Caleb Williams bordered on passing the blame.
Then he thought about it more.
The Chicago Bears’ starting quarterback didn’t deny losing a fumble in the third quarter. But for a moment he showed no comfort in owning it.
What happened on the pass he started throwing and instead lost in a move that was backwards enough to warrant a fumble?
“As far as timing goes, we were – myself – a little bit off,” Williams said in the aftermath of a 38-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. “So I threw the ball and the timing was a little off. I was holding the ball and my hand still came up and it was ruled a fumble.
The play in question was the Bears’ first mistake, but far from their first.
Yes, the Bears lost the opportunity to cut the lead to just a touchdown and a field goal if this drive had ended in the end zone instead of a turnover. Instead, the 49ers took advantage of their gifted possession by marching 62 yards in five plays, extending their lead to as many as 25 points.
But ESPN analytics showing the odds of winning at each point of the game reflect how unlikely a comeback already was. According to ESPN’s model, the Bears had a 4.9% chance of winning before the fumble. They then had a 1.7% chance.
So Williams’ correction from “we” to “myself” in taking responsibility was not about accurately reflecting how devastating that split was after a first half far more debilitating for a Chicago team trying to regroup in its first game after firing head coach Matt Eberflus. .
Rather, Williams’ correction is important because it reflected the realization that the full context of the piece may not have been the best response to share at the time.
Did Williams’ receiver suddenly misroute, causing hesitation on a throw that essentially stopped him from throwing? Did Williams’ protection go the wrong way, not buying enough time to develop the route Williams wanted to use on these second and eighth play calls?
Perhaps even interim coach Thomas Brown, who called Chicago’s plays in his fourth game and also managed the entire operation in his first game, didn’t deliver the play call in a way that Williams fully understood. None of that was the point.
What mattered in Williams’ response was that he leaned into responsibility rather than avoiding it.
After Brown took the blame in locker room comments and to reporters, perhaps Williams realized he too had more to gain than to lose from taking ownership.
“I’ll start with what I discussed with the team: We got knocked down,” Brown began his first post-game press conference as head coach. “We will always be clear, honest and open about the things that happened.”
Bears fell apart early and then couldn’t regroup quickly enough
A popular football saying goes: no game is over until the clock runs out.
Coaches like to preach that the score might as well be 0-0 at halftime, and players need to sharpen their efforts and concentrate accordingly.
Well, Chicago had zero points. But San Francisco had 24.
The Bears had four yards as a team in the first half, their smallest production since 1991. And before halftime, they allowed 319 yards to the 49ers, the 315-yard differential the largest of any NFL game this season at halftime, according to the broadcast graphs.
According to TruMedia Sports, the Bears’ 0.2 yards per play was the third-lowest any team had averaged in the first half since 2012.
Brown was asked next: How does he wrap his head around the enormous divide?
“I won’t do that,” he said. “We got a kick in the ass. Like I said, the offense didn’t stay on the grass. Not converted in third place. And obviously we gave up too many explosives on defense.”
The problems the Bears faced were multi-faceted, with some reflecting Chicago’s weaknesses and others speaking more to the 49ers’ strengths. On offense, the Bears relied too heavily on the pass in the first half and finished at unfavorable distances and distances on third down. Williams recorded seven sacks and continued his reign as the league’s most sacked player.
On defense, the 49ers leaned on a scheme that George Kittle said they used against Eberflus-designed teams during the coach’s time as Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator, Bears head coach and now neither.
“They do a lot of things with how they stunt (to) increase their pressure and we knew if we could see them in one of those things on a screen they wouldn’t be confused at all,” Kittle said after a monster day of he achieved 151 meters on just six targets. “They just played completely downfield and our offensive line did a great job blocking.
“The way they came down the field and our defense does, we thought we could exploit that.”
The Bears opened the third quarter more smoothly, with the run-pass balance leading to first and second down efficiency, ultimately setting up a nine-plus minute touchdown drive.
Chicago’s defense forced a three-and-out immediately afterward, further hinting at a second-half comeback that could resemble the Bears’ recent slow start. Ten days earlier, the Detroit Lions defeated Chicago 16-0 in the first half before the Bears scored 23 points to Detroit’s seven in the second.
Williams found receiver Rome Odunze for 17 yards, growing the chemistry between the fellow rookies who would also combine to score two touchdowns at Levi’s Stadium. He found Keenan Allen for 14 and scrambled two yards out of bounds.
Williams then completed his throw but turned around while letting the ball slip, causing the ball to retreat back instead of moving forward as defensive lineman Evan Anderson approached. Replay review confirmed a fumble.
On closer inspection, Williams confirmed one as well.
“We started to get something going and I think I ended up fumbling the ball,” Williams said, before reconsidering his wording and settling for a clearer rendition. ‘No, I don’t think so, I messed with the ball in the end. And our momentum and stuff started to drop from there and they started scoring again. When you have points from the turnover and you are already down, then it is difficult.
“We need to get our screws tightened and we need to be aware. That’s not what happened today.”
What can Chicago build on from here?
Accountability won’t win Bears games. Persistent miscommunication and operational disruptions won’t either.
Brown refused to blame the quick turnaround, instead saying “I’m not making excuses” and that his main focus will be on the outcome of a loss.
But Kittle’s comments about what was going well for the 49ers were in stark contrast to the state of affairs for the Bears.
The tight end talked about how three years in the system helped Brock Purdy to his 325-yard, two-touchdown day, while Kittle’s veteran status worked to his advantage rather than against him.
“[Purdy] feels very comfortable in this offense now and I’ve been running it for eight years, so it’s nice to be back there and just know, ‘Hey, I’m going to get the ball no matter what,’ so if the ball hits me in the chest “I better start fumbling and bumbling and stumbling,” Kittle said. “I think coach Shanahan calls plays and when you call plays and you gamble against certain defenses, sometimes you get wide open.”
Williams, on the other hand, delved deeply into his Rolodex of euphemisms to describe how the musical chairs coaching staff affected the staff’s effectiveness in communicating with him.
“When you have these promotions, when you have the situations that we’ve had where coaches have been fired and things like that, people are earning or being promoted to a new job and there are new things that they have to deal with,” Willaims said . said. “So if you have to add more to what you’re already doing and it’s something new and the bullets are flying, things will happen every now and then, the communication will be different than before. the previous position you were in, because you have a lot more on your plate.
“But I think we did a good job today with the situation that presented itself.”
The Bears did not do well with execution, especially in the first half, when they fell into a hole so deep that it was statistically unlikely that they would get out. And Williams didn’t do well in turning the ball over to widen that gap, with the next score also reflecting the defense’s inability to stop the Niners’ offense.
But a better second half than the first half gives Chicago evidence of a fight to build further, and the head coach and quarterback’s open ownership can further set Chicago up to build habits even if they aren’t favored to many more victories to pile on top of their current ones. 4-9 record.
“I have to do my best to put together a better game plan on both sides of the ball so they can perform better and obviously continue to challenge our guys to be their best,” Brown said. “Encourage those guys too and also demand that we still remain united. It’s a grown man’s business: there’s no giving up or giving up on our football team, which I love.
“The aim is to win football matches, but we didn’t win. So that will be my sole focus today and going forward.”
