QB Caleb Williams flashes magic, eventually, in Bears' victory

The magic materialized, eventually.

For 1½ quarters Saturday, Caleb Williams looked awfully similar to the ghosts of Bears quarterbacks past, stumbling through three consecutive three-and-outs, being flagged for intentional grounding and taking a sack. When he finally led the Bears to a field goal by Cairo Santos, he was aided in part by a 43-yard pass-interference penalty on a deep shot to Tyler Scott.

Then, with 2:40 left in the first half and the ball at his 48, Williams flashed the sparkle that has so attracted the Bears — and their fans — to him. He dropped back, pirouetted left and rolled toward the sideline. On the run, he launched a deep ball down the sideline to fellow rookie Rome Odunze, who was tackled 45 yards later.

Three plays later, Williams did something he hadn’t done in his debut against the Bills: He scored a touchdown. On third-and-goal from the 7, he rolled right, turned back toward the left sideline and looked downfield. At the 15, still drifting left, he decided to sprint up the sideline, and he reached the end zone without being touched.

“It’s like, ‘Ooh,’ ” Odunze said after the Bears’ 27-3 victory against the Bengals. “It’s magical what he’s doing back there in that backfield.”

Cornerback Kyler Gordon used the same word.

“Special, magical,” he said. “He’s going to do a lot of great things over here.”

The No. 1 overall pick in the draft was done for the day, staking the Bears to a 10-0 lead after going 6-for-13 for 75 yards. He left enough magic dust on the otherwise soggy Soldier Field turf to keep Bears fans excited for the Sept. 8 season opener.

On social media, Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill hinted that Williams reminded him of his former Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes. Told of it, Williams smiled but was careful not to lean into any comparison.

It’s only the preseason, and he’s just a rookie coming off scoring 10 points against backups.

“It’s respect,” he said. “It’s cool and all. But I’m Caleb Williams. Patrick Mahomes is Patrick Mahomes. Tyreek Hill is Tyreek Hill. Much love to them. . . . We’re here to win games for the Chicago Bears.”

The Bears are 3-0 this preseason entering the finale Thursday in Kansas City. Though Matt Eberflus said the coaching staff will discuss who will start, Williams doesn’t figure to play. The Bears have said they want to give him 45 to 55 snaps in preseason games. He’s at 41 plays.

Williams has gone 10-for-20 for 170 yards with no touchdown passes. He has been sacked once and has a 79.2 passer rating. In seven possessions, he has led the Bears to three field goals and one touchdown with no turnovers.

Eberflus said he has learned from watching Williams play in a game setting.

“He always rises to the challenge,” he said.

Still, it was Williams’ struggles for most of the first half that actually left Eberflus feeling optimistic.

“He had a nice, professional day at quarterback,” he said. “It’s not always going to be rosy and you make all your completions and you hit these big chunk plays to start out. . . .

“His disposition, when he had a little adversity, was excellent.”

In the NFL, some days you’re posting a 101.8 passer rating against the Bills’ starters, as Williams did last week. Others, you’re getting outplayed by someone named Logan Woodside through the first 20 minutes, as Williams was Saturday.

Eberflus couldn’t tell the difference, the way Williams behaved on the sideline.

“That’s being a quarterback,” he said. “You have to be a leader. He demonstrated that by the way his demeanor was and the way he had poise and the way he came back. Eventually things are going to track.”

Williams and Eberflus have spent time during the week detailing the impact of a quarterback’s body language on the rest of the team.

“I think in the offense, between the guys and myself, we have an understanding of excellence and perfection that we know we, obviously, will never be able to fully accomplish,” Williams said. “But with that mindset, it only pushes us to be better. It also allows me to kind of be easy and be calm, and when it’s time for me to speak up, when it’s time for me to say something, I’ll be right there to do so.”

The Bears’ first drive saw Williams throw incomplete to Keenan Allen and Gerald Everett before throwing the ball away out of bounds from the pocket — and being flagged for intentional grounding.

On the second drive, the Bears ran the ball twice before Williams threw a three-yard pass short of the sticks on third down. On the third, he threw a nine-yard pass to Cole Kmet on first-and-10 before Khalil Herbert was stuffed for a one-yard loss. On third-and-two, he threw an incompletion on a slant to DJ Moore.

“I gave up a sack that wasn’t the O-line’s fault; I was in the pocket too long, trying to do too much,” Williams said. “Other times, something always went wrong. There may have been a flag or the false start we had that I kind of rushed the cadence, and the linemen tried to anticipate that. A couple of the other things, small things that always add up to be big things. . . .

“It always adds up. It’s super-minute, super-small things, but in football, you only have split seconds, and those little things add up. . . . We’re going to keep working to be perfect.”