Kyler Gordon moves to head of Ryan Poles' 2nd-round class

The Chicago Bears stalled out on Thursday Night Football, losing 6-3 to the Seattle Seahawks. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams blamed himself for the horrendous showing as the Bears fell to 4-12. Williams absorbed seven more sacks in Week 17, bringing his league-leading total to 67 sacks with 459 yards lost.

Despite the team’s obvious struggles with pass protection, Williams refused to allow his offensive line to take the blame. The first-year passer acknowledged that his play has contributed to the high sack total, according to Bears reporter Chris Emma on X. Williams also noted that Chicago’s linemen have played through injuries this season. “The stupid connotation behind my offensive line being bad is not the truth,” Williams added.

The Bears selected Williams with the first overall pick in the 2024 draft out of USC. He’s part of a strong quarterback draft class that includes fellow first-round picks Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye and Bo Nix. While Daniels and Nix have both had successful debut seasons in the league, Williams has struggled in Chicago.

Williams has completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 3,393 yards with 19 touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s also added 78 carries for 479 rushing yards. However, the Bears have the worst overall offense in football and the 29th ranked passing attack.

Caleb Williams doesn’t blame Bears’ linemen for his league-high sack total

Williams has shown signs of promise in his rookie season. He tied the Bears’ franchise record with four 300-yard passing games. And Williams has done well avoiding turnovers. He nearly joined Tom Brady in an exclusive club by going 10 straight games without an interception. But Williams fell just short, getting picked on a 4th and 10 prayer against the Seahawks that ended his streak at nine games and sealed the win for Seattle.

The brutal interception capped an awful night for Williams. He went 16/28 for 122 scoreless yards while adding 37 yards on five carries as Chicago lost its 10th straight game.

While the jury is still out on Williams, particularly after Thursday night’s dud, the young passer could certainly benefit from better coaching. The Bears fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron after Week 10’s loss to the New England Patriots. Then Chicago ran Matt Eberflus out of town after his awful clock management was witnessed in a nationally televised loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving.

The Bears would do well to hire Ben Johnson as their next head coach. Chicago has emerged as the frontrunner to land the Lions' offensive coordinator, who will be a hot commodity when the coaching cycle kicks off following the end of the regular season.