Bears look for consistency from QB
Caleb Williams and offense after loss to Vikings
[September 10, 2025]
By GENE CHAMBERLAIN
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — The process of getting to know his
quarterback has Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson looking for answers
after only one game, along with overall offensive consistency.
Losing a 17-6 lead early in the fourth quarter of a 27-24 opening
loss to the Minnesota Vikings showed Johnson both the strengths of
second-year quarterback Caleb Williams and also problems he’s had
since his rookie season.
“It was up and down,” Johnson said Tuesday. “We had mixed results.
There were some things that he did that were top notch and I would
put him up there with some of the best in the NFL.
“He had a couple throws with guys in his face that he delivered on
target that were very tough. I thought he did a good job evading
when he felt pressure and yet there were still some that we would
like to have back. There were probably three or four of them that we
counted on tape that, at a minimum, that we would want back.”
Going 21 for 35 for 210 yards with a touchdown wasn’t the issue as
much as how it happened. Williams connected on his first 10 passes,
led a drive to his first career touchdown run, and then the Bears
couldn’t find the end zone again on offense until very late as his
accuracy struggled.
Williams could've been helped by a better running game to balance
out the attack. He wound up supplying the most rushing yards for the
Bears with 58 on six scrambles.
“Any time you don’t rush for as many yards as you were hoping for,
you look at the stat sheet and it said over 100 yards,” Johnson
said. “But really, a lot of those were from Caleb. We need more from
our runners, whoever that is, or our receivers in the running back
room. It doesn’t matter.
“In the run game we were subpar overall.”
What’s working
The pass rush had been a bit of a question mark coming into the
season and they thought they had it solved by adding edge rusher
Dayo Odeyingbo in free agency. He had a sack in his first game. They
sacked J.J. McCarthy three times.
However, the pass rush suffered from inconsistency. The Bears held
the Vikings to 134 passing yards and 254 total yards and still were
down 10 in the fourth quarter without committing a turnover.
What’s not
Offensive line blocking in the running game didn’t accomplish much.
D’Andre Swift gained only 3.1 yards per carry with 53 yards on 17
carries and no other running back had a rushing attempt. Wide
receiver DJ Moore had three carries out of the backfield and had
just 8 yards.
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Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams runs with the ball during
the second half of an NFL football game against the Minnesota
Vikings Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
This came after Chicago spent free agency signing center Drew Dalman
and trading for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson to bulk up its
offensive line.
Stock up
Cornerback Nahshon Wright, playing for injured Pro Bowl cornerback
Jaylon Johnson, helped hold All-Pro Justin Jefferson to four catches
and had his first career touchdown return, for 74 yards, after an
interception in the third quarter for the 17-6 lead.
However, it wasn’t an entirely positive night for the former Cowboys
and Vikings player. He had a pass interference penalty and allowed a
long catch to set up two field goals.
Stock down
Johnson’s reputation took a hit as a decision-maker with a failed
fourth down gamble, a wasted timeout they eventually needed on an
unsuccessful challenge and not having kicker Cairo Santos kick off
out of bounds to save time at the end for a drive to a tying field
goal.
Instead, they had to start their final possession at their 20 with 9
seconds remaining.
He blamed the challenge and kicking decision, as well as a timeout
burned in the first half before the failed fourth down gamble, all
on himself.
“The timeout itself, I was late getting the call in and that’s my
own issue,” he said. “But we knew we wanted to go for it. We felt
good about that call.”
Key number
12 — Penalties in the first game. It was the most by the Bears since
Nov. 8, 2021, against Pittsburgh. One of Johnson’s goals was to
improve efficiency with his attention to detail at training camp.
Next steps
Work with Williams and the passing game to be ready for Johnson’s
homecoming game at Ford Field against his former team on Sunday.
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