Windy City Gridiron
Just two sacks allowed by the Chicago Bears against the Cincinnati Bengals, and with the way this year is going, that’s a lot to break down!
In 2024, Caleb Williams took a record number of sacks, but he also avoided a ton. One analytic site charted him as personally avoiding around 50. His athleticism led to a high time-to-throw (TTT) as a rookie, and while many of those long-developing plays were due to his insane escapability, others were due to him just holding the ball too long, not seeing things clearly, or trying to find the big play downfield.
Some of those issues still creep up from time to time, as evidenced by this first sack I’ll look at, but this year’s high TTT hasn’t been a negative if you watch the games or listen to head coach Ben Johnson. Caleb still needs to find a balance between when to take off and run for yards and when to keep it alive to find a receiver, but his holding the ball isn’t leading to sacks. Pressure to sack rate provides much-needed context for any TTT discussion, and this guy understands it better than anyone.
Now let’s get down to the nitty-gritty!
Sack 13 – 2nd Quarter 11:44 – B.J. Hill
I was critical of CBS color analyst Adam Archuleta, but he nailed the breakdown of this play. This was a second-and-six, and the play called should have worked to perfection. Tight end Colston Loveland was flexed off the line next to Cole Kmet on the left side. Caleb Williams fakes a handoff to Kyle Monangai, while Loveland checks the defensive end before running a quick out towards the sideline. Williams turns and immediately looks left, presumably at Loveland.
If the ball was out as soon as he settled, it’s a first down.
But Caleb looks downfield for a deeper shot. He even had time to come back to Loveland, but he didn’t pull the trigger. Defensive tackle B.J. Hill is credited with the sack, but the pass protection isn’t expected to hold up as long as it did. This one is on the QB. I’m not sure if Caleb wanted a big play here, or if he was expecting Cincy to have a flat defender closer than it was, but set and throw and take the easy yards, especially off a play action where Loveland was wide open.
Sack 14 – 4th Quarter 12:51 – Joseph Ossai
Cincinnati’s entire front slants to Chicago’s right, while linebacker Barrett Carter (#49) loops from the Bears’ right B-Gap all the way around Chicago’s left side. There was no one on the left to pick Carter up. I get the sense that Williams wanted to run when he saw the linemen in front of him all slide right, but when Carter ran down the line, Williams lost the running lane. Williams probably should have stayed in his spot after the drop and worked his progressions, but he was trying to make a play.
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