Bears trust the process with Caleb Williams ahead of Packers showdown

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 7 hours ago

CHICAGO - Quarterback Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears are preparing for a rematch against the Green Bay Packers on Sat. Dec. 20 (7:20 p.m. / FOX).

While there is a lot of attention being put on the playoff picture, head coach Ben Johnson is focused more on Williams’ development.

“He does a great job making sure he doesn’t turn that ball over … This is a long journey that we have up in front of us and so we’re trying to make as many strides as we possibly can right now from the springtime all the way up until this point, and it’s a continual basis. It’s not going to stop. It’s going to continue to go on and he’ll be a lot better off a year from now than he is here and now and he’ll be a lot better of five years from now than he’ll be a year from now. So, that’s a continual growth process and I think he understands that,” Johnson said. “I’m just really excited about getting the basics down of this offense. I think the pre-snap procedure is something we’ve been harping on for a long time and that’s really started to come to light and I think it’s unlocked a lot of elements of the shifts, the motions, the cadence, the things of this offense that we want to do attack defenses. And so, that’s a starting point. The more reps he gets on every single concept, the game’s starting to slow down for him. And so, that’s encouraging to see. He’s throwing some of these in-breakers with anticipation, which I think is a tough thing for young quarterbacks to do at times and so, he’s trusting what he’s seeing and he’s delivering accurate balls.”

Last Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, Williams broke the all-time NFL record for the least number of interceptions in his first 1,000 pass attempts with only 12 picks. However, his most recent pick came on the crucial fourth-and-one play against the Packers, the first time they faced each other.

Nonetheless, Williams’ confidence continues to grow as he makes elite plays every week, including his 22-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore against Cleveland.

“He understands where he feels like he can fit a ball into and he’s got a unique skill set just in terms of how hard he can throw that football and so, some windows that may not seem open to the rest of us, they are still open to him because he’s able to get that ball in there and so, he’s got a good feel for that,” Johnson said. “He’s been playing this sport for a long time … He’s kind of grown up that way and so, I don’t think there’s a whole lot of coaching in terms of telling him who’s open and who’s not. I think he’s naturally got a good feel of that.”

One advantage for Chicago this time around against the Packers is playing at Soldier Field.

The Bears' faithful have shown up in force all season, and Johnson said they will need to do so again to support Chicago and help it to a victory.

“We’re going to need them out in full force. There’s no question they can impact the game. They did last week. It’s shocking to me that such a cold game, I almost felt them more last week than I did earlier in the season, and so, that was so encouraging to see,” Johnson said. “I know our guys fed off of it and multiple guys made comments after the game and we’re going to need that going forward.”

A victory against Green Bay with a loss by the Detroit Lions on Sun. Dec. 21 against the Pittsburgh Steelers (3:25 p.m. / CBS) would allow Chicago to clinch a playoff spot.

Furthermore, a win against the Packers, plus a win against either the San Francisco 49ers in week 17 or the Detroit Lions in week 18, would make the Bears the NFC North division winners for the first time since 2018.