Plenty of people jumped all over Caleb Williams for the Chicago Bears’ loss in the opener on Monday night. After a great start to the game, he went ice cold for most of the second half, misfiring several passes. He looked frenetic, rushed, and way too amped up. It felt like an uncomfortable reliving of what Williams went through as a rookie last year. The fact he still hadn’t gotten over those poor tendencies felt like a major red flag to people watching. Some compared it to Mitch Trubisky’s demoralizing performance in the 2019 opener against Green Bay, when it became clear he wasn’t the guy.
While Williams deserved criticism for his performance, some people have quickly pointed out that it wasn’t nearly as bad as it looked. Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner argued he played much better than initial reactions would have you believe. Perhaps the most interesting name to pop up is Bruce Arians. The Super Bowl-winning head coach built a reputation as one of the best QB experts in NFL history. He helped develop names like Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, and Andrew Luck.
As he explained on The Pat McAfee Show, he feels that not enough people saw that game in its proper context.
Caleb Williams is not the first young QB to feel that pain.
Brian Flores has made young quarterbacks uncomfortable for years. Bryce Young, Brock Purdy, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence, and C.J. Stroud were some of the names who looked rough against his complex, aggressive defense. Add in the fact that Caleb Williams was playing his first game in Ben Johnson’s new offense, which is notorious for being detailed and complicated, and you can understand a little more why the quarterback looked a bit rattled at times. Arians, having worked with young quarterbacks before, recognized the challenge.
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He’s not alone. While Williams does need to figure things out, another Super Bowl-winning coach urged fans to be patient with him.
People forget that Jared Goff, a veteran, didn’t master Johnson’s offense right away. In 2022, people forgot how uneven he was through the first half of the season. Five of the eight games he played in that stretch saw him finish with a passer rating of 80 or lower. It wasn’t until November that you started seeing things click. Williams deserves at least that long before passing judgment.
