Bears Blitz: Caleb Williams vs. Jayden Daniels — Monday Night preview
Bears Blitz: Caleb Williams vs. Jayden Daniels — Monday Night preview
The Blitz crew is back after the bye week to get you ready for the Bears' Monday Night tilt against the Commanders. Cassie, Lou & Anthony break down the marquee QB matchup between Caleb Williams & Jayden Daniels, Tyrique Stevenson's redemption arc after last season's Hail Mary loss and how the Bears defense can shore up the run defense.
The Chicago Bears return to play this week, taking center stage against the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football.
Here's where the Bears' offense stands coming out of the bye week after talking to assistant offensive coaches this week.
Why Theo Benedet? He fits Johnson’s mold
The Bears have a new starting left tackle. Theo Benedet gets his shot.
He’s had a sharp rise since a season-ending injury in the 2024 preseason. Now he’s getting a chance to start in the NFL. There’s no coincidence that a big reason he’s earned this chance is because he echoes some of the same things Bears head coach Ben Johnson has said since he was hired.
In short, Benedet loves the little things.
"He's a pretty quick learner, a quick study," Bears offensive line coach Dan Roushar said. "I've just seen really good growth from him as a guy in the room. He wants to be right. He wants detail. And at the end of the day, he's an excellent teammate."
When the Bears arrived in April for their first set of practices with the new coaching staff, Benedet wasn’t a player on their radar. Moving into minicamps and OTAs, he didn’t shine much then.
However, the coaches began noticing Benedet when he began stacking positive reps in training camp.
"It probably wasn't consistent enough at that point in time, as far as what we were expecting from him, and I think that even since then, he's continued to progress and get better," Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said. "It wasn't like he went out there and it was too big for him in any way you know. His mentality and how he approaches the game, I think it's been consistent since we've been here."
He’s earned his spot. The staff will now look for him to keep it.
"He likes to play, he likes to compete," Roushar said. "You look for those guys."
What this means for Braxton Jones
Braxton Jones came into 2025 as the incumbent starter, having started with the Bears since he was a fifth-round pick out of Southern Utah in 2022.
He started 40 games heading into the 2025 season, and he’s started all four games until this weekend. With Benedet taking over, Jones heads to the bench in the middle of a contract year for him. His rookie deal expires at the end of the 2025 season.
Still, he’s one snap away from being the Bears’ starting left tackle again. The Bears ee him understand this.
"He's worked just like you expect him to," Roushar said. "I'm sure there's a little bit of disappointment for the player, but, as I said to him and he knows this, he's a pro. He's got to be ready to go like immediately and he's preparing just like he's a starter."
This benching also allows Jones to take a breath.
He’ll have some time to take a step back and get back to where he was at before he broke his ankle late last year and fine-tune other aspects of where he’s at.
Just because Jones has been benched doesn't mean the Bears won't need him going forward.
"I think he gets to decompress, shake out the other stuff and get right back to doing things better," Roushar said. "Some of that's going be health-driven, right, but some of that's going be mental as well. I think just watching him practice the last few days, I feel like he looks like you want him to look."
The offense’s biggest evolution: timing
The Bears’ offense had arguably one of its best plays of the season so far vs. the Raiders.
In the third quarter, trailing Las Vegas, Caleb Williams hit Rome Odunze for a touchdown to take the lead. On the field, the play was timed to near perfection.
Williams threw a pass to Odunze that landed between three Raiders’ defenders. Williams also threw the pass before Odunze had turned around. Odunze still had a chance to turn, catch the ball and slip into the end zone.
"It was critical in the situation we were in," Bears quarterbacks coach JT Barrett said. "It was something that we've been doing for a minute now, and they had a lot of time on task with that."
That play had plenty of factors to it.
How many steps would it take for Odunze to get to his spot? That depends on what kind of stance he’s, which means there will be a different number of steps to get to that point. How much longer would it take for Odunze to get to where he needed to be if he were facing free access or press?
There are so many things to consider.
"It's gonna look very different, so you don't utilize control of those variables, but chart a plan for every single one of them," Bears passing game coordinator Press Taylor said. "That just came to fruition there where we had free access, Rome hit the appropriate spacing on the field, whether it be in relation to a landmark on the field at the number of steps, and it timed it perfectly."
That’s been the key with Odunze, who has five touchdown receptions across four games. His timing with Williams has been the best asset for the Bears’ offense.
The Bears have to continue that growth with the Odunze-Williams connection, while finding ways for Williams to get on a similar level with his other receivers.
"That's the type of work that you're hoping manifests itself because you put so much of that in starting back in April to sort of see it carry over on a critical play," Taylor said.
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