We’ve highlighted a bunch of fun franchise records that Caleb Willams has broken so far in his rookie year, but this one is one he hoped to avoid. The seventh time the [San Francisco 49ers](https://www.ninersnation.com/) sacked him on Sunday was number 56 on the season, which breaks Justin Fields’ record from 2022.
The [Chicago Bears](https://www.windycitygridiron.com/) record for most sacks allowed by the team is 66 (2004), and with four games left in the season, that record is within reach.
Williams leads the league in sacks taken and yards lost to sacks (377), and he’s the third-most in sack percentage against (11.43%).
In 2022, Fields was sacked 14.75% of the time, and in 2004, four Chicago quarterbacks combined to get sacked 12.29% of their attempts. Caleb isn’t getting sacked as frequently, and I don’t recall any overly vicious hits, but the pass protection needs to be cleaned up. That falls on him, the offensive line, the play caller, and the offensive line coach, but it also falls on the skill players being on the same page as the quarterback. How many times did the wideout see coverage differently or not recognize they were the hot route on a blitz? How often did the tight end leak out too quickly, or did the back stay in too long?
Football is the ultimate team sport, and pass protection is everyone’s responsibility.
That said, the team better throw some assets at the offensive line this offseason.
Now, on to the seven sacks!
**Sack 50 - 1st Quarter 4:43- Yetur Gross-Matos**
This play was getting clowned on social media all week. Here’s one example.
I have to believe that an NFL coach would not have designed a play so jumbled, so I have to imagine someone ran the wrong route. Perhaps the receivers were to run routes based on the coverage, and they all weren’t reading the same thing. Whatever the reason, Caleb had nowhere to throw.
Caleb tried to step up and through the pressure when he realized every receiver was within a ten-yard patch of turf. Yetur Gross-Matos (#94) worked through the gap between right tackle Darnell Wright and right guard Matt Pryor, while Leonard Floyd (#56) stunted from the opposite side. Wright tried to pass Gross-Matos off, but it looked like his left arm was caught up or Gross-Matos had a hold of him to prevent him from getting out to Floyd coming around. Pryor passes his guy off to center Coleman Shelton, and recognizes Floyd but gets caught between accepting Wright’s guy and following Floyd. The double pass-off with Floyd looping around two men threw off the Bears, but considering the messy route concept, which left Caleb flustered, I’ll call this a sacks happen.
**Sack 51 - 1st Quarter :49 - Leonard Floyd**
There’s a pocket for Williams here as Braxton Jones pushes Floyd around, but Caleb doesn’t pull the trigger. He hesitated when he should have let it rip for either DJ Moore or Cole Kmet, who crossed over the middle. Floyd closed quickly, but the ball could have been out. This one is on the QB.
**Sack 52 - 2nd Quarter 6:23 - Maliek Collins**
Center Coleman Shelton had been pretty good the last few weeks, but this was a poor rep. Defensive tackle Maliek Collins (#99) started in the right b-gap, then attacked Shelton on the snap. Collins jolted him with power, then swam over the top. There’s not much a quarterback can do when interior pressure comes so fast. Shelton has to be better, and this is on him.
**Sack 53 - 2nd Quarter 1:01- Leonard Floyd**
Just as Caleb begins to cock his arm back, there’s pressure in front of him. No one really looked open anyway, so I doubt he would have fired it. Floyd again comes on a stunt, but this time, it’s outside-in. He’s the one that tripped Williams, but Chicago’s entire left side was caved in.
Shelton at center tried to pass his guy off to left guard Jenkins, but then wasn’t aware of the looper coming back to him. Right guard Matt Pryor would have been in a position to help, but he didn't set deep enough. But I can’t fault Pryor for not getting deeper. He couldn’t have anticipated the pocket collapsing, which left a path to his left for Floyd to run through.
There was a tiny window to hit DJ Moore over the middle, but Williams would have had to anticipate the break and rifle the ball because the 49er linebacker was lurking underneath. Since he was still looking left, the throw would have been too late once he worked back to DJ.
This is a tough one... Caleb had nowhere to go on his initial reads. Cole Kmet nearly stopped before cutting outside. The interior double pass-off wasn’t clean. Jenkins and Shelton stayed on their guys a bit too long, but that’s an incredibly difficult ask for all three offensive linemen to feel the delayed stunt. Ultimately, there was time to deliver a pass, but no one was open, so sacks happen.
**Sack 54 - 3rd Quarter 2:45 - Team Sack**
This was the fumble, and since no one caused it, it goes down as a team sack for the 49ers. Caleb and the Bears disagreed with the call, but it stood, so this sack is on him.
**Sack 55 - 4th Quarter 5:09 - Yetur Gross-Matos**
There was a window for Caleb to throw here; it was a brief one, but he had a couple of options when coming back to his left. Instead, he tried to squirt through the line and run for some yards. Unfortunately, Gross-Matos spun off Jones’ block and got Caleb from behind for a 0-yard gain. This one is on Williams.
**Sack 56 - 4th Quarter 4:25- Yetur Gross-Matos**
On the very next play, Gross-Matos got home again, and his bullrush got Braxton. Had Jones held up a tick longer, Caleb could have worked to the check-down because the three wideouts were covered.
**Here's the individual Sackwatch tally after thirteen games:**
Sacks Happen - 11Caleb Williams - 10.5Larry Borom - 7Matt Pryor - 5Braxton Jones - 5Darnell Wright - 3Coleman Shelton - 3Nate Davis - 2.5Doug Kramer Jr. - 2Teven Jenkins - 2Cole Kmet - 1.5Kiran Amegadjie - 1Marcedes Lewis - 1Ryan Bates - 1
D’Andre Swift - .5
_As I've often said, the breakdowns are based on my best guesses about what happens in each play. Only the Bears know the specifics and who is truly to blame for each sack allowed._
Here are Chicago's historical total sacks allowed through 13 games (in the Sackwatch era), plus the year-end sack percentages.
2010 - 47 Martz (10.7%)2011 - 38 Martz (9.4%)2012 - 38 Tice (8.3%)2013 - 22 Trestman (4.9%)2014 - 30 Trestman (6.3%)2015 - 23 Gase (5.9%)2016 - 24 Loggains (4.8%)2017 - 31 Loggains (7.6%)2018 - 29 Nagy (6.1%)2019 - 35 Nagy (7.2%)2020 - 33 Nagy (5.5%)2021 - 42 Nagy (9.7%)2022 - 42 Getsy (13.3%)2023 - 38 Getsy (8.9%)
2024 - 56 Total (Waldron 38 in 9 games / Brown 18 in 4 games) (11.9% so far)
_Thanks to all of you guys who check out Sackwatch each week!_