“The moment of impact feels good. You see a quarterback alone in the pocket, and then you deliver. Of everybody, he’s the guy who you really want to get a good rip on. I mean, you beat up on everyone else every day. With a quarterback, you may only get one or two shots a game. You want to make the best of it.”
So said Ndamukong Suh, a vicious journeyman defensive tackle, who, in his 12-year, 199-game NFL career, compiled 71.5 sacks. Considering how much he claims to have appreciated these magical moments of impact, it’s fair to surmise that Suh enjoyed each and every one of them.
Through the first 16 games of his 2024 rookie season, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked a total of 67 times. It’s fair to surmise that Williams hated each and every one of them.
Critics give the rookie signal caller some of the blame for the eye-popping sack total, among them Shannon Sharpe, who said, “[Chicago’s] offensive line is not the greatest, but I do think Caleb Williams holds on to the ball entirely too long. Clearly, he’s not comfortable making the right decision, then letting the football go on cue and on rhythm.”
No argument here. Except it’s possible that Sharpe’s giving Chicago’s O-line too much credit.
Down (and Out) in the Trenches
Haphazardly assembled by Bears general manager Ryan Poles — a former offensive lineman himself — Chicago’s justifiably maligned front five hasn’t done Williams any favors.
As per Pro Football Reference, the former Heisman winner has been pressured on 22.8% of his dropbacks — over one percentage point above the NFL average — and has been hurried 46 times, the fourth most in the league. The fact that he’s been blitzed more than any quarterback (161) plays a role in all of this, but what came first, the blitzes or the stats?
Making things more problematic for Williams, Chicago’s O-line has suffered through injuries galore, with three full-time or part-time starters (Ryan Bates, Braxton Jones, Bill Murray) currently on injured reserve and one underperforming early-season starter (Nate Davis) currently on the street. Chicago’s lack of continuity pops off the film, so it’s inevitable that opposing defensive coordinators always have and always will bring the house.
The line does have one semi-bright spot in Darnell Wright. The Bears’ sole first-round lineman has had an OK sophomore year — PFF grades him out at 78.5 (16th out of 135 tackles) — but one above-average trenchman doth not a quality O-line make.
Just ask Caleb.
Tasting the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field
With the first selection of the 2002 NFL Draft, the expansion Houston Texans made quarterback David Carr their maiden pick. Behind an expansion-level offensive line, Carr was sacked an NFL-record 76 times, breaking Randall Cunningham’s 1986 record of 72. In 2005, Carr ate grass 68 more times on his way to a career total of 303 sacks suffered, an average of 30.3 takedowns a year.
To keep from eclipsing Carr’s record — a near-Joe DiMaggio-level number that few thought ever would or could ever be broken — Williams will need to dodge nine sacks during the Bears’ season-closer in Green Bay.
That won’t be a problem. Until it is.
The Packers’ defense has posted games of eight (Week 3 at Tennessee) and seven (Week 15 at Seattle) sacks, while Chicago has allowed seven or more sacks in three outings, the highlight (or lowlight) being a nine-sack disaster in their Nov. 10 loss to New England.
There is a precedent of sorts, so Williams might find himself doing some record-breaking feasting on the Lambeau turf.
As of this writing, the Bears are 3.5-point underdogs to Green Bay, and the Packers need this game for playoff positioning, so we’ll likely see a highly motivated Pack defense doing some hardcore Bear hunting.
And Caleb Williams will be very much in the crosshairs. Hopefully, for the sake of his body and mind, he’ll avoid getting the McNabb/Moon/Mariota treatment.