Caleb Williams leads Bears with two field goals in preseason debut, 33-6 victory

2024-08-11 00:50:44

Although the ever-confident quarterback never doubted himself, Caleb Williams still found a reassuring performance in his NFL preseason debut, helping the Chicago Bears to a 33-6 win over the Bears on Saturday. Farrow Bills.

After all, it’s been nearly nine months since the No. 1 overall pick burst onto the scene in a competitive environment.

“The last time I played on a field outside of practice was Nov. 18,” Williams said, referring to Southern California’s 38-20 regular-season loss to UCLA when he sat out the Holiday Bowl. “You go that long without anything, and it’s tough. But no, it’s great. These guys make it fun. They make it easy for me.”

His Bears teammates could say the same about Williams, who showed awareness and composure in the pocket, hitting receivers on the run and rushing through the 13 on third-and-9 Yard’s first offense to showcase his dual-threat ability.

“It’s great. Everybody was available today,” receiver DJ Moore said. “Yeah, it gives you confidence going into the season.”

The 22-year-old Williams went 4-for-7 for 95 yards on two drives before finishing with a field goal. While he wasn’t perfect — Williams nearly had an interception in one game and the Bills’ off-the-ball defensive penalties wiped out his drive — the quarterback led the offense in 20 snaps through two games, Totaled 152 yards and seven first downs.

Just one minute into the fourth quarter, Bears linebacker Micah Baskerville intercepted a pass from Shane Buechele and returned it 53 yards for a touchdown, giving Chicago a 19-6 lead. , the result of the game has been decided. Virus Jones scored on a 4-yard run in the third quarter, and Ian Wheeler scored on runs of 7 and 8 yards in the final six minutes.

Buffalo’s Josh Allen was 2-for-3 for 22 yards and had 7 yards rushing in the first quarter of the Bills’ first preseason game. Despite the Bills’ possession, Allen put backup Mitch Trubisky to start the second quarter, which ended with Tyler Bass’ 24-yard field goal to give Chicago the lead. The advantage shrank to 6-3.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott was not happy with the game, which saw the four-time defending AFC East champion drive across midfield twice and gain just 200 yards from 340 yards on 11 carries.

“Our standard wasn’t there today. That’s not how we play,” McDermott said. “If you had put a blood pressure cuff on me during that game, it might have exploded.”

The coach was calm enough after the game that he believed Buss also hit a 49-yard field goal. McDermott also said Buffalo had no injuries during the game.

For the Bears, Williams took center stage after being sidelined with the starting lineup in the preseason opener and a 21-17 win over Houston in the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 1.

Williams, already expected to become the Bears’ second rookie quarterback since the 1970 NFL Combine to start the season, has shown no signs of trouble with rhythm, as he has at times during training camp. Move in and out of crowds efficiently.

Williams showed agility and accuracy on his first try, completing a 12-yard pass to Moore in tight coverage to convert the ball on third-and-12. One pass came off a screen to running back D’Andre Swift for 42 yards. Williams also completed a 26-yard pass to Cole Kmet, where the quarterback faked a pass to his left, rolled to his right and hit the tight end on the run.

Chicago opened the scoring after scoring three straight points before getting stuck at Buffalo’s 12, and the Bears capped the game with a 30-yard field goal by Cairo Santos. The second drive ended at Buffalo’s 15 when Williams overturned fellow rookie Rome Odunze in the right corner of the end zone under pressure.

“There’s definitely a positive in this, and we’re not going to squash it,” Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said of Williams’ debut, emphasizing the quarterback and team’s need to be here Based on this, we will continue to work hard.

Williams agreed.

“Going out and having the confidence we have out there, things can only get better. We can’t wait,” Williams said.

Associated Press reports.

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