including a 36-yard touchdown run. Roschon Johnson added 26 yards and a touchdown.
The bar was subterranean, but this was the Bears’ best game on the ground this season, and Swift finally looked like the “weapon back” they touted in the offseason.
GRADE: B-plus
With limited weapons at his disposal, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford still gave the Bears’ defense hell all day Sunday.
Stafford threw for 224 yards and made several impossible throws under pressure.
But the veteran quarterback was also stripped by Montez Sweat deep in his own territory in the first half. That fumble gave the Bears some life and flipped the game from a 6-0 Rams lead to a 7-6 Bears advantage.
Stafford did all he could Sunday without Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, and several offensive linemen.
But the Bears’ defense bowed up in the red zone and made the big plays when needed.
GRADE: B
Facing a Rams offense without its top pass catchers, the Bears’ defense knew Sunday’s first priority was stopping the run.
But that’s easier said than done against Sean McVay and the Rams.
Rams running back Kyren Williams rushed for 94 yards on 19 carries (4.9 per carry) while the team racked up 119 total on the ground.
The Bears were pushed around on the ground at times, but they were able to keep the Rams from punching it on three of four red zone possessions.
Bend, but don’t break worked Sunday.
GRADE: B-minus
Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron found his rhythm in the second half, and the heat should be off him for at least a week.
Head coach Matt Eberflus had no curious challenges or wasted timeouts, and he dialed up the perfect safety blitz in the second half to halt a critical Rams drive.
The 10 penalties are a problem that needs to be cleaned up during the week.
GRADE: B-plus