Is Caleb Williams close to setting records? 6 points on the Chicago Bears heading into Week 6 vs. Jacksonville
Here are six points on the Chicago Bears moving from Week 5's win over the Panthers to Week 6's game in London.
How close is Caleb Williams to breaking Bears' records?
It was pretty much the worst kept secret in football that Caleb Williams wouldn't have to do too much to break most of the Bears' passing records.
This team has never had a 3,000-yard passer or a 30-touchdown passer in a single season.
But, he's already pretty close to breaking some records through five games.
Through Week 5, Williams has 1,091 passing yards and five passing touchdowns. That puts him in reach of two Bears' rookie passing records.
Former Bear and No. 2 overall pick Mitchell Trubisky has the Bears rookie passing yards record with 2,193 passing yards in 2017. Another five games, and Williams could break that mark. In fact, Williams is already sixth all-time in Bears rookie passing records.
Charlie O'Rourke holds the Bears' rookie record with 11 passing touchdowns as a rookie in, wait for this, 1942. Williams' five passing touchdowns ties him with players like Sid Luckman and Bobby Douglass for sixth all-time.
Two more touchdown passes, and Williams will move into a tie for fourth all-time with Trubisky and Justin Fields.
Williams might not break the 30-touchdown mark this season, unless he has a few break-out games in divisional play, but he's on par to obliterate that 3,000-yard mark that no Bears' quarterback has ever reached.
Williams is on pace to throw for 3,709 yards in a 17-game season.
Last Sunday's funny viral moment underscored Coleman Shelton's growth
Bears center Coleman Shelton said he got a few texts after Sunday's game.
During the win over the Panthers, the Bears had first and 10 from the Panthers' 48-yard line. Shelton, while Williams was speaking at the line of scrimmage, turned and said "We've got f***ing fire, man!"
Fire is the way to point out to Williams what's coming.
"I was pretty much just telling 'em that we got some pressure," Shelton said. "There's fire. And he was like, ‘I know.’ I'm like, 'cool, we're good. Let's run the play.'"
The play went for a four-yard gain on a pass to Rome Odunze.
"In the heat of the moment, obviously I wish I used better language," Shelton said. "It's a battle out there. We're in the trenches, so it's the way it is."
Anyone offended by any foul language on a football field should perhaps not watch football, but that moment overscored how Shelton has fit into the Bears' offensive line.
The first two games of the season weren't kind to Shelton. He struggled against the Titans, Texans and Colts. Since then, he's shown why he's a starter in the league.
Against the Texans, Shelton had a 65.6 grade from Pro Football Focus. That's not a bad grade, but that's not good, either. Against the Panthers, he had a 72.2 grade. That's a notable improvement from a player the Bears signed with a need to improve the center position.
It took time to gel, and it took two games to see how it all came together.
"The more you play together, the more comfortable you feel and that's a big thing with Caleb and I," Shelton said. "It's been going great and then with the offensive line, making sure everybody's on the same page, and we all know exactly what we want to do, how we want to hit blocks and how we want to protect. So it felt good."
Andrew Billings is quietly becoming the Bears' most underrated player
It's never a good thing when a defensive lineman is running unabated directly at the quarterback. It's never great when the defensive lineman is Andrew Billings, all 6-foot-1 and 311 pounds of him.
"Him running just free at the quarterback is not a good look, man," Sweat said. "It's not going to end well for the offensive side of the ball."
Billings broke through the Panthers' line last Sunday for a sack on Andy Dalton. He was untouched, and brought down the former Bear.
An interesting detail about that play was how Gervon Dexter Sr. was playing the five-technique at defensive tackle. That's a position usually reserved for defensive ends, meaning Dexter was going to rush the passer.
Billings, from his nose-tackle position, had a free lane as the Panthers tried to stymie the Bears' blitz. It's a play that showed off his versatility.
"It is fun playing with Big Bill man, because he can do it all," Gervon Dexter Sr. said. "He's a big guy, so it's hard to block a guy one on one like that."
With "Big Bill" in the center drawing attention from the interior of the offensive lines, that makes the Bears' defensive line a more complete unit. With Sweat, Dexter, DeMarcus Walker and Darnell Taylor, Billings might not be the biggest name. But his play allows others to be more productive.
Dexter, for example, has four sacks through five games.
"He's going to get penetration and knock back," Dexter said. "Just playing with a guy makes my job a lot easier."
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 08: Caleb Williams #18 of the Chicago Bears celebrates after the game against the Tennessee Titans at Soldier Field on September 08, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. The Bears defeated the Titans 24-17. (Photo by Quinn Harris/
The Chicago Bears winning streak at Solider Field is the NFL's longest active home winning streak
Every team wants to brag about home-field advantage, but the Bears might be on to something.
They have the league's longest-active home winning streak at eight consecutive games.
That's been an emphasis for Bears players who have been here for a year or two, especially the defense which has forced eight of its 11 turnovers at home.
The Bears forced multiple turnovers in those three wins: three against the Titans and Panthers, and two against the Rams.
"It's definitely becoming a tougher place," Dexter said. "When we come here, we try to protect our home and that's what we've been doing."
Perhaps no one has grown more than OC Shane Waldron
This week on 670 The Score's Mully and Haugh, NFL Network's Stacey Dales reported more on the Bears' offensive captains meeting with offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, which has seemingly been a reason the Bears' have scored 24 and 36 points in consecutive games.
Dales reported the Bears didn't have a first 15, meaning a slate of 15 plays the team will practice throughout the entire week to make sure they have a list of well-practiced plays they can go to early on in the game.
It's shocking the Bears didn't have that. They do now because of that meeting.
In the weeks since we first heard about the meeting with Waldron and the offensive captains, it's only become more clear how imperative it was.
Now, the Bears have a set list of plays to go to. It's worked, too. The Bears have scored 37 combined points in the first half of their last two games.
It's also led to players calling for the ball more in an offense that has more direction and dialogue.
"We saw it in practice first, there has been that connection there in the last couple of weeks," Eberflus said on Monday. "We were just waiting for it to happen in the game when the looks presented itself. A couple of times it did yesterday, and we got some looks and had some good executions."
Credit Waldron, as it's never easy to change your ways.
The Bears will be tested on Sunday… just not like you think
The Bears' offense will try to continue its momentum away from Solider Field while being displaced by a time change.
The Bears' secondary will be down two starters and a key depth piece.
Those facts aren't why the Bears will face a big challenge against the Jaguars on Sunday.
The Bears will face a complete running attack from the Jaguars. Tank Bigsby and Trevor Etienne come together for a one-two punch that adds a difficult wrinkle to the Jacksonville offense.
Simply put, there's no better back in the league after first contact than Bigsby. He ranks far and away as the best back in the NFL at breaking tackles and creating yards after contact.
Etienne is also a talented back who's a threat in the passing game. The Clemson product also has a 56 percent success rate.
Success rate is a more advanced stat that tracks if a running play gains at least half the yards required to earn a first down on 1st and 10, 70% of yards needed to get a first down on second down and 100 percent of the yards needed for a first down on third and fourth down.
Etienne, more often than not, is getting the yardage needed to be a successful play.
This comes as a massive challenge for the Bears, who are allowing an average of 4.9 yards per carry on defense.