Caleb Williams didn’t just return from a hamstring injury in Atlanta - he turned the Falcons’ pass rush into a non-factor.
In his first game back after missing Weeks 3 through 5, the Chicago Bears quarterback was flawless when Atlanta left him clean. According to Next Gen Stats, Williams went 24-for-24 for 248 yards on those snaps. Overall, he finished 30-of-36 for 305 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions, hit his first 12 throws, and earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
That performance now sits right at the center of Thursday night’s matchup with the Patriots, who come into Soldier Field at 4-2 along with Chicago. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. ET.
Former NFL linebacker Will Compton laid out the problem for Mike Vrabel on ESPN’s “Get Up.”
“Mike Vrabel, I don’t know how you’re going to win this football game pressuring Caleb Williams,” Compton said. He called Williams “one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the NFL against the blitz,” and suggested New England would be better served by a four-man rush. Compton did miss on one detail, saying Williams was “26 for 26” in clean pockets rather than 24-for-24.
The larger point still lands. Williams has been excellent against looks that don’t bring extra heat, completing 87.5% of his passes against non-blitz looks, which leads the league.
With no pressure in his face, he’s first again at 84.7%. Once pressure shows up, that number drops to 50.0%, though even that still ranks seventh in the NFL.
That split gives Vrabel’s defense a very specific road to follow: win up front without help, or let Williams work from a clean platform. New England needs its front four to get home on their own so the back end can stay covered. That’s a tall order against a quarterback who leads the NFL in completion percentage at 72.5% and CPOE at +9.8%.
The praise for Williams didn’t stop there. Tom Brady, who was in Atlanta for the game, slotted the Bears seventh in his FOX Sports power rankings after watching Williams put up 30 completions, control the ball for 40 minutes, and avoid interceptions.
“That’s the kind of football that brings a tear to my eye,” Brady said. “Caleb Williams, he really didn’t miss a beat. He looked great, just like he did in the opener.”
On the other side, Rob Gronkowski stayed with the Patriots when asked on “Up & Adams” with Kay Adams to choose between the No. 1 and No. 3 picks in the 2024 draft. He backed Drake Maye.
“I’m gonna go with Drake Maye. I just like the touch on his ball…” Gronkowski said.
Maye’s bigger issue right now is the line in front of him. New England lost three starting linemen against the New York Jets on Sunday: Alijah Vera-Tucker, Ben Brown and right tackle Morgan Moses. Two are out, and Moses is questionable.
Compton pointed to that as the other side of the equation.
“Drake Maye, you’re going to have to win the football game when you’re down three starting offensive linemen.”
There’s also a neat twist inside the quarterback matchup. Maye has taken note of Williams’ ability to slip away from pressure.
“He’s special in the way he can move and kinda escape and evade pressure,” Maye said of Williams.
Williams returned the favor, calling Maye’s mobility a long-running weapon and adding, “we’ve gotta be able to bottle him up.”
This will be their second NFL meeting, and Vrabel is not treating Williams lightly, even with the Bears quarterback appearing a bit slower in Atlanta.
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For New England, the test is less about whether Maye can keep making the routine plays and more about whether he can keep forcing defenses out of their comfort zone when the windows get tighter. Chicagos availability on the back end adds another layer to the matchup, and the Patriots will be watching closely to see whether their young quarterback can keep the deep-ball momentum going against a unit that has had to patch together answers in the secondary. [Read more 🡒]
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Chicago brings its own concerns, but the part of the Bears that most fits the Patriots' defensive attention is the ground game. With one key back unavailable, DAndre Swift figures to be a major part of the plan, and New England will have to be ready for a rushing attack that can control tempo if it gets rolling. For a Patriots team trying to turn a favorable spot into an actual result, the line play on both sides could end up deciding whether this one looks manageable or familiar in all the wrong ways. [Read more 🡒]
Drake Maye Is Betting Patriots Fans Will Stay Patient With A.J. Brown
A.J. Browns return from a high ankle sprain did not go the way the Patriots hoped, as the receiver was active again but came away with a quiet afternoon and a few costly miscues. After missing time, Brown was back in the lineup and immediately became a focal point in the offense, which only sharpened the attention on how he looked and how quickly he could shake off the rust.
Drake Maye is not sounding alarmed, though, and the quarterbacks confidence in Brown adds an important layer as New England turns its focus to the Bears. For the Patriots, the bigger question is whether Browns timing and comfort can sharpen quickly enough to make his return feel more like a turning point than a temporary detour. [Read more 🡒]