Commanders game is opportunity for QB Caleb Williams to prove something new

The big-picture symbolism of the Bears’ game at the Commanders on Monday is tremendous, especially for quarterback Caleb Williams.

His team is looking to bury its embarrassing loss there last season, known simply as the “Fail Mary,” when Williams played poorly until grabbing the lead late — only for the defense and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson to blow its coverage on Jayden Daniels’ desperate throw to the end zone.

Speaking of Daniels, Williams is permanently linked to him after the Bears chose him first and the Commanders took Daniels second in the draft last year. Plus, Williams is headed back to the Washington, D.C., area, where he grew up in the suburbs in Maryland.

That’s a lot to absorb. But more importantly, at the moment, Williams needs to show he can play well against a strong opponent and maintain the momentum he had going into the bye week.

He lit up the Cowboys for the best game of his career, but they’re the worst defense in the NFL. Then he rallied the Bears for a comeback against the Raiders, but they’re 1-4.

The Commanders? That’s a heavyweight. They went to the NFC title game last season. Coach Dan Quinn and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury are among the most respected minds on their sides of the ball. And specifically as it pertains to Williams, they’re ninth in points allowed (20.2 per game), ninth in opponent completion percentage (64.1) and fourth in sacks (15).

Conquering an opponent of that caliber will go a long way toward healing the “sting” of losing to the Commanders last season. Williams wants to avoid going “down the rabbit hole of revenge,” but still is bothered by the defeat and the way it torpedoed the season, starting a string of 10 consecutive losses.

“I’ve got to do a better job in those situations. … My energy, my attitude, how I come in here each and every day, whether it’s a win or a loss, affects everybody,” he said. “It affects the building. It starts with myself when things aren’t going right, being able to come in here … and be the exact same guy.”

That singular focus applies to heading home and the rivalry with Daniels, too. Williams doesn’t want to get caught up in either.

He grew up in Upper Marlboro and Bowie, Maryland, before living on his own in Washington while he attended Gonzaga College High School. He became a star there and went on to Oklahoma and USC.

“Being able to come out with a win always feels a little bit better when you can do it at home,” Williams said. “When you do get to play in front of a crowd where many fans have watched me growing up, you want to be able to win those games.”

Williams appears to be heading home in better position than he was a year ago, when the Bears were riding high at 4-2, but there already were questions about how he was being coached.

The team essentially hit the reset button on his development when it fired Matt Eberflus and hired Ben Johnson in January. Johnson has described it as building Williams from the ground up, with little or no carryover from what he was taught last season.

Williams got off to a rough start, but settled in and his numbers are better almost across the board. His passer rating is up 10 points from last season at 97.8, which ranks 18th in the NFL.

That’s a start, but there’s much more to go. Performing well and beating the Commanders would be a huge step forward for him, regardless of the ancillary story lines.