Did Caleb Williams discover cause of accuracy issues in Bears' loss to Vikings?

While speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson acknowledged that second-year quarterback Caleb Williams produced "mixed results" in the club's 27-24 loss to the rival Minnesota Vikings on Monday night. 

On Wednesday, Williams touched upon the accuracy issues he endured following halftime of Monday's contest. 

What went wrong with Caleb Williams' mechanics vs. Vikings

"Some of it, the coming-in-spurts aspect of it, I think that came from something as simple as the footwork, just being on top of that and being smooth with that," Williams explained, as shared by The Athletic's Jon Greenberg. "Even if the footwork was right, it’s just being smooth with it. Not being hesitant, letting it rip. I think that’s always something that quarterbacks need to have in their mind and something that I always try to have in my mind: Be decisive. Decisiveness always wins. When you start being hesitant and things like that, you start missing passes, easy passes that you feel that you don’t typically miss."

Williams completed 13-of-16 passes in the first half of Monday's matchup against the Vikings. However, he then went an unimpressive 8-of-19 over the final two quarters of play. 

On at least two occasions, Williams failed to hit a wide-open DJ Moore inside the Minnesota 20-yard line. One of those passes should have resulted in a Chicago touchdown with roughly 2:30 remaining in regulation.

Pro Football Reference stats show that Williams ended Week 1 of the season ranked 13th in the league with a 63.8 adjusted QBR, 21st with an 86.6 passer rating, 27th with a 60 percent completion percentage and 16th with 210 passing yards. Needless to say, Chicago fans expected better from the first overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, who is supposed to make a significant leap while working with Johnson.

Caleb Williams remains confident he'll prove doubters wrong

"Some of it is just trusting and believing," Williams added about working to improve. "I think that’s the biggest part of it, is being able to trust coach Johnson and being able to trust my teammates. Keep doing what I was doing in the first half (Monday). Just taking what the defense gives me and moving the ball down the field and being decisive. There was a lot of positive that came out of that."

The Bears will face the 0-1 Detroit Lions in Week 2 on Sunday. Johnson previously served as Detroit's offensive coordinator under head coach Dan Campbell, meaning Williams should find himself serving as a central piece in what could be an interesting chess match involving the two head coaches.