Around the NFC North: Preseason Week 2
Caleb Caleb Caleb
By Mike Price
May as well skip the intro and get right into worship of our new lord and savior, Caleb Williams.
Bears
- If you were on Twitter last Saturday, it was impossible to ignore the thousands of Bears fan delighting in Caleb Williams and the plays he was making outside of the pocket. They called him the next Mahomes. They said he was making throws that only one or two other QBs could make. They said he was clearly better than Jordan Love. And that was just the national media. Once you got to actual Bears Twitter, you felt like you were walking in on Randy at his computer in that one South Park episode. Not to say Caleb Williams played poorly or anything, but let's slow the roll for a minute.
- Williams was 6/13 for 75 yards and no TDs. He had a few highlight plays outside of the pocket, just like last week, but we haven't really seen any consistent play from him inside the pocket yet. I need to toe the line here a little, because, more likely than not, Caleb Williams is going to be a pretty good player. But it's a little much to crown him as the next Mahomes based on a few highlight plays that aren't that different from Justin Fields or Bryce Young's highlight plays. NFL QBs wouldn't be drafted in the first round if they couldn't make some highlight plays. Let's see how he does against NFL defenses game planning for him and keeping him in the pocket.
- The rookie who I am very scared of is Austin Booker. The Bears don't have a lot of holes on defense outside of second edge and it was hilarious this week when Matthew Judon chose a trade to the Falcons over them. It is certainly not hilarious that the fifth round edge, Booker, already looks the part.
- In other Bears news, their other rookie QB, Tyson Bagent, looked very impressive, completing 7 of 8 for 87 yards and two TDs. Weirdly, nine players had at least one rush and fewer than half of them were running backs.
Lions
- The biggest highlight in the Lions game was Patrick Mahomes throwing a pass behind his back to Travis Kelce.
- Hendon Hooker did not get the start for this one like we predicted last week, but he did outplay Nate Sudfeld by a good amount again. Hooker was 12/15 for 150 yards and the game tying rush TD and Sudfeld was 14/27 for 196 yards and one TD and one int. Seems like a foregone conclusion that Hooker will be the backup QB, and there's a case to be made that with his running ability he could be a scarier opposing QB than Jared Goff by next season. Of course, he'll be in his mid-40s by then.
- Sione Vaki, former safety from the U of Utah, did not lead the team in rushing this week. Instead, former UDFA Zonovan Knight did with 36 yards on eight carries. Vaki did have 60 yards on four carries. I am a Vaki fan and wouldn't be surprised if they worked him in to some sort of roll this year. At 214 lbs and already showing pass catching ability, he could definitely be used in some funky Rams-like formations as a lead blocker/pass catcher/fantasy league destroyer.
- On defense, none of the starters played and the exciting rookies were still hurt from last week so that behind-the-back pass is really the only interesting thing that happened.
Vikings
- If you doubled the amount of crap Bears fans talked about Caleb Williams being good this weekend you'd come close to how much crap Packers fans talked after the Vikings biggest move of the week was signing Stephon Gillmore, who multiple Packers receivers torched in the playoff game against the Cowboys last year. Sure, it's true that Gillmore looked horrific in that game but it's also true that he is likely 200% - 300% better than the alternative for the Vikings. So while it isn't a move that puts fear into the hearts of Packers receivers, it is still probably a move that makes the Vikings better.
- The other off-field news for the Vikings this week is that JJ McCarthy is out for the season after getting meniscus surgery. That means it's up to Sam Darnold (and maybe Ryan Tannehill???) to lead the Vikings to a 7-10 record this year.
- The Vikings played a game, too. Sadly, Sam Darnold didn't play but Nick Mullens did average 6.4 yards per attempt over 21 passes and Kene Nwangwu had another big game. Remember to keep an eye on him.
- Lew Cine played 64 snaps and had 10 tackles, a sack and a pick. It would be impressive if all the news coming out of Vikings camp wasn't that Cine doesn't have a place on this defense despite being a first-round pick two years ago. You'd think that performance would cement him as a starter but Vikings writers are asking if it's enough for him to make the team. Crazy.
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Mike Price is a lifelong Packers fan who recently moved from Utah to Stoughton (a Madison suberb). You can follow him on twitter at @themikeprice.
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Comments (23)
Leatherhead
August 20, 2024 at 11:51 am
Detroit: I see that former 1st round pick (by Detroit) Gosder Cherilus was arrested for peeing on somebody in a plane.
"Boy, Caleb is going to be a great QB". Please name the last great Bears QB. And no, you can't say Jay Cutler. I have watched the Bears long enough to know they'll screw this up.
Vikings. JJ McCarthy. See "Teddy Bridgeovertroubledwaters." Do you know why this keeps happening in Minnesota?
Cheezehead72
August 20, 2024 at 12:39 pm
Gosder Cherilus said it was caused by a sleeping aid that he usually does not take. I guess he must of drank vodka instead of gin.
Starrbrite
August 20, 2024 at 02:21 pm
Lol-excellent LH.
RCPackerFan
August 20, 2024 at 12:45 pm
Bears-
Williams is talented no question. But lets see how he does when he is going against starters, and against teams that are game planning for him. He has talent, but to win in this league it takes more then talent. Everyone can make a play or 2. But its how you play down in and down out. Week after week.
The comical part for me was seeing the replay of the throw he made and then seeing someone else on X/Twitter posting about how Mike White is going to be the MVP because he just made a throw almost identical to Williams.
Coldworld
August 20, 2024 at 06:31 pm
Almost everything Williams has done has been outside the pocket. It’s going to be interesting to see how that works in the regular season, on top of everything else.
SicSemperTyrannis
August 21, 2024 at 08:14 am
Fields 2.0?
WorseWisconsin
August 21, 2024 at 02:51 pm
"Fields 2.0?"
No.
Williams' average 'rushing' yards/carry in college was around 1.5. That's because he uses his legs to buy time to throw, and only acts as a runner either by-design or because the designed play broke down.
Williams scrambles, Fields runs. They're different.
Cheezehead72
August 20, 2024 at 12:48 pm
Bears - Williams looks good for a rookie but I will tell you Nix might be better so far. I might have to tell my son he was right when he told me Nix would be the best QB in this draft. I am still sticking with Daniels. Their defense will be good and they have the tools on offense if Williams plays well. I will wait until the season begins to say how good they will be.
Lions - They are good and they will be the real competition this year. They lack the depth at WR on offense. I believe teams will be able to pass on them.
Vikings - What can we say? Yes they have DARNold. He can be a game manager but he does not cause a defense to fear even with the other JJ on the field. They do have good receivers all over WRs, TEs, and RBs. So he has the tools to be good. I do not see them picking up a QB. I believe they will roll with what they have.
Correction Tyson Bagent is not a rookie. He was drafted last year and played.
Matt
August 20, 2024 at 03:22 pm
When I saw "Caleb, Caleb, Caleb" I thought it will be about Caleb Jones - you see, only Packers in my head.
About Caleb Williams, for me it is not weird that Bears' fans say all that crap. People in the middle of the desert they also see oasis on the horizon. They want to believe. Sometimes it is really there, but mostly this is projection of their dreams. What is interesting is the fact that in media it looks like a race - who will be first to give Williams the biggest praise ever. If not all this hype before the draft everyone would say: solid game for a rookie. Looks promssing. Now he is Mahomes, and in a week he will be even better. With ~50% completion rate and 2 nice highlights against backups. I have nothing against him, but there are 2 reasons I would be glad if he doesn't succeed.
1. He's a Bear.
2. I would like all those talking heads eat the crap they say now. And this reason is even bigger.
LambeauPlain
August 20, 2024 at 03:44 pm
Even a blind bear finds a blackberry patch once in a while and maybe Williams wins the scavenger hunt, finally, for the bares.
I also recall the euphoria in the Mistake by the Lake over fellow first rounders Fields...Trubinski...Gross Wrecksman...McNown.
And that's just first round QBs since 1999 while Favre, beginning in 1992, began to bag blind bears. Rodgers and now Love have also filled their tags almost every hunting season.
It will be prudent to reserve judgement on future HOF QBs from the bares.
Leatherhead
August 20, 2024 at 05:43 pm
It'll be fun watching Williams. It'll be fun watching what these defenders do when they catch him. And eventually, they will catch him. Does anybody remember RGIII? Justin Fields? The Bears have a pattern: They're good for a short stretch, usually because of their defense, but they simply don't string good seasons together very often. Over the last 30 years, they've only had SIX double-digit win seasons, and only ONCE , in 2005 and 2006, did they do double digit wins.
If you'll notice, 2005 and 2006 were down years for the Packers, and the Bears benefited. Just like the Lions did in 2022 and 2023. But this isn't going to be a down year for us. One of those teams....Detroit or Chicago....is going to finish in 3rd place this year (I'm assuming Minnesota is in the basement)
I told you the Bears history, and I've mentioned Detroit's many times. Again, since 1994 (30 years), until last year, they hadn't won the division once. They made the playoffs as a wildcard 7 times, and lost every time. Detroit has NEVER, in their history, had consecutive double digit win seasons.
Last year was the best season Detroit has had since 1993. It was the closest the franchise has ever been to the Super Bowl, up by 17 at halftime. They choked that away, pronto. And then they were outscored in the 4th and lost by a FG. And the architect of that collapse? Big Dan Campbell. The QB who led the offense to 0 points when one decent drive might have made a difference? That's Goff. And yet somehow, someway, despite every bit of evidence to the contrary, people are believing that Detroit will have their first ever consecutive 10++ win seasons.
HAH!!! HAHAHA. You might as well bet on the Jets.
WorseWisconsin
August 21, 2024 at 03:00 pm
"the last 30 years"
There is not a single general manager, coach or player on the Bears now from 30 years ago. It's completely irrelevant.
"up by 17 at halftime [Detroit] choked that away"
By that logic, Green Bay 'choked' in their game against that same team, your nemesis the 49ers (who at this point you'd have to agree completely own the Packers).
They should rename 'Lambeau Field' to "Property of the 49ers".
WorseWisconsin
August 20, 2024 at 04:16 pm
1: "If you were on Twitter "
Wow, you still use Twitter/X? You must be a 'pee in the pool, swim in the toilet' kind of person.
2: about Caleb Williams: while I agree that judging him in the pre-season (especially judging him just by stats) is completely pointless, it's fair to point out that he clearly does a lot of little things well, particularly for a rookie: good footwork, his eye discipline looks good (at least in preseason), the scrambling ability so far looks translatable to the NFL, throwing accuracy on-the-run, etc. It's actually possible to look bad in the pre-season: see exhibit A, Trey Lance.
Time will tell.
Leatherhead
August 20, 2024 at 05:48 pm
We're going to tackle him face first into the turf and then we'll evaluate him. My only regret is that somebody might beat us to it, since we don't play Chicago until November 17....about 10 games. He'll probably be broken by then.
SicSemperTyrannis
August 21, 2024 at 08:20 am
Bear down?
Lol what a ridiculous cheer.
WorseWisconsin
August 21, 2024 at 03:10 pm
"tackle him face first "
Oh, I believe you; that's very 'Charles Martin' and in-keeping with how the Packers play.
And then I'm sure Quay Walker will beat up a ball boy and Jarran Reed or his replacement will give a tackled and injured opponent a forearm shiver in the head.
Bearmeat
August 20, 2024 at 06:05 pm
Caleb hasn’t done anything yet and I already hate him. Bears fans are so damn delusional.
Speaking of delusional, there is literally no case you can make that the Lions will be better than the Packers this year. Better QB. Better coach. Better moves on defense…. Better weapons.
The Vikings just suck and I’m here for it. They’ll be lucky to win 6 this coming year.
Bitternotsour
August 20, 2024 at 11:34 pm
Clear-eyed realism is the only way to move forward into the season.
The Lions are certain to regress. Their coach has a message that becomes ever more stale yearly. They have a good quarterback, I'll give them that.
The Vikings well, the less said the better.
The Bears, allow their fans their delusion. The world is going to come at that qb really fast.
SicSemperTyrannis
August 21, 2024 at 08:22 am
14-3, sweep the division 😎
GPG!!
ImaPayne2
August 20, 2024 at 09:37 pm
IMO there are no easy games in this division. If we win one lose one with each team I would not be surprised.
All teams are young. Two teams have new starting qb's. One team may have the best receivers in football, one may have second best. All teams have above avg defenses.
Thus it's a crap shoot this year and should be fun.
PS Williams is more decisive with play action then fields was and has better talent around him.
MooPack
August 20, 2024 at 09:49 pm
On another note -
"Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst is getting some new help scouting offensive linemen from a former long-time assistant coach. According to Rob Demovsky of ESPN, the Packers are adding James Campen — a former Packers offensive lineman who spent 15 seasons coaching the position group in Green Bay — as a scouting consultant under Gutekunst."
Thank the Lord. I think OL is the weakest link the Packers have. I thought it was one before the draft and it slightly improved, although I thought better choices were available. For whatever reason the Packers have not made good choices with OL draft picks, scheme, personnel, and rotation with this group since LaFleur took over. Bringing back Campen is a great move. Hopefully he is given a lot of leeway going forward on those decisions.
SicSemperTyrannis
August 21, 2024 at 08:24 am
I think there's lots of O line talent but I'm not convinced the evaluation is good and I question the player development. Hopefully this really shines this year ...
Mister Chievous
August 21, 2024 at 12:17 am
do you think vaki will be worked into a sushi roll or more like a Tootsie roll? of course, a warm, soft dinner roll fresh from the oven is hard to beat.