Bernstein: Bears will take it, but Caleb Williams has to be better
(670 The Score) Caleb Williams won his NFL debut Sunday, no thanks to him.
The top overall pick in the NFL Draft, Williams completed only 14 of his 29 passes for 93 yards, leading an offense that produced 148 yards and zero touchdowns. He missed open receivers, fumbled a shotgun snap, took a damaging sack, had multiple throws batted down at the line and looked very much like a rookie adjusting to bigger, faster, smarter opponents.
For those of you too young to remember the "crown their ass" game 18 years ago, in which Devin Hester and the defense carried the Bears back from a 20-point halftime deficit to victory, Chicago's 24-17 escape act against the Tennessee Titans gives you the idea.
The Bears' touchdowns came on a Daniel Hardy blocked punt that Jonathan Owens scooped and returned and a Tyrique Stevenson pick-six of a silly and stupid throw by Will Levis. The rest of the points were Cairo Santos field goals after stalled drives, an extra point and a two-point conversion.
At least Matt Eberflus still has good hair and a nice house and new clothes and pet bees, because he has a ton of work to do. A good coach makes the most of these, the victories that feel a little weird because everyone sees so much go wrong. He gets to go hard at his players if he wants despite the positive outcome, and he should.
The offensive line is a complete mess, starting with the frustratingly stubborn issues at center. The communication and spacing of receivers was too often confused. Keenan Allen let a touchdown pass go through his hands, then left the game with a possible aggravation of a lingering heel injury. The Bears' longest play from scrimmage was 14 yards. Velus Jones Jr. muffed a kickoff return as cartoonishly as ever. The aggressiveness of the defense's run pursuit is still vulnerable to misdirection.
Ryan Poles and Ian Cunningham have to explain why we should expect that this offensive line is good enough to compete, how there's still no consistent disruption from the three-technique tackle and why Jones remains an active participant. Then it's time to decide how concerned we are that the improvement curve for Williams may need reassessment.
It's been all fun all summer so far, with exuberance over the quarterback approaching levels of irrationality that have overwhelmed the occasional warning from an experienced observer. HBO's "Hard Knocks" turned out to be a public relations infomercial more than a gritty behind-the-scenes tell-all, and the real reality show of actual NFL football just aired its first episode.
Caleb Williams is a rookie, albeit one with unique polish, pedigree, maturity and professionalism. It doesn't happen all at once.
Still, it's reasonable to be impatient for someone so uniquely positioned to become a primary reason the Bears win. I have no doubt that he'll approach this now in all the right ways, controlling what he can to learn as much as possible from the struggles of his debut. Here's hoping the efforts to shore up all else around him were enough to make that as smooth as it can be, because too much of that game fomented doubt.
Development is non-linear.
Development is non-linear.
Development is non-linear.
Say that out loud as many times as you may need.
Dan Bernstein is the co-host of the Bernstein & Holmes Show on middays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on 670 The Score. You can follow him on Twitter @Dan_Bernstein.
