Offense
- Baltimore came out and blitzed on the very first play and it was very evident that they planned on getting quick pressure on Williams. In the meantime, they played man coverage on the back end, and the Bears moved the ball pretty well all the way down to the 3-yard line before two negative plays made them settle for a field goal. Nevertheless, this was not the way that I would’ve approached the Bears on defense. I’m a bit surprised that they didn’t just drop back in coverage and make Williams hold the ball.
- Like everyone else, the Ravens could read when the wide receiver screen was coming right away. The play just isn’t going to work.
- I wonder how much of Caleb Williams’s supposed inaccuracy is due to poor timing on offense. Some of the throws just appeared to be rushed, or he appears to be just a little bit late. I’m not sure that it’s his arm so much as it’s just the way that the offense is running and the way that he’s running within it.
- The Bears were simply allowing too many free runners to get on top of Caleb Williams. Although I said blitzing with man coverage on the back end wasn’t the way that I would approach Williams, I have to admit that the Bears didn’t do a great job of handling it. Similar to the inaccurate throws, I’m not sure how much was Williams not recognizing the free blitzes and how much was the protection. Certainly, some of it was confusion on the offensive line.
- Having said that, the Bears did a good job of adjusting in the second half by coming out and calling some blitz beaters. Some of the screen passes worked very well, and running to the side of the free blitzes allowed them to get in behind him to get some good yardage.
- I don’t know what the numbers are going to show, but the Bears certainly seemed hesitant to throw the ball deep today. They’re going to have to start to do that if they want to be a complete offense.
Defense
- The Bears decided to play mostly zone on the back end in the first half. Tyler Huntley seemed to have very little issue with tearing that zone apart, and it left them vulnerable to the run by Derrick Henry. In fairness, with most of their starting cornerbacks out, the Bears may have felt that they had very little choice but to play zone.
- When the Bears did switch to Man defense, they flat out couldn’t cover Zay Flowers.
- It would be easy to say that the Bears struggled to get pressure on Huntley, and there may be some truth to that, but the fact of the matter is that the ball was coming out pretty fast. Huntley was simply having very little trouble handling the Bears defense on the back end. He looked sharp today.
- The Bears gave up too many big plays, especially in the second half. It pretty much killed them today.
- Honestly, I just don’t think the Bears had the horses on defense today to beat a desperate Ravens team that came out executing well out of the bye.
Miscellaneous
- The Bears had some bad penalties in some bad spots today. False starts, intentional grounding. Yet another illegal formation penalty with the left tackle off the line, which eliminated a great punt. There’s a lot to clean up.
- On special teams I’d be surprised if the Ravens didn’t have an at least 10 yard advantage in average starting position.
- Williams was intercepted on a ball that he threw behind Rome Odunze. In a classic example of how complimentary football is supposed to work, the Ravens put the ball right into the end zone instead of committing a couple penalties and settling for a field gaol, Bears-style.
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There can be very little doubt that the better team won today. The Bears have to some extent been winning games with smoke and mirrors. If it didn’t crash down on them today, it would have once they got deeper into divisional play. They simply have to execute better if they want to be a real, consistent winner.
I really wish that I could say that Caleb Williams took a step forward today. But he didn’t. As I mentioned above, I’m not sure how much the issues against the blitz today were on him, and it’s evident that the timing of the offense is off. He’s still occasionally holding the ball instead of dropping back and letting go. We’ll know he’s ready when that stops.