Rookie Caleb Williams sharp again as Bears defeat Bengals

CHICAGO — Months ago at the NFL combine, Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles described two types of quarterbacks: The artist who “doesn’t draw within the lines” and the surgeon who slices through defenses with razor sharp accuracy.

In his second preseason game Saturday, Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams showed why he’s the former.

After a slow start, where the Bears offense went three-and-out on three straight possessions in the first quarter of Chicago’s 27-3 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, Williams tapped into his inner artist to put together his first touchdown drive of the preseason.

Ahead 3-0 before the two-minute warning in the first half, Williams dropped back to pass while keeping his eyes downfield. Upon spinning out of the pocket away from pressure, the 22-year-old quarterback flung a deep ball on the move to rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze, who came down with a 45-yard reception while flanked by Bengals cornerback Josh Newton.

It was Williams’ longest completion of the preseason, where he has totaled 43 snaps in two games against Buffalo and Cincinnati. And it wasn’t the only time he put his precision on the move on display. One play later after rolling to his right and dancing around Bengals defensive end Justin Blazek, Williams scrambled to keep the play alive and lasered a pass into the back corner of the end zone where Odunze was waiting.

The only problem? The rookie receiver’s feet were just outside the boundary.

“Man, that was just a mistake by me,” Odunze said. “I thought I was Tony toe-tap back there. I thought I had at least a foot.”

The Williams-Odunze connection highlighted why the Bears used their top two picks at Nos. 1 and 9 on the quarterback and wide receiver, respectively. After the two failed to connect on a red zone play last week at Buffalo, the symmetry the two showed off Saturday has Williams eager for their potential.

“We’re going to be explosive,” Williams said. “We’re two rooks, but we’re trying to catch up to the old guys as fast as we can to make sure that we’re right there on par with them to be able to be efficient, function, go out there and be explosive, be on the same page and win games. That’s ultimately what we’re here to do. Having a guy like that that was drafted with me, we’re only going to keep growing and keep building this connection.”

After totaling 16 yards of offense on their first three series, the Bears began to find momentum on their fourth drive when Odunze ripped off a 16-yard end around and Tyler Scott was on the receiving end of a 43-yard defensive pass interference penalty that got the Bears down to the 15-yard line.

Chicago’s offense stalled on its first trip inside the red zone, which culminated with Cairo Santos booting a 37-yard field goal to give the Bears their first points of the day.

On Williams’ fifth and final drive, two plays after Odunze’s 45-yard reception got Chicago back into the red zone, Williams scrambled on third-and-goal from the 7-yard line and ran in a touchdown.

Williams said postgame that his natural inclination, even when scrambling, is to throw the ball. Learning to take what the defense gave him in that situation put him in position to rush for a score.

“I’ve been trying to get a little bit better with balancing that and taking what they give me, taking what the defense gives me, whether it’s a run for yardage or quick pass in front of me,” Williams said. “It’s always a constant battle to do things like that. You just continue to get better at those situations.”

Bears coach Matt Eberflus classified Williams’ second preseason outing as a “professional day at quarterback” which saw the No. 1 overall pick complete 6 of 13 passes for 75 yards and a rushing touchdown. Eberflus said that the coaching staff did not adjust the amount of plays Williams received Saturday based on the offense’s rough start, and intimated that the plan all along was for the quarterback to play throughout the first half.

“It’s not always going to be rosy,” Eberflus said. “You aren’t going to make all your completions and make these big chunk plays to start out.

“I thought [Williams’] flow of the game was really nice. I thought his disposition, when he had a little adversity on the sideline, was excellent. Him working with the players, body demeanor never changed. He was always there working through the next one.”