The Chicago Bears defeated the Los Angeles Rams in Week 4 by a score of 24-18, evening their record at 2-2 a quarter of the way through the 2024 season. Surprisingly, the Bears victory came despite minimal contribution from their two top 10 picks in the 2024 NFL draft.
The lack of production from the team’s highly touted rookies is not a bad thing, though. It could even be beneficial in the long run, because it means there is room for continued growth.
Just how good can Chicago be? What could this week‘s performance mean for the long-term future of Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze and the rest of the Bears roster? Let’s find out.
Despite the stat line, this was the best game of Caleb Williams’ career
While this might not have been the most impressive game of Williams’ young career from a statistical perspective, it might be the most important game. Williams limited his mistakes and put his team in position to win the game.
He did what he needed to do and didn’t try to force the issue and cause careless turnovers. As a rookie, Williams doesn’t need to throw for 350 yards and four touchdowns every week. What he can’t do is lose the game for his team by turning the ball over three or four times.
The growth will come in due time for the rookie, and Williams will learn how to balance playing a clean game and protecting the football with being aggressive in the right situations and taking shots down the field to put up bigger numbers.
He doesn’t need to do that right now, though. If he continues playing the way that he did in Week 4 and adds a little bit to his game each week, the Bears will be in great shape by the end of the season. Perhaps next year, they’ll even be able to make a run at the Super Bowl.
This young team has plenty of room to grow
The passing numbers were okay if unspectacular from a quick glance at the box score. Taking a closer look under the hood, though, we can see that the majority of Williams’ passing yards were accumulated by the running back, D’Andre Swift.
This shows that the team has good play-calling to take advantage of mismatches and opportunities to gain easy yards through screen passes and other routes utilizing the running back. It also shows the value that Swift brings out of the backfield.
The more pressure Swift puts on opposing defenses in both the running and passing phases of the game, the more that defenses will have to focus on slowing him down. This will open things up more for the team’s other pass catchers to do damage.
The running game is for real
Speaking of D’Andre Swift, he also had a major impact on the ground, flirting with crossing the century mark for rushing yards. He is a talented and physical back who can win with the ground-and-pound style, running into the defense repeatedly for 3 to 4 yards while wearing them down.
He can also mix in explosive plays and take advantage of defensive lapses to break off long runs of 20 or more yards. Swift is equally adept at lowering his shoulder and falling forward for a couple of extra yards or making a cut and outrunning the defense for a big gain.
A strong running game is important for any team, but it’s especially vital for a team with a young quarterback. Swift will be able to take pressure off of Williams, allowing the rookie signal-caller to develop at his own pace.
If the team can reduce the burden on their young quarterback, he can focus on protecting the football and only making the necessary plays to move the chains while the running game does the rest.
It feels like … 1985
The legendary 1985 Bears defense was arguably the greatest defensive unit that the NFL has ever seen. This team might not quite be the ‘85 Bears, but we will likely never see anything quite like that again. In reality, they probably won’t even end up in the conversation.
It will go a long way toward the team’s success if they can even have a couple of performances that remind people of the legendary defense. Week 4 was a good step in the right direction, as the Bears’ defense got to Matthew Stafford and forced multiple turnovers.
No matter how the NFL has changed throughout the decades, one thing has remained consistent, the recipe for winning is with a young quarterback. That formula has always been a strong running game, paired with an elite defense and one or two capable pass catchers.
Bears can contend as soon as next season
The Bears have a capable running back in DeAndre Swift, they have one elite pass catcher in DJ Moore and one potential future cornerstone in Rome Odunze. Caleb Williams has talent under center and just needs to play smart and under control within the team‘s system.
The only ingredient that could be missing is an elite defense to hold other teams down. What the Bears defense showed in Week 4 is that they are capable of stepping up to the challenge and getting the job done. It will be a challenge for sure, but if the defense can do its part, this team could be something special in the near future.
