Caleb Williams had Keenan Allen wide open on the first play of the game, with the veteran receiver cutting off his route to become available for an easy gain.

It was a throw the Bears rookie quarterback makes easily, but this one sailed on him for an incompletion.

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“That was really frustrating,” Williams said a day after Sunday’s 34-17 loss to the Detroit Lions. “Keenan ran a great route. He pushed – he didn’t push off – and ran up, pushed up on his route and then snapped it off. The ball was just, it had a little too much juice and it was too far behind him so he couldn’t react. It’s frustrating. Definitely frustrating.”

That misfire led to a quick opening drive, which launched yet another slow start that doomed the Bears. Later in the first half, though, Williams got hot. The USC/Oklahoma product started making big-time throws that led to a cushy stat line, though most of it came with the Bears down multiple scores.

There were plenty of positives to take from the performance, though the Bears need him to activate earlier, so a performance like this will carry more weight.

Let’s break down Williams latest performance — here’s what we thought last week — with traditional stats, metrics and insights from Williams, interim head coach Thomas Brown and our Marquee Sports Network analysts.  

Week 16 stat line

Box score

26-for-40 passing (65.0 comp%), 334 yds, 8.4 ypa, 2 TD, 0 INT, 107.7 passer rating; 6 rushes, 34 yards, 2 sacks, 2 fumble

PFF Metrics

PFF Passing pressure

Kept clean (63.0%): 22-for-29, 288 yds, 9.9 ypa, 2 TD, 0 INT

Under pressure (36.4%): 4-for-11, 46 yds, 4.2 ypa, 0 TD, 0 INT

Not Blitzed (56.5%): 17-for-22, 202 yds, 9.2 ypa, 2 TD, 0 INT

When Blitzed (43.5%): 9-for-18, 132 yds, 7.3 ypa, 0 TD, 0 INT

PFF Passing direction map

Overall evaluation

Coach Wannstedt’s take

“As I look at Caleb’s performance, yes, there were no interceptions – you love that about him. He’s putting up good numbers with the yardage and the completion percentage. You love that about him. The biggest thing that I see, I think we see the potential to do everything the Bears are asking. Let’s give him a little bit more of the high percentage throws. Let’s give him more playactions and opportunities to throw deep three or four times a game. Let’s roll him out of the pocket a little bit. Let’s use his athletic ability.

“If they did a few things like that, in the coming week, he’s going to execute it well and I think it’s going to give the offense a chance to get a little bit of juice, and early. I use the word early against Seattle, so they can put some points on the board.” — Coach Wannstedt

Rome Odunze on Williams’ Week 15 performance

“He was doing a great job facilitating the ball, getting it to his playmakers. Especially using his feat as well when he needed to. Had a bunch of spectacular plays out there. Just have to continue to do that consistently and get the ball in the end zone.” – Rome Odunze

Rookie rankings

Williams is among four rookie quarterbacks making regular starts for their respective teams at this time. Here are their overall stats through 16 weeks:

Jayden Daniels (Washington): 301-of-431 passing (69.7 comp%), 3,303 yds, 22 TD, 8 INT, 7.6 ypa, 101.3 passer rating; 128 rushes, 737 yds, 6 TD; 38 sacks, 5 fumbles

Bo Nix (Denver): 306-of-507 passing (64.3 comp%), 3,235 yds, 22 TD, 11 INT, 6.4 ypa, 87.7 passer rating; 78 rushes, 352 yds, 4 TD; 22 sacks, 2 fumbles

Caleb Williams (Bears): 314-for-505 passing (62.2 comp%), 3.271 yds, 19 TD, 5 INT, 6.5 ypa, 89.3 passer rating; 73 rushes for 443 yds; 60 sacks, 8 fumbles

Drake Maye (Patriots)*: 213-of-315 passing (67.6 comp%), 2,159 yds, 14 TD, 10 INT, 6.9 ypa, 88.6 passer rating; 48 rushes, 389 yds, 2 TD; 29 sacks, 8 fumbles

Michael Penix (Falcons)**: 21-of-32 passing (65.6 comp%), 240 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT, 7.5 ypa, 75.0 passer rating; 4 rushes, 3 yds, 0 TD; 1 sack, 8 fumbles

* Maye assumed the starter’s role in Week 6; ** Penix assumed the starter’s role in Week 16

Williams, Brown on what comes next

“Keep swinging. Shooters shoot. He definitely shoots, which I appreciate. I’m going to continue to give him opportunities to shoot. I think being able to understand just the rhythm and timing within how plays develop, but also just taking the extra effort to go through a couple different plays from a practice standpoint. There’s always going to be some carry over when it comes to not just a pass game but the run game. The more things we have time on task with, the better execution you have and so that play’s been up throughout the entire year. With a number of different formations. The more you rep things, the better you get at it.” — Brown

“There’re so many different situations that happen throughout games that you can learn from and that I’ve learned from this year. Like earlier (Sunday’s) game, we went to empty, it was the fourth down that we ended up going for it. Threw it to Keenan and I’m on third down, and he ended up getting a positive gain, enough for us to go for it. That’s one that was pointed out to me in the game about playing efficient football. Playing and understanding the situation and understanding, not trying to make a big play when defenses are trying to drop out and things like that. I think every snap for myself and for this team is valuable.” — Williams