Getty Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears.
There were many takes after the Chicago Bears fell to the Houston Texans Week 2, but one of the more pertinent ones came from former NFL quarterback David Carr.
Carr, who is the older brother of current New Orleans Saints starting QB Derek, was the No. 1 draft pick for the Texans in the 2002 draft. ESPN named Carr the biggest draft bust in the history of the franchise after he compiled a record of 22-53 over his first five years in Houston. Carr’s start in the league was notoriously bad — he led the NFL in sacks three of his first four seasons.
When watching Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams get sacked seven times by a swarming Texans defense, another member of the Carr family — third brother Darren, a high school football coach — took to social media to comment on what he was seeing.
“Bears should be fined for allowing this to be his offensive line,” Darren wrote on X.
“In this stadium as well, giving me flashbacks. I’d also add, his protection schemes are being exposed as well. Bad combination. That’s on the coaching staff,” David replied.
Caleb Williams Will Need a Better O-Line to Avoid Getting Sacked the Way David Carr Did
The No. 1 overall pick for Chicago this year, Williams has struggled in his first two starts, completing 56.1% of his passes for 267 yards, no touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He has been sacked nine times. If Williams continues getting sacked at this rate, he’ll have eaten the turf nearly 80 times in 17 games.
That’s familiar territory for Carr, who was sacked 76 times as a rookie, which led the league. It’s notable the former Texans QB singled out both the offensive line and the scheme from OC Shane Waldron, and he’s not the only one. Numerous analysts and former players are criticizing Chicago for its offensive line play.
Former Indianapolis Colts All-Pro center Jeff Saturday called the Bears’ O-line play “atrocious” against Houston:
.@SaturdayJeff calls the Bears offensive line play “atrocious” as Caleb Williams was sacked seven times vs. the Texans 😯
To his credit, Williams kept going against the Texans despite being under near-constant pressure.
“I’m not Caleb’s biggest fan. But he’s battling,” Darren added in a different post.
There Were Some Positive Signs for Williams in QB’s 2nd Game
Williams started the game well against Houston, and he got the ball out quickly. Per Josh Schrock of NBC Sports, the Bears rookie had the sixth-fastest time to throw among all quarterbacks after Sunday’s loss.
“Felt better today, more in rhythm,” Williams said after the loss to Houston. “Felt more just body-wise and things like that, kind of changes the routine, changed the work out to be able to prepare and get ready for this game. Even on game day, changed some things around. So, body-wise was feeling good. Body-wise and delivery, all the different things were feeling good.”
It would help Williams if Waldron got the run game going, and it would be good to shorten some routes the receivers are running, in order to help Williams continue to get rid of the ball in a hurry.
“There were certain points where I think he did a really good job riding up in the pocket and making some good throws, so some really good positives there to look at,” head coach Matt Eberflus said about Williams.
There’s plenty Caleb Williams must get better at — his accuracy is a glaring concern right now — but there’s much more the team can do to help him avoid taking as many hits as he has been — or as many as David Carr did as a rookie.
