Caleb Williams, Bears showing that a new day is dawning in Chicago

If the Bears played this way everyone On Sunday morning, Chicagoans could start the week with a quick step and a song in their hearts. Hey, if the Bears played like this every Tuesday at midnight local time, fans would be tired but delighted.

In these parts, you can savor a Bears victory over any team at any time because success has been so elusive for so long.

That's why Chicago's 35-16 loss is disastrous. Jacksonville at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was an extremely welcome start to the day for everyone whose happiness depends on the Bears (4-2), who start their bye week on a wave of football ecstasy.

Breakfast with the Teddy Bears has never tasted so good.

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As usual, all eyes were on rookie Caleb Williams, who overcame a bad early interception and had four touchdown passes, including 226 passing and 56 rushing yards. Veteran receiver Keenan Allen had two touchdown catches, as did veteran tight end Farmer Cole, who was also pressed into service on long snapper duties.

Let's talk about that last one for a moment.

I don't know if any Bears player has ever caught a touchdown pass on a long snap, but I found two related fun Kevin Fishbain-style facts.

Long snapper Patrick Mannelly had one pass in his 16-year career, and that was on a trick play by Brian Urlacher, of all people, in Champaign, Illinois.

After a fake field goal in the second quarter of a 34-21 loss to the Packers on October 7, 2002, Mannelly found himself at center in a “swinging goal” formation and was unable to catch a “pass” from a Bears defender who got the ball on a flea throw from receiver Marty Booker.

“It worked great in practice,” Mannelly told me.

As for other touchdown snappers, during a cursory search I came across Hall of Famer Clyde “Bulldog” Turner, an all-down legend from the 1940s who served as the team's long touchdown snapper, as well as a center and defender . On December 3, 1944, Turner ran for a 48-yard touchdown in a 49-7 win over World War II-era Card-Pitt. I assume he interrupted that match too.

Back to the present day, Kmet's double work day became necessary early in the game due to long snapper Scott Daly being injured. Kmet did well, although his snap was a little too strong after Cairo Santos' missed field goal in the fourth minute. We'll give Kmet a pass on this one.

History from the side of Cole Kmet —

Richard Hightower: “Hey Cole, Scott's hurt.”

Kmet: „Tyler Scott?”

Hightower: “No, Scott Daly. You have to take a long time to snap.

Kmet: “And… oh cholera.”

— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) October 13, 2024

The Bears played a strong, all-around game in all three phases, erasing a terrible start that had you (or at least I) thinking the Jaguars were going to steal one of their own away from home.

But Williams led the offense to five touchdowns for the second straight game, and the Bears defense forced two tackles and held an opponent to under 20 points for the fifth time in six games. An outlier? When the Stallions won 21-16. The defense obviously travels. Jacksonville helped the Bears by issuing eight penalties (the Bears got two for 10 yards) and playing mostly uninspired football.

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Before you start pricing out Super Bowl venues in New Orleans, important context to keep in mind is that the Jaguars stink and their pass defense is terrible, much like Carolina, which Williams blew last week.

And while the Bears defense has been good, it's getting weaker. Defensive back Jaquan Brisker missed the trip to London with a concussion and Kyler Gordon left Sunday's game early with a hamstring injury.

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On the other hand, the offense looks pretty good. Maybe coordinator Shane Waldron doesn't need to look for a real estate agent just yet. While Waldron (and to some extent head coach Matt Eberflus) have the most secure jobs, Williams is under more scrutiny than any other young point guard in the league, simply because of the context of his employment. Bears QB is No. 1 Brown QB is a cursed position, and Williams is the third rookie the Bears have tried at the position since 2017. Being No. 1 overall comes with its own pressure and history.

Williams raised eyebrows around the league when he started slowly, but showed why he could be very different from his local predecessors. He has thrown for 1,050 yards in the last four games with nine touchdowns and three interceptions (only one in the last three games). An eye exam will show that he or she looks good and sometimes great. His interception trying to go deep DJ Moore in the first half was negated by all of his nice throws, none of which were perhaps better than Allen's catch for the second touchdown.

Shout out to the 18% of people who started Keenan Allen this week pic.twitter.com/FG79iiUCxa

— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) October 13, 2024

Mitch Trubisky set a Bears rookie record with 2,193 passing yards (in 12 games) in 2017. Williams should beat that mark before Thanksgiving. Charlie O'Rourke holds the Chicago rookie TD record of, uh, 11, set in 1942, and Williams is just two away from tying it.

Being the Bears' all-time winningest rookie quarterback is just the first (small) step towards bigger goals. But it was a real pleasure to watch him develop in real time.

The good news and bad news for Williams and the Bears is that the easy part of the schedule is over. After the farewell, the Commanders play in the suburbs of Maryland. Williams, coming from the DC era, vs. Jayden Daniels headlines there. The Bears will then play an away game in Arizona and a home game against the Patriots before a treacherous six-game homestand against the NFC North (with an away game at 49ers Stadium squeezed in there). That's where we'll find out what Williams and the Bears are made of.

But for now, Chicagoans can rest and feel happy for once that the Bears still have plenty of football games ahead of them.