Film study: Breaking down Caleb Williams’ debut

In a rookie season that figures to be a roller coaster, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams hopes he hit his nadir in his first NFL game.

“I need to be better,” he said.

Williams’ performance in the Bears’ 24-17 victory Sunday against the Titans — 14-for-29 for 93 yards and a 55.7 passer rating — was, statistically, one of the worst in franchise history. Only three Bears starting quarterbacks who threw at least 29 passes finished with fewer yards and a worse passer rating than Williams: Jack Concannon against the Lions in 1969, Vince Evans against the Chiefs in 1981 and Cade McNown against the 49ers in 2000.

That’s dubious company, even for a franchise whose greatest quarterback retired in 1950.

Here’s a look at what went wrong in Williams’ debut:

Accuracy issues

Part of what prompted the Bears to draft Williams first overall was his accuracy on the run and in the pocket. That didn’t show up often against Tennessee, partially because of Williams’ inconsistent footwork. Pro Football Focus gave him the third-lowest adjusted completion percentage, which shows the number of aimed passes thrown on target, among all starting quarterbacks entering Monday.

On second-and-13 with about six minutes left in the third quarter, Williams took a shotgun snap, rolled right and saw running back D’Andre Swift open in the flat. His throw was too high and wide, though, and the pass fell incomplete.

On the next play, Williams threw a curl route to rookie Rome Odunze, who was lined up in the right slot. With a blitz coming, Williams threw low and outside to Odunze, and the ball fell to the ground. Even if he had caught it, Odunze was well short of the first-down marker.

“Just missed and misfired in placing the ball where I wanted to,” Williams said.

Those consecutive plays encapsulated a frustrating afternoon for Williams, whose accuracy was off from the beginning. Just six minutes into the game, wide receiver Keenan Allen, who was split left, ran a gorgeous out-and-up route up the left sideline. Williams released the ball too soon and overthrew him by three yards.

Coach Matt Eberflus didn’t think Williams was jumpy in his debut.

“I would just say as the chemistry builds throughout the course of the season here as we stack these games up, it’s gonna get better,” Eberflus said. “He’s got a very accurate arm. His timing is good. And the chemistry with the receivers is going to improve every week.”

No takeaways

Playing with a subpar defense at USC last year, Williams tried to do too much too often. According to Pro Football Focus, his 23.2% pressure-to-sack ratio and 3.6% turnover-worthy play percentage were among the worst marks in major-college football.

He can’t do that in the NFL and saw firsthand what happens when you do. Titans quarterback Will Levis’ backhanded flip was intercepted by Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, who returned it 43 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

“Bonehead play,” Levis said. “Might be one of those times to just take the sack.”

Williams took a sack, but it cost him 19 yards and moved the Bears out of field-goal range. On first-and-10 at the Titans’ 25 about halfway through the first quarter, Williams took the snap and faked a handoff left to Swift, who was set up to try to catch a screen pass.

Williams didn’t have time to throw it, though. Titans defensive lineman Keondre Coburn shoved his way past center Coleman Shelton — guard Nate Davis barely touched him as he ran left to block the screen — and dove for Williams’ legs at the 42. He pirouetted out and rolled left, briefly, before being sacked by Sebastian Joseph-Day.

After the huge loss, the Bears eventually punted.

Ideally, Williams would have thrown the ball away. But he didn’t have time to contort his body.

“You’ve just gotta really stop that penetration,” Eberflus said. “They can’t get on the quarterback that fast. . . . He tried to evade the sack; he tried to move around. They just got him too fast.”

Eberflus praised Williams for not throwing an interception on the play, but the standard for success has to be higher than simply not doing a Levis impression.

The operation

Immediately after Williams took the 19-yard sack, the Bears had to use a timeout before the play clock ran out. That wasn’t as ugly as the first drive of the third quarter, when, in the span of four plays, Williams had a delay of game, left tackle Braxton Jones had a false start, then Williams took another sack.

Eberflus said he was generally pleased with how Williams handled pre-snap responsibilities. By comparison, Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix had one delay of game Sunday, and the Commanders’ Jayden Daniels had none.

“We’re going to look at everything there in terms of the operation,” Eberflus said.

Something to build on?

The closest the Bears came to a touchdown was on second-and-goal at the Titans’ 6 with 43 seconds left in the first half. From the left slot, Allen ran an out route and dropped Williams’ pass at the goal line.

“A few passes . . . may have been dropped, may have been missed,” Williams said.

It was one of a handful of throws that the Bears have circled as promising as they start to prepare Williams for Week 2.

His three longest pass plays were to wide receiver DJ Moore: an 11-yard crosser on the Bears’ first play of the second quarter, a 13-yard slant with about three minutes left in the first half and a 12-yard stop route a minute into the third quarter.

Eberflus pointed to the third-and-five 12-yarder as his favorite throw.

“I thought the rhythm and timing were good there,” he said. “Accuracy was great.”

Williams will need to throw for longer chunks more often. In Week 1, the Lions had eight completions that were longer than the Bears’ longest, the Packers had six and the Vikings had five.