The Chicago Bears will look to end their seven-game losing streak on Monday Night when they travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings. With the team’s path to the playoffs virtually gone, the only thing left to play for is pride and development for the 2025 season, including rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. Williams, despite having a terrific rookie campaign that has included breaking several rookie franchise records, has struggled in one specific area and could begin to fix the issue starting on Monday against the Vikings.
Caleb WIlliams must overcome his first half struggles to cap off his rookie season
Williams has had a terrific stat line through his first 13 games as an NFL quarterback, as he has thrown 16 touchdown passes to only five interceptions. Even more impressive, Chicago’s rookie signal-caller has only thrown one interception since Week 4. Despite the high level of productivity, Caleb Williams has actually struggled to lead the Bears’ offense on scoring drive in the first half of games, as offensive unit has struggled to generate even 50 total yards in the first half of their previous two contests.
Through Chicago’s 13 games this season, the offense has only scored six touchdowns in the first half of their contests, as Caleb Williams has thrown four touchdowns. The four first half touchdowns thrown by Williams came in back-to-back games against the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars, two teams that have pass defenses that are statically at the bottom of the league. During the Bears’ seven-game losing streak, the offense has scored only two first half touchdowns, which both have come off of one-yard runs by Roschon Johnson.
Although Williams has been one of the best productive quarterbacks in the league in the second half of games, he needs to start guiding the offense to first-half scores as in the Bears’ last two games, the team has been outscored 40-0 in the first half. This has put the team in a significant hole to try to overcome in the second half and has made the offense virtually one dimensional, as they have had to throw to get back into games. In Chicago’s last three games, the team has faced second half deficits of 14 points or more.
It has forced Caleb Williams to play nearly flawless at the quarterback position and unable to make mistakes, like the strip fumble he had against the 49ers last week that killed a promising drive that could have allowed Chicago to get back into the game. The turnover proved to be costly because had the Bears been able to score, the team could have trailed by ten points midway through the third quarter. Unfortunately, with the turnover, San Francisco was able to score another touchdown and put the contest out of reach.
Against Minnesota, if Chicago has any hope of snapping their seven-game winning streak, the offense and Williams must score in the first half of Monday Night’s game. Especially with the defense being without defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. and having a massive issue sacking the opposing quarterback, Caleb Williams needs to generate points to help the Bears stay ahead of an explosive Vikings’ offense. Even sustaining offensive drives that don’t end in three-and-outs and allow field position to be flipped would be a much-needed improvement as Chicago has not run an offensive play in opponent’s territory during the first half of their last two games.
It is that futility that doesn’t allow for complimentary football, as the Bears’ defense has been exposed by being on the field for much longer than warranted and is working against short field situations. If Williams is able to sustain offensive drives on Monday, it will keep the Vikings offense off the field while also forcing them to drive longer down the field, increasing the chance of a mistake. In the two games where Caleb WIlliams and the offense scored first half points against the Packers and Vikings, the contests were close when the teams got to halftime.
Caleb Williams must demonstrate growth against divisional opponents who he is playing for a second time
Given Chicago’s final four opponents of the 2024 season, with three being against divisional opponents who they will be playing for the second time, it is imperative for WIlliams to demonstrate growth against defenses he will be playing against for a second time. In the first contests against the Packers, Vikings, and Lions, Williams had terrific performances in the second half, leading the offense on multiple scoring drives, which led the Bears to only lose all three games by seven points collectively.
For WIlliams to finish his rookie campaign off on a positive and uplifting note, he must not only have good games against his final four opponents but have good first halves. Monday’s game against Minnesota will be a very good first test as Vikings’ defensive coordinator Brian Flores is expected to blitz the rookie signal-caller early and often, something that didn’t happen in the first matchup, which could be very difficult for the rookie to deal with. If Caleb Williams is able to account for Minnesota’s blitzing pass-rush and have success, it will demonstrate an elite ability to play the quarterback position.
Next week’s game against the Lions and the season finale against the Packers are significant for WIlliams, given what was seen in the first contests. On Thanksgiving against Detroit, Williams threw for three touchdowns and over 200 yards in the second half of the game and it is likely that the Lions’ defense will look to force the rookie quarterback to play against his weaknesses on December 22nd. Against the Packers, Chicago’s passing offense had success by utilizing quick throws to get the ball out of the hands of Caleb Williams to avoid sacks, which would lead to more blitzing by Green Bay’s defense on January 5th.
With four games left, the only thing that Williams needs to demonstrate is growth, whether it is more first half production or wins against opponents he has played once before already. It has been a massively disappointing season for the Bears, but it would be disastrous if the team finished with an 11-game losing streak and their rookie quarterback regressed instead of progressed to end the year. Caleb Williams has an opportunity to solidify his status as the franchise quarterback for Chicago with a strong ending to his rookie season, which must include multiple scoring drives of the first half of his final four games.
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