Caleb Williams knows, don’t worry: 6 points on the Chicago Bears moving from Tennessee to the Houston Texans

CHICAGO - Many Chicago Bears have said it: It’s always easier to look at the to-do list after a win.

A 24-17 win over the Tennessee Titans included 11 total points from the Bears’ offense: three field goals and one two-point conversion.

The Bears still won, thanks to the special teams and the defense. That changes as we move on from Tennessee to Houston.

Here are six points on the Chicago Bears as we move from Week 1 to Week 2 with Houston on deck for the Bears.

Caleb Williams knows, don’t worry

Caleb Williams’s first NFL start was not what he wanted it to be. 

He knows his. He said on the low end, there were like four or five passes that he wanted to have back. In reality, there were like six.

"If we had hit those everything would have seemed a lot different," Williams said. "Throws that we hit in practice all the time on simple routes, on intermediate and the one or two deep balls. If you hit those everything explodes."

Williams missed a possible touchdown to Keenan Allen in the first half. He missed a would-be touchdown to Allen before halftime, but that’s Allen’s fault for dropping it. I’m sure Allen would tell you that.

Those were just two throws, too. Williams understands the perception of his NFL debut revolves around his lackluster stat line. But he also understands.

Williams talked Wednesday about how he understands the NFL is hard. The rigmarole of becoming a star in the league is much different than starring in college, no matter how well he played at USC and Oklahoma. Understanding that is paramount, but that also doesn’t change how one or two plays would’ve lifted some of the negative words surrounding his play.

"Things would have been said differently about how we played on offense," Williams said. "We’re here getting better. Obviously, it’s Week 1 for us, we came out with the win, excited for that like I said before. Then just getting back out here and making sure we are focused on the small things."

Those small things are "the details" that Williams consistently talks about.

"Whether it’s myself with footwork, drops, things like that. Whether it’s the routes, the run game, hand placements, all these other things when blocking to make sure the offense is successful," Williams said.

‘Let's talk about Caleb’

Like pretty much everyone else, I chatted with Bears’ receiver Tyler Scott.

Scott is shaping up to have a bigger role this week with the Bears. Odunze is day-to-day with a knee injury, and I'd be surprised if he plays. Keenan Allen is dealing with a heel issue. He was inactive in Week 1, but all signs point to him playing Week 2.

I asked Scott about what he noticed that we might not have in Week 1, and he said "Let’s talk about Caleb."

"You can look at all those numbers, but one thing that he did was he protected the ball," Scott said. "That's a whole offensive thing, you know what I'm saying? But at the same time, he didn't have any. Will Levis had a strip stack and two interceptions. He gave up the ball and look what happened."

Williams’ numbers were pedestrian. They were, frankly, bad. A total of 93 passing yards and a quarterback rating of 55.7 is not winning football. But, Scott has a point. If you turn the ball over, you lose. The Bears won the turnover battle 3-1, with the one being a special teams gaffe.

The Bears, clearly, aren’t worried about Williams’ lackluster debut. If you are, it’s high time to give him a break.

"We protected the ball and ended each drive with a field goal or a punt, that's crucial," Scott said. "That's important. understanding the flow of the game. It's really not our day on offense. Maybe they have our number and we're just not clicking. I think the biggest thing is to make sure that we can always be in these positions as well. I think that's something that really stands out."

There will be no CJ Stroud comparisons in Halas Hall

Plenty want to make comparisons between Williams and reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year CJ Stroud, who the Bears will face this weekend in Houston.

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus was adamant that does not happen with the Bears.

"I don't like comparing players because everybody's journeys different," Eberflus said. "Everybody moves through that their own way. It's matters where you finish up at the end of the day."

It’s easy to make comparisons.

Stroud found success early in his career and parlayed that into a playoff berth and a playoff win in his rookie season. That success is partially why Chicago has such lofty expectations for Williams in his rookie season.

Williams agreed.

There’s no motivation that he finds in Stroud’s situation, and that’s fair. He’s in Stroud’s shoes, and Stroud isn’t in his. What does motivate Williams is the winning ways.

"Win as many games, get to the playoffs, win games there," Williams said. "Doing all the right things throughout the week to lead up to the game to make sure I’m prepared to the best of my ability for my team mentally, physically and spiritually to be able to go out there and handle business the way we need."

Darrell Taylor’s seamless fit

When Darrell Taylor strip sacked Will Levis in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s win, Taylor calmly walked off the field as if he didn’t just help force a game-changing turnover.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t excited. He just rationalized it as, why celebrate something that he already knew was going to happen?

"I already knew I was going to do that because I'm just telling myself on the sideline it's time to make a play," Taylor said. "That's what they brought you here for, and it's time to show up for the team."

His teammates knew it, too.

Taylor came in just weeks ago on Aug. 23, after the last preseason game against the Chiefs. Since then, he’s made an impression on the defensive line with his practice habits.

"He practices hard," Bears defensive lineman Gervon Dexter Sr. said Sunday. "It would be hard to say like, we didn't know that wasn't going to happen just because the way he practiced and the way he flies."

There are so many pieces on the line expected to take major leaps. Dexter is one of those players, as is DeMarcus Walker opposite Montez Sweat. Taylor came into add to the rotation, and made an immediate impact with his two sacks.

It’s looking more and more like a steal for the Bears’ defense.

"I knew the tackle couldn't block me," Taylor said. "I just worked my butt off all week to prepare for that situation."

Stevenson’s weekly accolade

After his go-ahead pick-six on Sunday, Tyrique Stevenson was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week. 

Stevenson said Wednesday he appreciated the honor, but he wants to keep improving. Eberflus spoke about how impressive Stevenson is as a competitor.

"You can see that how fiery he is out in the field," Eberflus said. "He welcomes that. It gives him joy to be able to go out there and compete, and you can see that every day."

This is all with Stevenson being the "other" corner. 

Stevenson is more likely than not being the guy quarterbacks will throw to. It’s either that or throw at All-Pro corner Jaylon Johnson. Stevenson is proving it’s a bad idea to try either one. 

His pick-six on Will Levis was the game-changing type of play the Bears envisioned when they moved up to draft him in the 2023 NFL Draft. Stevenson rebounded from a rough start to his rookie year to be one of the most impressive players the Bears have. Just ask the coaches.

"I like the way he tackles. I like the way he hits. I like the way he plays and that's why he's here." Eberflus said. "He's a guy that loves football. To me it's just an honor to be able to coach him and work with him. I do like that he's got a fire that burns hot, and I like that."

Where was Cole Kmet?

The Bears’ tight end expects to factor into the Bears’ long-term plans. That’s why they extended him last offseason.

That’s why it was odd that Sunday he played in just 48 percent of the Bears’ offensive snaps. 

When asked about it, Eberflus said it was an "oversight."

"Not part of the plan," Eberflus said. "We had 11-personnel where he was in, and then when (TE Gerald Everett) G was in, so it was the way the rotation happened. Do we want to get Cole involved in the game plan more in terms of catches and point of attack blocking and all those things? Yes, we do. We're looking for our formula for success on offense. That's going to take a little bit of time in terms of distributing the ball to the skill more evenly. We're working to do that this week."