Review Rewind: Vikings at Bears, Caleb Williams 2024 Week 12 Grade

A deeper look at Caleb Williams’ game against the Minnesota Vikings

Last week, I published an article outlining my process for grading quarterback play. A process I did for 3 Quarterbacks in the 2024 season: Chicago Bears’ Caleb Williams, Green Bay Packers’ Jordan Love, and Houston Texans’ C. J. Stroud. (If you missed it, you can check it out here.)

Quick note: In that article, I scored “Average” plays as a 0. I’ve since updated that to 0.10 and have become more selective with what I consider “Ungraded”, particularly when it comes to ultra-simple, routine throws, to ensure those still receive a score of 0.

I would like to now do a “rewind” review, going back to a game from the 2024 season to give you a sense of what to expect from me on a weekly basis in 2025 when I’m grading Caleb Williams.

For this rewind, we’re diving into the Bears’ Week 12 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings, a wild game that saw Chicago force overtime late, only to fall short due to some... let’s say questionable defensive calls. But hey, that’s not my department. Let’s get into it!

Game Notes

Grading Sheet for each play can be found here.

First off, I would like to say that week 11 and week 12 were pleasant surprises considering the state of this team, and specifically, the offense. Credit to Thomas Brown, Caleb Williams, and the offensive staff/players as a whole for providing (overall) quality offensive football.

• Let’s start with the overall score: 4.15. That charts as a “Great” game by my grading system; Caleb’s third performance graded “Great” or higher on the season, joining his outings against the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars.
• I charted one turnover-worthy throw in this game, his first since the week 6 against Jacksonville. (For reference, I grade turnover-worthy throws the same way I grade drops; the defender must have had a reasonable chance to make a play on the ball.) This week’s instance was a seam throw to Rome Odunze that was badly underthrown and, in all likelihood, should have been intercepted. PFF credited him with three turnover-worthy plays. I’m assuming the other two were:

1. The seam throw to Cole Kmet that sailed high, but to me, that wasn’t a reasonable pick opportunity; the defender only managed to get his fingertips on it while fully extended.
2. A sideline throw to Keenan Allen, after reviewing the play, it’s clear the defender was playing for a pass breakup and had no real shot at an interception.

• Caleb took three sacks in this game. One was a clear coverage sack, while the other two were on him. The most glaring example came in overtime, where he held the ball for 8.59 seconds. While it looked like either Kmet or Swift may have needed to release sooner from pass pro, that is simply too long to hang onto the ball. He needs to either tuck and run or throw it...