Final Word: Caleb Williams took blame for the Chicago Bears' loss. Admirable, but incorrect

CHICAGO - I like to think that the reason no one stopped Caleb Williams is because he was the only member of the team in the room.

When he was asked about the frustrations the Chicago Bears fans were feeling after a demoralizing 6-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Williams acknowledged he heard it all.

"This is only my first year," Williams said. "Their frustrations go way longer back than I've been here."

Then, he did something remarkable. 

He took blame for the Thursday Night Football loss. All of it. Including the dysfunctional offense that peaked when the Bears had a chance to tie or win the game in the fourth quarter and came up empty.

"I will definitely take the heat for this one just because some of the situations that I put us in," Williams said. 

That's an admirable quality from a rookie.

In a dismal season, where Williams still set literally all the Bears' rookie passing records and put himself in a position to set some all-time records, he took more responsibility than quarterbacks who have been in the league for much longer.

He's also not correct.

Caleb Williams wasn't the reason the Bears lost that football game.

Of the myriad reasons the Bears struggled, Williams was at fault for perhaps the fifth or sixth reason why the Bears' offense only gained 179 net yards, converted 5 of their 15 third-down conversions hand made it to the red zone just once.

If you want to know, one of those reasons was taking bad sacks. That is something Williams was at fault for Thursday night. 

"There were miscues," he said. "There were stupid sacks that I was taking, losing 10, 14 yards, which is frustrating."

Still, Williams wasn't responsible for all seven sacks he took. That rose the total number of sacks he took this season  from 60 to 67.

No quarterback would be responsible for all 67 sacks.

"Sometimes you don't do so well on the job some days and some days you're pretty consistent," Williams said. "Some days you play a great game. I think today was one of those games that I think we played two sides of the ball today pretty well, special teams, and defense. And then offense, we didn't play well."

That's correct. 

It was the offense as a whole. The line struggled, which didn't allow the passing game to get into a rhythm, which didn't allow Williams to throw the ball like he had been in the fourth quarter of the last two games.

There was also the issue of the final Bears' drive. That drive began with 5:12 left in the game and ended with 11 seconds back in the game.

With 2:14 left in the game, Williams lofted a perfect pass to DJ Moore for a 14-yard gain on fourth down and five. Three plays later, he tossed a pass to Rome Odunze for 15 yards to the Seattle 40-yard line.

That pass to Odunze ended with 1:07 left in the game. The Bears next snapped the ball with 37 seconds left.

What took so long? Williams got hit in the throat and needed a second.

"I don't know if the coaches saw me," Williams said. "Even though I got hit in the throat and the face, got to just get up and go and run down and snap the ball."

The Bears had two timeouts left. They called timeout No. 2 after an incomplete pass with 31 seconds left. It probably should have been called after the Odunze was downed at the 40-yard line.

Interim head coach Thomas Brown said ideally the Bears wanted to have it just in case.

"Same as before scenario, that was the reason," Brown said. "Save it for later."

Saving it for later cost the Bears 30 seconds and Williams time to either catch or find his breath after taking a shot.

All of this to say is that Williams didn't fail the Bears.

They did themselves in, as they have so many times before during this losing streak, which has now reached 10 games, and during that chaotic stretch when a fantastic Bears' defense could only watch.

"That's why it's the ultimate team sport, right?" Bears linebacker TJ Edwards said. "It's not just on that, it's on us, too."

Williams' comments came after his head coach took accountability.

"Still had plenty of chances to take at-bats, and that's extremely frustrating and disappointing, which is 100 percent on me," Brown said.

But, it was surprising all the same to hear the rookie take the blame. If someone else had been in the room, I'm sure they would've stopped him.

Williams has ways to go before he's the true franchise quarterback. He still had flashes of it, which materialized in a late-game drive into Seahawks' territory where the Bears could have at least tied the game.

But, on Thursday night, it was Williams who was at the podium last. As incorrect as it was, it was admirable all the same.

"I didn't play well enough," Williams said. "I didn't help put the team in a good position to win."

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