Caleb Williams Week 8 QB Grade: Bears @ Ravens

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. And end it did. The Bears’ four-game win streak, their first since 2018, came to a screeching halt in Baltimore, where the Ravens handed Chicago a 30–16 loss on Sunday.

The Bears were outplayed in every phase. Backup quarterback Tyler Huntley gave the patchwork Chicago secondary fits, Derrick Henry returned to form with two rushing touchdowns, and Baltimore’s defense, bolstered by the return of key players like linebacker Roquan Smith and cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, executed a sharp game plan that stifled a Bears offense that had topped 21 points in every game until now.

Online discourse after the loss was immediate and predictably knee-jerk in both directions. But as usual, the truth sat somewhere in the middle, and Bears head coach Ben Johnson confirmed as much.

He played better this game than I think he had the previous two. When you look at it, all 60 minutes, and I’m not saying it’s perfect. I actually came away, from watching the tape this morning, encouraged that we took a step in the right direction here this week. I know for some people it’s hard maybe rationalize because the result wasn’t there. But yeah, I saw tangible growth from him. He’s working his ass off. –Ben Johnson on Caleb Williams progress in Week 8.

I was eager to get my hands on the film, and when it became available, I watched Caleb Williams’ game first. That’s something I normally save for last when going through my list of quarterbacks to grade. The film and the final game score both confirmed what Coach Johnson said. It wasn’t perfect, and there were some glaring mistakes, but overall this was his best start since the Cowboys game.

Caleb mostly threw the ball with conviction, and his ability to throw with anticipation and accuracy was on display throughout the game (interception aside). His on-target throwing percentage climbed back up to 64.9% after dipping to 59.3% last week. His adjusted completion percentage, a metric that gives a truer indication of accuracy by accounting for drops, throwaways, spikes, batted passes, and passes affected by quarterback hits, was a season-high 76.5%.

As always, we’ll dive into what went right for the young quarterback and what went wrong. But from my perspective, and many of my colleagues, Week 8 against the Ravens was a stepping stone, not a reversion to 2024.

For a bit more insight on this, I’d suggest checking out Matt Waldman, who took a deep dive into Caleb’s start in the 663rd edition of The Gut Check.

But for now, let’s get into some benchmark metrics, notes, and play breakdowns!