Overreactions in the NFL Week 1
Sports Seriously Mackenzie Salmon overreacts to some of the best games of NFL Week 1.
Seriously sports
- More questions arise a few days after Williams was attacked by his draftmate JJ McCarthy in 2024.
- First pick in the 2024 draft, Williams was selected five more quarterbacks in the record first round.
- The Bears are now 5-13 with Williams as the starter.
Trafficking “generational talent” human trafficking can be a very tricky and professionally dangerous effort for NFL teams.
Monday night provided a tough reminder as Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears collapsed in a 27-24 defeat to the Minnesota Vikings, riding a comeback designed by second-year quarterback JJ McCarthy. It didn’t take long for questions to arise about whether McCarthy was late in his professional debut a year after a knee injury in the 2024 preseason wiped out his rookie campaign.
“He’s absolutely (BE) – based on one game,” former NFL cornerback and current ESPN analyst Domonique Foxworth said on “Get Up” Tuesday morning.
“It’s the prisoner of movement at that moment.”
Fair and fair. But pending a quick and dramatic shift, it’s the story of Williams being subject to a lifelong sentence.
He essentially produced what was the biggest rookie season of all time in 2024 after Williams’ Washington commander picked on the spot, and essentially issued one verdict, leading to his recent whimsical franchise into the NFC Championship Game. In comparison, Williams had occasional coming newcomer seasons, with the Bears finishing 5-12 and changing their first midseason coaching after more than a century of operations.
Find someone who will take Williams to Daniels now.
However, the Bears waste a bit of time pulling Williams’ trigger a year ago. Has Chicago’s general manager Ryan Pauls even chosen Daniels? You may not get an insightful answer. Fourteen years after wrestling with the Peyton Manning Runline Leaf Discussion in 1998, the Indianapolis Colts wasted time with Andrew Lack via Robert Griffin III. Former Houston Texans GM Charlie Casser made famous in 2006 when he chose Mario Williams No. 1 in 2006 over Heissman Trophy winner Reggie Bush. (Bush was good, but he barely said anything.)
Evaluating generational talent is actually a tricky initiative, such as Trevor Lawrence and “TANK FOR TUA.” Due diligence remains important – John Elway doesn’t come out that often.
But when he took command of the Oklahoma Sooner midway through the 2021 freshman season, or when he won USC at Heissman in 2022, when it happened, when it happened, it could get worse for Williams, who was widely painted as the number one pick many years ago. Like luck or Lawrence before him, it wasn’t really a question if Williams will hear his name being called to kick off the NFL Draft though when.
It’s not even 18 months since the results actually came into effect, but Williams has already emerged. worst of record tying of six quarterbacks (along with the legendary ’83 draft) filmed in the first round of the 2024 draft.
Is mounting noise reasonable? Is there 17 fewer than Williams, especially considering McCarthy started all of one NFL game? no. Is that an occupational risk? Definitely.
“Man, it looks pretty rough,” former New York Giants vice president of players, Mark Ross, told USA Today Sports.
“The biggest revelation is the spiritual part of him. It really keeps him in check.”
When Williams avowed offensive astounding Ben Johnson as he attempted to adapt to the Chicago rookie head coach, he was trying to break a habit that served him in college but not in the NFL.
“The real problem I’m seeing for Caleb is that even his good plays don’t seem to be comfortable,” Foxworth said.
Without a doubt, the Bears systematically undermined Williams in 2024, giving him a veteran offensive coordinator or experienced backup, failing to help him navigate the early trials and hardships of being an expert, among other failures. (On the contrary, the Vikings do the exact opposite, offering McCarthy the highest level of support cast.)
But after the 2025 offseason, which appears to include a strong draft, Johnson himself is clearly annoyed by the trajectory of the offensive this summer, with promises to hire the most coveted HC candidate for years.
As he did in his preseason debut last month, Williams was his first home on Monday, completing his first 10 passes against Minnesota and capping Chicago’s opening drive with his first nine-yard touchdown run in the NFL.
But he struggled to the point where Williams got more from Johnson’s opening script, just like his preseason contest with Buffalo in August. He only completed 11 of his final 25 passes on Monday, but the attack didn’t find the end zone again until he hit Roma Odunze with a TD that only took two minutes.
“The first drive – script. The second drive – still scripted,” said Ross, now an analyst with the NFL network. “He has to play now. Now he has to do it himself.
“And the Vikings figured it out and then he really couldn’t do anything. He doesn’t have the ability to handle it all.
And whether it’s indecisive or inaccurate, Williams could not hit wide open DJ Moore as tight end Cole Kumet broke freely across the middle at one point, and wideout was found towards the pylon at 2:26, giving him more time to win or tie the game together at a more defensive stop.
The day after the match, Johnson’s offense rating, if not pointed out (obviously) then essentially matches Ross.
“I’m still getting to know the players,” Johnson said of Williams. “I thought he started very early in the game, and it certainly seemed to me feel a little sick as the game progressed, and then he came back to life again.
Chicago’s finish was pale compared to that organized by McCarthy, who was cruel in the first three thirds of his debut, but Minnesota led to three touchdowns in the final period.
To say McCarthy is definitely better than Williams at this point is the latest bias in the worst case scenario. The same can be said about New England patriot Drake May and Michael Penix Jr. of the Atlanta Falcons. Meanwhile, Williams’ 18 NFL will begin a match that combines the trio’s totals.
“There’s a quarterback here. You can fool people for a long time. You can fool defenses for a long time.
“It’s independent of the receiver and independent of the new offensive line you’re talking to. They need to do that. And the best quarterback, the great quarterback, can control the game, control the game, and level everyone up before you know it.”
Daniels and Bonnix, who led the Denver Broncos to a surprising playoff berth in 2024, are undoubtedly far ahead of Williams. Right now. To be fair, there are plenty of examples of players like New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, who appeared to be better pros than 2009 No. 1 overall pick Matthew Stafford and better pros than Sanchez’s four-spot Matthew Stafford. Stafford is inducted into the Hall of Fame whenever he finishes playing. Sanchez was done a long time ago, but now it is a equipment for the broadcast booth.
Still, Sanchez played a major role in bringing the Jets into two AFC championship games. Bears fans now just want Williams to achieve such an outcome. And Johnson and Paul, who recently signed the expansion, are both on contracts throughout the 2029 season, so the franchise is willing to cut bait at first round quarterbacks.
The bear is then faced with a wounded lion in Detroit. Meanwhile, McCarthy and Penix are squared in the spotlight on Sunday night.
To his achievement, Williams remains openly bored.
“I think it’s a growing process,” he said Monday.
“We’ll continue to grow from here. It’s the start, this is the beginning, but definitely not the end.”
However, given that the bounty period for younger players is all exhausted, it could come much faster than anyone thought.
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