Commanders' clutch play to seal Week 5 win might give Caleb Williams extra motivation to improve a key weakness before Week 6

With three batted passes in that game, Williams is now up to seven batted passes on the line of scrimmage this season, which is tied for the most among QBs, even after the bye week. Last season, it was a similar concern considering Williams' 12 batted passes was tied for the 6th-most among QBs.

Now, let's look ahead to next Monday's opponent in the Washington Commanders and analyze why this could be a major concern. This season, the Commanders' defense has batted down three passes at the line of scrimmage (two by Daron Payne and one by Jer'Zhan Newton).

Newton's batted down pass occurred on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers and turned out to be a clutch play that essentially sealed the game. With the Chargers in the red zone, Newton stuck a hand up and tipped quarterback Justin Herbert's pass and cornerback Mike Sainristil came away with the interception. It's worth noting Herbert is 6'6 and Williams is 6'1.

A game-changing play like that is the last thing the Bears need to be worried about happening on Monday Night Football. And for the Commanders, I guarantee this is something the DL room will be looking at heavily going into this game in hopes of disrupting the passing game and trying to come away with easy takeaways.

The best way to combat this issue is by designing plays for Williams to use his mobility and make throws outside of the pocket. But, let's be honest, that's not something you can draw up every single passing play. It's on Williams to do some more self-scouting and see how he can avoid these types of plays from happening while throwing the ball from the pocket.

It'll be a big thing to watch and see how he improves in that area coming out of the bye week.