For just the third time in the Matt Eberflus era, the Chicago Bears have won back-to-back games, thanks in large part to an offense that is coming together before our very eyes. Sure, a defense that dating back to last season hasn't allowed 20 points to an opponent in eight straight games deserves some love too, but that has remained a calling card in the Windy City for decades. But to have a rookie quarterback taking command of an offense that's loaded with playmakers? Well, that's definitely new.
It took some time, but Caleb Williams has begun taking ownership of this Bears offense. It's been a point of his development over the last few weeks, and thus far, it looks like he's been on a drastic and linear path of improvement. What accounts for this growth? Well, according to DJ Moore, it's been Williams' willingness to get a little “bossy” with his veteran teammates.
There's typically a negative connotation with the word “bossy,” so Moore made sure to clarify that he was actually complimenting his quarterback when he said this.
“What I mean by bossy is if we don't hit something in practice, he's going to tell us how we need to run it,” Moore said, per Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com. “And we just look at him and be like, ‘OK.' When we get out there for the game, just make sure you work, because he's gonna have some words for you if you don't. That's him being a leader. He's a little bossy. It's the little bro.”
When asked if this is what he wants out of his quarterback, Moore explained that he's more than willing to take a backseat to a ‘bossy' quarterback if it's going to improve the on-field product.
“You do want to see that. Like I said, he's like little bro. So you're looking at him like, ‘Dude, don't be talking to me like that,'” Moore said with a smile. “But it's like, I understand, because we really need to connect on that. And that's what we did this past week. So I took his advice. I listened. Older bro had to take a back seat for a second.”
Caleb Williams, DJ Moore connection sparking Bears offensive burst
Since older bro started taking a backseat to little bro, the Bears offense has begun to find it's form. In the last two games, a pair of wins over the Rams and Panthers, DJ Moore has hauled in 8 receptions for 127 yards and three touchdowns. It's looked like Moore and Williams have been playing together for years, but in reality, this is an on-field partnership still in the infancy stage of it's development.
It took Moore some time to come around on his rookie quarterback. When the Bears were still weighing the decision of whether to hang onto Justin Fields or move on from the 2021 1st Round pick, Moore was candid about his preference to continue playing with Fields, even going as far as saying that nobody in the Bears locker room wanted Fields to be traded. It didn't help matters that Moore was very clearly frustrated with the state of the Bears offense and his role in it in the early weeks of the 2024 season.
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But with a dominant performance against his former team — the team that gifted the Chicago Bears both Moore and Williams — it seems as if those concerns will remain in the past. It helps too that Williams is comfortable talking about the “bossy” label, even if he'd prefer to call it “sassy.”
“Certain people you can be a little bossy with, certain people you have to talk very monotone and in control of yourself, and other times there's people that you can just kind of lash out at. I don't really lash out much. That's not really my vibe,” Williams said, explaining that learning there are different ways to talk to different teammates has been a big part of his growth.
“Understanding that even when I'm frustrated about maybe a drive or a play that we had that we may have messed up or whatever the case may have been, understanding that there's another drive coming, there's another part of the season that we have to focus on also. Being able to go over and talk to them and understand how and what they need to hear and then from there moving on.”
The Bears will move on to a game in London against the Jacksonville Jaguars, hoping that they'll be able to bring a three-game winning streak with them back to Chicago.
