Back-to-back wins after rough start have Williams, Bears breathing easier at bye

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears headed into their bye breathing easier, with back-to-back wins and a .500 record.

They'll take that after a rough start to the season.

“I think the first four games builds confidence, and I understand the first two were losses," Williams said. “I think it builds a lot of momentum and confidence. But ... we’ve got to go look at everything and be truthful for ourselves.”

The Bears (2-2) have room to improve. But they're in a far better place than they were two weeks ago after squeezing out a nailbiter at Las Vegas, with their prized quarterback orchestrating a late touchdown drive and Josh Blackwell blocking a last-minute field goal to preserve a 25-24 victory.

That came on the heels of a 31-14 win over Dallas at home in which Williams — the No. 1 overall draft pick last year — tied a career high with four touchdown passes and Ben Johnson got his first win as an NFL head coach.

Considering how the season began, the Bears are in a decent spot. After all, they blew an 11-point lead in prime time against Minnesota and then got blown out 52-21 by the Lions, nearly matching a franchise record for points allowed in Johnson's return to Detroit. They'll try to keep it going next week at Washington, where last season's collapse began following a bye, ultimately costing coach Matt Eberflus his job.

Williams continues to adjust to Johnson's system.

“Just being more comfortable with everything that Ben and the guys have thrown at me, just being able to grasp it all,” he said. “But also be able to go out there and play a game and play it well for the team. That’s most important.”

While Williams' development and ability to solidify a position that has long haunted Chicago remains the big storyline, it's not the only one. After rebuilding the interior of the offensive line by trading for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson and signing center Drew Dalman, the Bears have issues at both tackle spots.

Johnson switched things up last week, giving left tackle Braxton Jones the hook in the second quarter. Theo Benedet, making his first career start, moved from right tackle to the left side. Rookie Ozzy Trapilo came in at right tackle and played 40 snaps with starter Darnell Wright missing the game because of an elbow injury.

Jones, a fifth-round draft pick out of Southern Utah in 2022, has 44 starts for the Bears. He wasn't announced as the left tackle until the week leading up to the opener, after competing in training camp with Trapilo, Benedet and second-year pro Kiran Amegadjie.

Benedet, a second-year player from the University of British Columbia, performed better than Jones last week. Trapilo, a second-rounder from Boston College, did a better job keeping Max Crosby in check and seemed to confirm that he is indeed a right tackle rather than a left tackle, at least for now.

All of which raises another question: What do the Bears do when Wright returns?

Wright has been used exclusively on the right side since the Bears drafted him 10th overall in 2023, but if they want to play him and Trapilo together, a switch to the left side might be in order. If the Bears opt not to move Wright, then what does that mean for Trapilo — particularly if they don't think he can play on the left side?

“I think we need to look at all four games so far as a whole,” Johnson said. “We’ll get a good feel here over the next few days of where we’re at schematically: What are we doing well? What aren’t we doing well? And I think we’ll really have a good grasp of what we need to do going forward. It’s too early for me to tell you that.”

The Bears rank 24th in the NFL in rushing and are averaging just 3.8 yards per carry. They're not getting big gains from their running backs, with veteran D'Andre Swift averaging 3.3 yards per run and rookie Kyle Monangai at 3.6 yards.

Chicago isn't stopping the run, either.

The Bears have allowed a league-worst 658 yards rushing, with Las Vegas racking up 240. They hadn't given up that many in a game since Detroit went for 265 in Week 17 of the 2022 season.

“A lot of it also is not getting enough back penetration with the front four, front seven, whatever it may be,” safety Kevin Byard said. “And then obviously, on the back end, guys like myself included, when those runs do break out, we need to be able to get those guys down.”