The Chicago Bears’ 2025 Training Camp has been ongoing for over a full week now, as the team continues to prep for their first preseason game coming up on Sunday, August 10th against the Miami Dolphins. One of the more significant stories from camp so far has been the struggles of second-year quarterback Caleb WIlliams when it comes to learning Ben Johnson’s new offensive scheme.
Although there are expected to be struggles throughout the season on the offense, fans and analysts should take solace that Williams has already demonstrated an ability to lead clutch offensive drives when the game is on the line.
Caleb Williams showed he can raise his level of play late in games even when he hasn’t played well
Caleb Williams’ rookie season of 2024 was one worth forgetting, as despite starting all 17 games for Chicago, the rookie compiled a 5-12 record, which featured a ten-game losing-streak. Although Williams’ play wasn’t a driving factor in the team’s near-record losing streak, he did have poor moments that highlighted his inexperience at the quarterback position. The Bears’ rookie signal-caller was sacked a league-leading 68 times and had four consecutive games without throwing a touchdown, including a three-game span where the offense only generated two touchdowns.
Along with the rookie growing pains, Williams also had to deal with an offensive line that struggled significantly with continuity and talent, while also working with several different offensive coordinator throughout the season. The rookie quarterback from USC originally started the season with play-caller Shane Waldron, who was fired following the team’s Week 9 loss to the New England Patriots, and later worked under Thomas Brown also. Despite the crushing hardships that even veteran signal-callers would struggle under, Caleb Williams still managed to be successful in one vital area.
Although the Bears only won five games in 2024, after starting 4-2, Caleb Williams gave the team to win more games, even when he didn’t have his best individual performance. A prime example of this was the infamous contest against the Commanders that Chicago lost after allowing a game-winning Hail Mary touchdown as time expired. Despite Williams completing ten total passes on the day, he completed six of those throws in the fourth quarter, while leading the team on what should have been a game-winning touchdown drive with less than a minute left.
Another contest where WIlliams didn’t play his best for most of the game, but was stellar when it mattered the most was the season finale against Green Bay. In the 24-22 win against the Packers, Caleb Williams threw for 87 of his 148 passing yards in the fourth quarter, leading the offense on two scoring drives, including the game-winning field goal drive with less than a minute to go and just one timeout. The win was the first game-winning drive of the signal-caller’s career, but should have been his second, as during the team’s first matchup against the Packers, the Bears lost due to a block field goal that would have won them the game.
Against the hardships of the poor offensive line and instability at the offensive play-caller position, there were other instances where Caleb Williams and the offense had the ball on the final possession of regulation with a chance to tie or win. Games against the Vikings, Lions, and Seahawks are all times when Williams and the offense had a chance to score, but failed to do so, including a historical and embarrassing clock-mismanagement situation on Thanksgiving in Detroit. These instances are promising with the signal-caller heading into his second season because they are learning moment to demonstrate what not to do against in a future situation.
Caleb Williams is being pair with an offensive play-caller who has shown he can respond also when the game is on the line
Williams being able to show that he can respond to adverse moments, especially towards the end of the game, is vital with Ben Johnson’s experience as an offensive play-caller for Detroit, a team that has won contests in close fashion. A key example of Chicago’s new head coach overseeing an offense that won in close situations, is the 2024 playoff run for the Lions, who won two playoff games by a combined 11 points. Johnson’s offense was able to execute a four-minute drive to close out one playoff win against the Los Angeles Rams while scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns the next week to defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Pairing Caleb Williams, who has already demonstrated a capability to elevate his play in the four quarter of games, with Ben Johnson could be a perfect dynamic duo for an offense being able to win games late. If both the quarterback and play-caller are able to rise to the occasion when an outcome of a contest is in hand, it gives a team such a mental lift over an opponent. Williams and Johnson have the chance to put something special together where if any game is close heading into the fourth quarter, Chicago will have a significant opportunity to pull out a victory.
Although the concerns of Williams struggling in a new offense are credible, fans and analysts should trust Johnson as a play-caller to work with his quarterback and have go-to set of plays when it matters the most. Imagine a scenario where Caleb Williams has struggled for the first three quarters of a game, but the Bears are only down by less than seven points, Johnson could look to a set of five to ten plays that he knows that his quarterback can execute repeatedly on in order to win the game. An ability to work against adversity and trust that the right outcome can be achieved could make Chicago’s new head coach a winner immediately with his second-year signal-caller.
Heading into his second season, there should be high expectations for Caleb Williams to perform well, but they should be tempered with the new offensive scheme being implemented by Ben Johnson. What should be reassuring is that if WIlliams struggles at times, fans should still have faith that the signal-caller will still put the Bears in a position to win when it matters the most. Most signal-callers can play well throughout most of an NFL contest, but it takes an elite-level talent to play his best when everything is on the line, and Chicago might have one of those players under center right now.
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