Caleb Williams of Chicago Bears throws the ball under pressure from Darnell Savage of Jacksonville Jaguars during the NFL match between Jacksonville Jaguars and Chicago Bears at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 13, 2024 in London, England.
British football fans got another taste of the American sport on Sunday in a battle of former No. 1 overall picks.
Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears defeated Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars in a blowout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 35-16. Jacksonville led 3-0 after the first quarter, but Chicago scored twice in the second quarter to take a 14-3 halftime lead and then extended it to 35-10 early in the fourth quarter to put the game well out of reach.
The Bears are now 4-2 heading into their bye week, while the 1-5 Jaguars will stay in London for a Week 7 matchup against the New England Patriots next Sunday.
Here are three takeaways from the Bears-Jaguars game:
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1. Caleb Williams has arrived
The Bears' top pick has played like a star in the last two weeks.
Williams made one mistake on Sunday when he put too much air under a deep ball that was intercepted. Aside from that, his stats were essentially flawless. He went 23 of 29 for 226 yards, four touchdowns and one interception while adding 56 yards on the ground.
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And while the stats were stellar, the eye test was even better. Williams stood in the pocket, made all the right reads and scrambled only when he had to. The poise was impressive for a 22-year-old rookie who hasn't had an easy start to the season.
Williams didn't just force-feed a single target, either. He spread the ball around to all of his weapons, with six receivers reaching at least 20 yards. Cole Kmet and Keenan Allen led the way with five catches and two touchdowns apiece, but Rome Odunze (40 yards), D'Andre Swift (28 yards), Roschon Johnson (25 yards) and D.J. Moore (20 yards) all played a part in the victory.
2. The Jaguars could be cleaning house, soon
The Trevor Lawrence and Doug Pederson era has not gone as planned for the Jaguars.
Lawrence, the top pick in 2021, led the team to the playoffs in 2022 -- which was Pederson's first season. They had an epic comeback win in the wild card round and seemed poised to take the next step into contender status. Only that didn't happen in 2023, and things have only gotten worse so far in 2024.
At this point, Lawrence doesn't look like he'll ever be an elite quarterback. He went 23 of 35 for 234 yards with two touchdowns and an interception on Sunday, making a few head-scratching throws along the way. His position in Jacksonville is secure after signing a monster $275 million extension in June, but this isn't an encouraging start to the new deal.
Pederson, meanwhile, has been grilled by the media weekly through six weeks. Despite two 9-8 seasons to open his Jags tenure, it's fair to start wondering if he'll even be finishing his third season.
3. The Bears' running game has completely transformed
Take a bow, D'Andre Swift.
The Bears signed the former second-round pick to a three-year, $24 million deal in March -- and he was the very first player to sign when the tampering period opened. Through three weeks, he averaged just 1.8 yards per carry and 20 of his 58 yards came on one of his 37 attempts. So, that meant he had 38 yards on his other 36 carries.
But a switch was flipped in the Bears' Week 4 win over the Los Angeles Rams when Swift totaled 93 yards on 16 carries. He followed that up with 73 yards against the Carolina Panthers before another standout performance on Sunday. Swift had 91 rushing yards and 28 receiving yards in the win.
With Swift finally looking like the player that the Bears hoped when they signed him, that has opened up the field for Williams. Defenses now have to worry about Chicago's rushing attack, which will only making the passing game that much better. All signs are point up for the Bears' offense if they can keep this version of Swift after their bye week.
