Bears QB Caleb Williams handled the blitz — next time he needs to make defenses pay

There were times Sunday when it felt like the Vikings were blitzing more than any team had all year.

Turns out, they came close. Bears quarterback Caleb Williams dropped back to pass 36 times in Sunday’s 19-17 win. The Vikings blitzed a whopping two-thirds of the time, the second-highest blitz rate in the league this year, per NFL Next Gen Stats.

“A couple times throughout the game, I’m dropping back and you’re trying to figure out the coverage, and a bunch of different guys are flying to different areas,” Williams said.

It wasn’t just the volume of blitzing that surprised the Bears, who suspected that blitz-happy defensive coordinator Brian Flores would bring more rushers than he did in their matchup in Week 1. Where the blitzers came from was new. Flores was sending in his cornerbacks, which he usually doesn’t, even as exotic as he can be.

“I thought we recognized it fairly early,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said. “And we did the best we could as a staff and as players to make our adjustments to it.”

Williams targeted receivers more than 15 yards deep only 10 times and threw deeper than 20 yards only five of those times. Eleven of his 32 passes were five yards or shorter, including five that were at or behind the line of scrimmage.

“We were able to either pick [the blitz] up or get the ball out or see [the blitzing player and] throw hot or throw a checkdown,” Williams said. “We did a good job with that.”

Williams was sacked just twice and never was touched by a defensive back. Unlike Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who threw two interceptions, Williams also didn’t turn the ball over. Only seven teams have forced more fumbles than the Vikings, but they didn’t get one from Williams.

“The best thing he did was he kept the ball out of harm’s way,” Johnson said.

That’s probably the most positive thing that can be said about Williams’ performance, in which he went 16-for-32 for 193 yards and a 68.9 passer rating. As the season wears on and the Bears face better competition, he’ll need to do more. The Steelers, their opponent this Sunday, rank third in the NFL in sacks and are tied for fourth in turnover margin.

In terms of effectiveness and aggression, Flores’ defense has few peers, but there are still lessons Williams can take. As careful as he was with the ball, he wasn’t able to punish the Vikings when he caught them in a blitz.

“We sat and we watched the tape — we had a couple opportunities there to really get some big plays, potentially, down the field,” Johnson said. “We didn’t capitalize on those.”

Through the first 10 weeks of the season, the Bears led the league with 78 explosive plays, defined as runs of more than 10 yards or passes of more than 20. They had only two such throws Sunday and one such run, a scramble by Williams. Even under interim coach Thomas Brown last December, the Bears had more explosive plays at U.S. Bank Stadium than they had Sunday.

On third-and-nine on their third offensive play of the game, Williams, who had plenty of time in the pocket, overthrew wide receiver Rome Odunze on a stutter-and-go up the right sideline.

“Sometimes that happens early in the game — when you take a deep shot, you’re not quite in a rhythm yet, and that can get away from you,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t too terribly disappointed by it.”

The Bears’ next third down was more frustrating. Needing nine yards, Williams, under pressure from blitzing inside linebacker Blake Cashman, threw a deep corner route that wasn’t close.

“That’s one that we need to hit,” Johnson said. “[Wide receiver] DJ [Moore] did a nice job popping open there on that one, and I think that’s one of the few that Caleb would like back.”