LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Caleb Williams doesn’t have to see pressure to feel it. 

The Chicago Bears’ quarterback has made the jobs of opposing defensive players difficult with his ability to avoid sacks. 

Williams isn’t even quite sure how he escapes pressure when defenses blitz off his blind side. 

“I don’t know, maybe a sixth sense kind of thing,” Williams said. “I have no idea. In the moment, in those times, I just feel a little color or maybe feel the tackle or something getting edged and just try and get out of it, make a play.”

According to Pro Football Focus, Williams has forced 26 missed tackles – the most among quarterbacks this season. The second-highest mark is 17, shared by Jaxson Dart, Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen. 

The chart below illustrates pressure rate over expected (PROE) “relative to how long QBs hold the ball, and the % of all QB pressures positions are charged with.”

Williams has the lowest (PROE) among all quarterbacks this season, and he has only been responsible for 16% of his total pressures. The second-year quarterback is allowing plays to stay alive even when the defense has the right call. Through the first nine games, Williams has been sacked just 14 times. During his rookie season, that number was 38 in the same number of games. 

“It’s huge,” Williams said on cutting down the sack number. “Part of it is the guys I’ve got up front; they’ve been awesome for me and for us. Kudos to them and love those guys up front. Then the other half of it is I think coach’s emphasis on me getting the ball out. Then when it’s time to go make a play, make the plays, when it’s time to throw it away, throw it away. So just doing a better job with that overall this year. I’ve got to keep getting better with that and try and lower the sacks.”

In the Bears’ 24-20 win over the New York Giants, Williams had to avoid pressure throughout the game at Soldier Field. The Giants forced 16 total pressures, but didn’t register a sack. Head coach Ben Johnson described Williams as Houdini after the game. 

And it’s that magic that can help expand what this offense is capable of doing. When Johnson watches plays unfold with defenders zeroing in on his quarterback, the Bears’ head coach shares what he thinks in those situations.  

“That’s the beauty behind what we have going right now is, as a coaching staff, we try to get that primary receiver open as much as we can,” Johnson said. “Sometimes the defense doesn’t cooperate with you. And so Caleb knows that if we can’t get one to two or if he’s feeling the pressure, he can still make us right and we can still have a good place. So, I think it’s a cool thing about where we’re at right now.”

Williams’ ability to scramble allows for bigger plays to become open downfield. In the fourth quarter against the Giants, Williams felt pressure off his blind side, reversed left and fired a pass to Colston Loveland for a 20-yard pick on third-and-10. Five plays later, the Bears scored a touchdown. 

“At the end of the day, I think it’s just find space, get in phase with your quarterback, make sure he can deliver you a friendly ball, come back friendly if you got someone near you,” Loveland told Marquee Sports Network. “But really, shout-out to Caleb for seeing it.”

[READ: Bears’ Colston Loveland, Darnell Wright analyze explosive play from Week 10 win]

The Bears’ rookie tight end also mentioned the team has been working on scramble drills during training camp, and it paid off in the moment. 

Now, there are still times when Williams can stay in the pocket a tick longer and deliver a pass downfield before evading the rush. It’s something Johnson and Williams acknowledged during their Wednesday press conferences at Halas Hall. 

“It’s those things that are the next level,” Williams said. “Something that I talk about with, coach all the time is that that’s the next level. I do have this ability to get out of stuff, but also there’s going to be times where it’s just drop back and let’s deliver a ball. I’ve done it every so often but just doing that more often. Finding the balance is tough, but that’s what we’re searching for.”