Silver And Black Pride
After an embarrassing loss on the road last week, the Las Vegas Raiders look to get back on track at Allegiant Stadium against the Chicago Bears in Week 4. To preview the matchup, Silver and Black Pride reached out to our friends at Windy City Gridiron, and Bill Zimmerman was kind enough to answer a few questions about the Bears for Raider Nation.
Q: How has Caleb Williams picked up Ben Johnson’s offense? What was the difference between Williams’ performance last week and in the first two games of the season?
A: I’ll be honest, I was alarmed by what I saw in Week 1 from Caleb Williams. He looked frantic in the pocket, the deep ball accuracy was awful, and he was missing open receivers downfield. Week 2, it looked better, and Week 3 was arguably the best game of Caleb Williams’ career.
What has improved? Many things. First, Williams is taking significantly fewer sacks. Yes, the line is improved, but he’s not holding onto the ball as long, and he’s reading blitzes better and utilizing the hot route when he needs it. He certainly is more poised in the pocket, and he’s certainly operating the offense better overall.
Now, to be fair, everybody, including Russell Wilson, has lit up the Dallas Cowboys’ defense. The only way the Cowboys’ defense has stopped anybody was thanks to a weather delay in week one; other than that, every team they have faced has had its way with them.
So, while it was great to see Ben Johnson’s offense look like we all wanted it to with Caleb under center, we need to see it more consistently moving forward and look better against better defenses.
Q: Chicago completely reset its interior offensive line this offseason, replacing both guards and the center. What have the early returns been in the trenches?
A: The early returns have been outstanding. I’m not saying Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman, and Jonah Jackson have been perfect; they haven’t, they’ve made mistakes, but it’s been greatly improved. What’s also nice is that the line has improved each week as they get more snaps together. Jackson has been the least consistent of the three, but he’s still better than anything they had in the interior last year. Dalman has looked solid, and as someone who loves watching line play, Joe Thuney is like watching Monet paint. He’s so good in the passing game and such an asset in the run game as well.
The bigger questions right now are out at tackles. Darnell Wright has been excellent, but he’s currently banged up, and we will have to monitor his injury heading into Sunday. Braxton Jones looked a little better on Sunday, but he has been struggling to perform for the entire game so far this season. With Maxx Crosby on the outside, the tackle play will certainly need to be something to watch on Sunday.
**Q: The Bears’ secondary has been missing two key pieces to begin the year: No....
