CHGO Digest: 'Hard work' brings Caleb Williams, Bears back to .500

Good morning, friends!

No turnovers for the offense. Two turnovers for the defense. Three punts inside the 10-yard line. Complementary football at its finest.

The Bears have playoff aspirations in 2024. They should, especially with Keenan Allen on a one-year deal, and Marcedes Lewis moments away from a mid-life crisis (congrats to Big Dog on 272 games — the most for a tight end in NFL history).

Caleb Williams’ development shouldn’t take a back seat while the team tries to win by any means necessary, but today proved the two ideas can coexist.

The Bears can still win — even in their historically hair-pulling ways — while No. 18 gets better.

— Patrick Norton

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Matt Eberflus’ takeaways after win

The same week “communication” stole the show at Halas Hall, it was another “C” word taking center stage on Sunday: complementary. We used it in half of our postgame headlines and Matt Eberflus used it in his post-game presser — for good reason.

“The complementary football of us taking the ball away on defense and then scoring seven points down there.” But it wasn’t limited to just one sequence. All three phases played a pivotal role in Sunday’s win.

Rebounding to get back to .500 is massive for the Bears before hosting the Panthers next week. Suddenly, it feels like things are back on track… even if it wasn’t perfect against Los Angeles.

• “Every single week, you have issues. Because we won the game — you still have things you need to work on,” said Eberflus after the win. “We’re going to celebrate this win for 24 hours. Then we’re going to look at the tape and are going pinpoint things we need to improve on. And there will be things we need to improve on all three phases. … That’s how you grow and get better as a football team.”

• D’Andre Swift carried the load out of the backfield, picking up 93 yards on 16 carries. What did Eberflus see that made today’s effort significantly better than the first three weeks? “Just hard work. You know, it comes down to fundamentals.” Eberflus praised the blocking, too. “The offensive line did a really good job with that today. I thought the runners did a really good job with their demeanor in terms of their pad level and knocking the pile forward.”

• The heat is off of Shane Waldron — at least for a few days. Eberflus was proud of his offensive coordinator’s ability to show signs of righting the ship. “Yeah, this is the NFL, right? It’s a one-week league. You win a couple games, and you’re all that and a bag of chips. You lose a couple, and you’re the other thing. So it’s water off a duck’s back. You’ve got to make sure that you’re focusing on your job, focusing on what you do, and making corrections.”

🔎 GO DEEPER | Nicholas Moreano on the Bears running no-huddle successfully to switch up the tempo in Sunday’s win.

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Wabash & Cermak

Whether you’re going to the game or just want to hang with DIEHARDS, join CHGO at the corner of Wabash & Cermak ahead of Week 5’s matchup against the Panthers at Soldier Field!

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Caleb Williams’ growth is evident.

55.7 in Week 1. 51.0 in Week 2. 80.8 last week. 106.6 yesterday. Despite throwing for just 157 yards, Caleb Williams is getting better and the numbers back it up. Passer rating isn’t everything, but it’s no coincidence that his best rating came in the Bears’ best win.

While fans were a little restless as the offense dinked and dunked, it worked — especially in the second half.

The idea for Caleb is similar to the game plan for Patrick Mahomes — be a great game manager and turn into Superman as needed. The Bears didn’t need Superman on Sunday, they needed Clark Kent. Williams obliged.

• Matt Eberflus was impressed with his quarterback and felt the improvement was massive despite the smaller stat line. “He was better because I thought he looked down the field for the shots. When we weren’t there, he took the check-downs, and we got a lot of yards on those. He’s going to keep improving every single week … Operation of the ball, honoring the football and taking care of the football is the number one job of the quarterback, and he did an excellent job of that today.”

• Caleb shared the sentiment about protecting the ball. “When you don’t have two turnovers, that’s the most important thing. When you have a defense like [ours], you’ve got a punter and a kicker that we have, you’re not turning the ball over, it goes a long way. You’re going to win a lot of games.” Williams knows it’s a process, too. “Steady growth throughout the season is extremely important for myself but also for the team.”

• What worked between Williams and Shane Waldron that wasn’t clicking in the last three weeks? “I think it’s just us being on the same page, and it started with the communication throughout the week, us talking about the flow of the game. And when we get in a rhythm, let it go. Things like that.”

🔎 GO DEEPER | Patrick Norton (hey, that’s me!) on the three Cs that played a big role in Sunday’s win against the Rams: complementary, communication, and continuity.

Briggs & Brown

🎧 SPOTIFY | APPLE PODCASTS | Lance Briggs & Alex Brown break down Chicago Bears win over LA Rams!

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Join us for an upcoming CHGO event!

🍻 10/6 | CHGO Bears Tailgate at Wabash & Cermak! – Week 5 vs. Panthers
🍻 11/10 | CHGO Bears Tailgate at Wabash & Cermak! — Week 10 vs. Patriots