The Chicago Bears offense is rolling. Cole Kmet is pretty sure he knows why

LAKE FOREST – Cole Kmet has been part of offenses that showed glimpses before.

There was the 2020 Bears team that started the season 5-1 with two 16-point comebacks and a win over Tom Brady. A year later, the Bears again started off strong at 3-2 before imploding midseason with a rookie quarterback. Then there were back-to-back years where the team was among the best rushing teams in the league, but couldn’t figure out the passing attack.

Now, the Bears are 4-2 through six games. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams is coming off the three best games of his young career. With 1,317 passing yards through six games, Williams is already zeroing in on the Bears rookie record (2,193 from Mitchell Trubisky in 2017). He has thrown for nine touchdowns (the team’s rookie record is 11).

The Bears scored 35 points in back-to-back games for the first time in 11 years. As a team, they rank 20th in passing yards (up from 27th last season), despite Williams throwing for just 93 yards in the season opener. Modest improvement, sure, but improvement nonetheless.

What makes Kmet believe all this is sustainable?

“For me, it’s hard not to say the quarterback,” Kmet said. “The quarterback looks really good. He’s super talented, and [he] can do a lot of really good things with his legs and with his arm. I think the things he does in the pocket as a rookie are really impressive.”

“The quarterback looks really good. He’s super talented and can do a lot of really good things with his legs and with his arm.”

—  Cole Kmet, Bears tight end

Williams has this offense trending in the right direction following a slow start to the season. Head coach Matt Eberflus has been impressed by the steady progress Williams has made from Week 1 to Week 6.

Williams has taken control of this offense. He understands the game at a high level for a rookie.

“It’s just really reps, right?” Eberflus said. “His reps, exposures of NFL defenses, of our offense, and then really the continuity with the receivers, getting timing down with all those guys.”

The Week 6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London showcased Williams’ scrambling abilities. Twice he escaped the pocket for big gains.

After the first few games didn’t go the way they wanted, the Bears’ team leaders – including Williams – had a meeting with offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. For Williams, the big emphasis since then has been about taking advantage when the offense is in a flow.

If the run game is working, stick with it. If tempo is working, stick with it.

“Obviously mix in [other things], but stay in the flow of that,” Williams said this week. “Those were the meetings that we had, the sit-down talks that we had, and I think those moments that we had helped us progress. And we’ve got to keep going.”

The Bears have taken advantage of tempo since then. The run game has also picked up. The offensive line has had the same starting five for several games now, which helps too.

This offense is rolling, and the hope is that will continue for the next few games.

With matchups against Washington, Arizona and New England coming up, the Bears have three highly winnable games on the schedule before they dive into NFC North play against Green Bay on Nov. 17. Arizona and New England, in particular, have two of the worst-rated defenses in football.

Sunday’s matchup with the Commanders in Maryland is a homecoming for Williams. He grew up in the Washington D.C. area and was a star quarterback at Gonzaga College High School near the U.S. Capitol building.

Williams spent his younger years in Bowie, Maryland, but a big part of his story was that his parents got him an apartment closer to his high school so he wouldn’t spend so much time commuting. He said he identifies as both a Marylander and a DC native.

“Honestly they’re the best places to grow up,” Williams said. “You have all different kinds of diversity, whether it’s people and where they’re from, whether it’s some of the schools and things like that, whether it’s the food and so much more.”

Williams is hoping that he can put on a show for his hometown crowd. He said he used up his entire allotment of tickets for the game. He will have plenty of friends and family in the stands Sunday.

The goal is to pick up right where he left off prior to the bye week. The offense takes all 11 players, but Kmet is pretty certain why things are trending the way they are.

“There are a lot of other elements to it, protecting and all that,” Kmet said. “But I think Caleb has a knack for playmaking and making plays happen.”