After two rough weeks, Caleb Williams played like he’s capable on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.

And, as a reminder, Williams is capable of special things. It was surprising how quickly that was forgotten during two poor team-wide performances against the Cardinals and Patriots, after which people used the word regression way too soon.

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As many were quick to point out this week, progress is not linear. Especially in the toughest position in a physical sport.

The change to offensive coordinator Thomas Brown was helpful. So was Williams’ willingness to run and take small profits to running backs and tight end Cole Kmet.

He was also excellent in the clutch, able to move the Bears into game-winning field-goal position despite being sacked on the first two plays of that drive.

Coach Dave Wannstedt was also encouraged by Williams’s showing as well, an appropriate take that you can see in the numbers as well.

Let’s dive into all that in this week’s Counting on Caleb:

Week 11 stat line

Box score

23-for-31 passing (74.2 comp%), 231 yds, 7.5 ypa, 0 TD, 0 INT, 95.2 passer rating; 9 rushes, 70 yards, 3 sacks, 0 fumbles

PFF Metrics

PFF Passing pressure

Kept clean (71.8%): 20-for-26, 202 yds, 7.8 ypa, 0 TD, 0 INT

Under pressure (28.2%): 3-for-5, 29 yds, 5.8 ypa, 0 TD, 0 INT

Not Blitzed (69.2%): 15-for-21, 144 yds, 6.9 ypa, 0 TD, 0 INT

When Blitzed (30.8%): 8-for-10, 87 yds, 8.7 ypa, 0 TD, 0 INT

PFF Passing direction map

Overall evaluation

Coach Wannstedt’s take

“It was encouraging to see Caleb Williams today, and there were several avenues that he went down that I thought were really improved. No. 1, let me just start with his overall energy. I mean, he went out there today and it was almost like he couldn’t wait to get back in the huddle to call the next play. And, when your quarterback is doing that, that flows through the entire offense because everyone sees that in his eyes and his voice.

“The second thing was that he made quick decisions, and he made a comment in his press conference that he was moving out of the pocket and thought that Keenan Allen was going to come open, but there was a lane to run and it took it. That was a message to me that he was like, ‘hey, I’m going to make quick decisions. I’m going to get the ball out quicker. I was going to run if it wasn’t there to scramble.’

Then they added the quarterback read, which I’m sure they had in the playbook, and that gives him an option in critical times, on third-and-1 and fourth down where he’s faking it and he’s got to make a decision. He made perfect decisions every time they ran that play. If your quarterback’s wrong, you’re going to get hit in the backfield. He was correct on those play and make some yards with his feet. Going forward, Caleb is going to want that in the next game plan for Minnesota.”

Eberflus, Williams on Caleb’s Week 10 performance

“The distribution to the skill players was really good. His timing, his progressions were really good. That was out through the whole week. His whole week was like that. His completion percentage was high during the week. His ability to adjust and change as he did in one of those last plays when they brought zero pressure, the throw to Keenan, he was able to adjust and change the protection to max protection and be able to deliver the ball on time and was able to see that. That was really good, to me. I had a meeting with him this morning and we went through all the plays, and there’s a lot of good plays in there.” – Matt Eberflus

“I think there was a few times where I saw the lane and just took it and took off. I think being more decisive as a runner. I think when I run, I think I’m pretty decisive. When it’s getting down, running, or whatever case may be. So I just saw a few lanes, wanted to help the team and find ways to help the team and those are the ways today.” – Williams on his willingness to run

Rookie rankings

Williams is among four rookie quarterbacks making regular starts for their respective teams at this time. Here are their overall stats through 11 weeks:

Jayden Daniels (Washington): 202-of-294 passing (68.7 comp%), 2,338 yds, 10 TD, 3 INT, 8.0 ypa, 99.6 passer rating; 92 rushes, 482 yds, 4 TD; 23 sacks, 3 fumbles

Bo Nix (Denver): 234-of-357 passing (65.5 comp%), 2,275 yds, 14 TD, 6 INT, 6.4 ypa, 89.3 passer rating; 63 rushes, 295 yds, 4 TD; 18 sacks, 1 fumbles

Caleb Williams (Bears): 201-for-325 passing (61.8 comp%), 2,016 yds, 9 TD, 5 INT, 6.2 ypa, 82.3 passer rating; 49 rushes for 306 yds; 41 sacks, 4 fumbles

Drake Maye (Patriots)*: 127-of-190 passing (66.8 comp%), 1,236 yds, 9 TD, 6 INT, 6.5 ypa, 87.5 passer rating; 28 rushes, 260 yds, 1 TD; 17 sacks, 3 fumble

* Maye assumed the starter’s role in Week 6

Williams on what comes next

“(USC football coach) Lincoln Riley called me the other day and just wanted to talk to me, check in and things like that. And it’s something that he told me my freshman year when I wasn’t in a position that I wanted to be in, which was, I wasn’t starting at the time. He told me to keep going. At that time I didn’t necessarily know what those two words meant. I wanted more than that. I wanted to hear a little bit more than that. That’s all he told me. I use those words to this day. Once I got the starting spot and I just kept working, kept going. That’s all you can do. That’s all we can do, is keep going, keep our head down and find ways to win. And so we’re gonna keep going now.” — Williams