Bears quarterback Caleb Williams wants the team to score points every time they have the ball and they came close to doing that against the Panthers in Week 1.
Things could be a bit tougher this week. The Bears will be hosting the Vikings and their defensive coordinator Brian Flores can make things very difficult on opposing quarterbacks. Flores can deploy a heavy load of blitzes — he sent extra rushers nearly 80 percent of the time in last Sunday’s win over Green Bay — or he can show pressure only to dial it back at the snap in an effort to confuse quarterbacks.
Williams has had mixed success against the Vikings in the past and called preparing to face a Flores-led defense a “big challenge” in his Wednesday press conference.
“It’s a game-plan defense. He’s gonna game plan from first snap to last snap,” Williams said. “Coach calls this ‘mental war’ when you go against versus him. That’s what it is. You’ve got to be able to go out there bad things are going to happen, bad things are gonna happen. You’ve got to be able to fight back and stay steady. That’s one of the biggest things is not allowing his defense and all of that to fluster you and get in your mind. That’s one of the first. You stay steady and now it’s time to go make plays and get completions and when the big ones show up, take them and find them.”
Solving whatever Flores throws his way this weekend will be crucial to the Bears’ chances of winning the game and it would show Williams’s continued development as a quarterback who can find ways to succeed in every situation that comes his way. The latter victory wouldn’t count in the standings immediately, but it would have a positive impact on that front over the long run.
