Caleb Williams said the Chicago Bears’ identity “showed up” in their 34-17 win at the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night, November 2. Williams was 24 of 34 for 247 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions, and the Bears opened the game with a 17-play, 80-yard drive that took 8:32 and ended with his 1-yard touchdown pass to Luther Burden III.
In his postgame press conference, Williams called the Seahawks “a worthy opponent.” “They just won a Super Bowl last year. They got a bunch of guys back,” he said. “We knew it was going to be a dogfight. We knew that our identity had to show up for us, and I think it did today.”
Long-drive drills and a complicated game plan
Williams said the team’s habits come from practice. “We do these long drive drills in training camp and OTAs that you hate, that you dread at the end of practice. It’s hot,” he said. “They show up in big moments for us like today, and we got to keep going, we got to keep believing, we got to keep trusting each other.” A reporter noted that the game plan was “pretty involved,” especially with how loud the crowd was. Williams said he had added to his own workload to handle it. “I’m going to spend extra time, extra hours, extra walkthroughs, extra just mental time” to know all the checks and the “funky formations,” he said. “You put in all the work throughout the week to be able to have this feeling.”
A reporter noted that the drive covered six minutes and asked whether it was the most dominant he had led in the NFL. Williams said he had been part of drives that ate more clock with fewer plays. He said Seattle rarely gives up deep shots, “one of the best teams of just not allowing shots over the top,” so the Bears had to be patient and take what the defense gave them. “Just the threat of them was important,” he said of the downfield throws, and he added that Chicago has to keep finding explosive plays.
“That’s who we are”
A reporter asked how the offense responded after Colston Loveland’s fourth-quarter fumble, and Williams said the reaction matters more than the mistake. “That’s who we are. We don’t waver,” he said. “It’s an emotional game. It’s football. Things happen. It’s 11 people on the field on offense, 11 on defense, and so there’s a lot that can go wrong.” He said he tells the team that “when an event happens, something happens, cool. The reaction is the most important thing, and that equals the outcome.”
The Bears answered the fumble, which led to a Seattle touchdown, with a six-play, 56-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown run by D’Andre Swift. Williams said the confidence is shared across the roster. “We wouldn’t have this belief without the defense. We wouldn’t have this belief without the special teams,” he said. “We know we have each other’s back.”
Jeffery Simmons, and what Williams will fix
Asked what it was like to watch new defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons play, Williams said: “I’m happy he’s on our side.” He said Simmons helps the entire defense. “He helps the D-line when he gets double teams, he frees up other guys to be able to go be special,” Williams said, and when Simmons gets one-on-ones, he can “wreak havoc.” Simmons finished with a sack, two tackles for loss and a pass defensed in his debut.
Williams was not ready to pat himself on the back. He said the efficiency was “another motivating factor” that the work is paying off, but he named one throw he wants back: a pass to Rome Odunze that the receiver had to slide for, when he “could have possibly ran and got more.” “I need to keep finding ways to deliver a better ball,” he said. “I’m evaluating myself and being tough on myself, being a truth teller about what I’m doing and who I am,” he said. Odunze caught four passes for 87 yards.
The delay of game, and the blacked-out cleats
A reporter asked about a delay-of-game penalty and the conversation that followed. Williams said the mistake was his. “I missed a word, or one word or so, and that’s what happens,” he said. The crowd was loud, and the penalty “allowed us to have a little bit more time” to sort it out.
He was also asked why he picked the cleats he wore. “Just to calm things down, man,” Williams said. “It was a big week. I want to keep that to a minimum from my side. Obviously, I get a lot of media, and so just trying to minimize that as much as possible.” He said the cleats were all blacked out in matte black. On being the Bears’ spark, he said: “I like to say that I’m one of those guys that steps up in the big moments, creates some energy for the guys.”
The Bears are 6-2 and host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, November 8, at 8:20 p.m. ET, which is 3:20 a.m. Monday in Cairo.
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