After being sacked a league-high 68 times as a rookie in 2024, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams entered last season focused on reducing that number.
Starting all 17 games for the second straight year, he accomplished that goal, taking just 24 sacks. The decrease in sack percentage from 10.8 in 2024 to 4.1 in 2025 was the largest improvement from one season to the next by any quarterback since at least the 1970 NFL/AFL merger.
Entering this year, Williams sought to increase his 58.1 completion percentage from last season, which ranked 32nd in the league. Through three starts this year, the 2024 No. 1 overall pick leads the NFL with a 72.5 completion percentage.
"I said that I could do it, and we're going to keep figuring out how to keep getting to that," Williams said. "Part of it is just building confidence in myself, building confidence in the playbook, building confidence in my wide receivers and where they'll be, even if I can't see them. It's putting the ball where they will be and just trusting them. That's what we've been doing, that's what I've been trying to do.
"I keep preaching to them, 'Get open, get open, get open; I'll put the ball there. Go catch it. When the ball's in the air, it's yours.' Going to keep preaching that. Going to keep trying to give them runners' balls to be able to keep them on the move and all that. Proud of myself. It's a long season. We've got to keep executing. We've got to keep getting better. I've got to keep getting better. And from there we'll see how it ends at the end of the year."
Williams also credited advice he received from Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees before the Bears' regular-season opener against the Panthers in Charlotte. Brees, who was serving as a TV color analyst for the contest, told Williams that finding just three more completions per game is the difference between a 60% and 70% passer.
During Sunday's 31-23 win in Atlanta, Williams completed 30 of 36 passes for 305 yards with one touchdown and a 111.2 passer rating. His 83.3 completion percentage was the highest in a game in Bears history among quarterbacks with at least 30 attempts.
Williams felt his efficiency resulted from accurate passes that put receivers in position to gain yards after the catch, good footwork and getting the ball out of his hands.
"[I] was just trying to stay focused on those things," he said. "And then when the shots are there, it's almost every pass play we almost have at least a shot or an alert shot in each of them. So, when they give us the shots, let's take it. But if not, let's get the ball to our guys, get the ball in their hands and let them go."
According to Next Gen Stats, Williams completed 24 of 24 passes for 248 yards from a clean pocket, the most attempts without an incompletion from a clean pocket in a game by an NFL quarterback since at least 2018.
Asked what that stat tells him, Williams said: "That tells me shout out to the O-line. That tells me shout out to the running backs for when they had to pick up [blitzes], they picked up and picked up well. Then shout out to the wide receivers for running great routes and being decisive in their routes and allowing me to see that and give them a good ball."
Luther Burden III led the Bears in receiving in Atlanta with eight catches for 95 yards, season highs in both categories.
"He's a problem child, and so we want to get him the ball as much as possible, and that's as simple as possible," Williams said. "That's always a mindset whenever he runs a great route, is trying to get him the ball, and that's it, really, because he's explosive with the ball in his hands. He makes people miss. He creates a lot of yards after catch for us, and he makes contested catches."
Tight end Colston Loveland matched a season-high with six receptions and established a season-high with 65 yards and one touchdown, a 14-yarder on the game's opening possession that gave the Bears a 7-0 lead.
"He gets open," Williams said. "He's going to keep getting open and I'm going to keep feeding him the ball. That's my mindset. Like I said [after the game], I challenged these guys for when I was coming back. They're the best in the world. 'BIW' is what I tell them: Best in the World: 'I'm going to keep putting the ball up in the air, you keep making catches, and from there we'll keep growing, we'll keep trusting each other.'
"Colston did just that. The first touchdown back [after Williams missed three games with a hamstring injury] was to Colston. It's just me putting the ball in the air in that situation. He took the hit, secured the ball, touchdown. We celebrate together. It was fun."
