“Again, he’s going to continue to improve every week. But I do think for him, the most important job of the quarterback is to handle the ball, honor the football and take care of the football, and he’s done a great job. ” task today.”

The other thing Williams did well was follow the directions given at halftime, as he led two long touchdown drives in the second half, one ending in his 9-yard TD throw to DJ Moore at the back of the end zone and the other ended with the Key points in the game on D’Andre Swift’s 36-yard TD run one play after Cole Kmet made a throw on a seam route from 22 yards.

BEARS TOGETHER WIN OVER RAMS

The TD pass he threw to Moore was a pure read. Williams saw the Rams defense trying to cover its best receiver with a linebacker.

“I actually saw the safety running there,” Williams said. “I think there was some confusion on the defensive side. There was a safety over the top from Gerald (Everett) on the left side. Rome (Odunze) took the release from inside. The backer, I think it was the one above Gerald suited him pretty well. That’s when I knew they weren’t going to double (team on) DJ while security was overflowing.

“So when you leave a supporter with DJ, that’s the match you want and that you want during games, and that’s how it happened.”

Part of the read and react for Williams on this day was hitting the check-down throws and this was how Swift got the majority of his team-high seven receptions.

“We always talk about how big checkdowns are, especially on third downs,” Williams said. “Whether it’s third place and long, third place and short or medium. Being able to steal third place is what we call it, whether you’re running, like a run or a scramble or what whatsoever.

“Those kinds of things are fun to control and steal like that. I think we did a good job of that as a group. See two, split two when you catch it, and the guys did a great job.”

This is part of the reason he finished with seven first-down passes after having just two in the first half, and the Bears finished 3-for-5 on third-down conversions in the second half after had gone 0-for-4. in the first half when they led 10-6.

‘If you want to call him a game manager then so be it, although he was more like a game player given the way he made the right reads and made the important passes. That’s basically what an NFL quarterback should do, instead of running for 20 yards.

It’s easy to make the argument that Williams has learned and improved every week, following his 93-yard effort in the opener. He didn’t force anything on Sunday, took what he could and emerged as a clear winner.

He even made some wise choices in the second quarter when they scored on Roschon Johnson’s 1-yard TD run after Montez Sweat’s strip sack resulted in a Kyler Gordon recovery at the Rams 16. On third down, instead of a risky throw in coverage, he threw in a spot where it could not be intercepted due to an incompletion. He then took advantage of a pass interference penalty on the first-and-goal play at the 1.

“Overall, I feel more comfortable,” Williams said. “I said recently, in about two or three months, that I would have been out of football for a year, which is crazy to think about as my last game (in 2023) was on November 18, before the season.

“I think I’m just getting more into the flow of the football, the rhythm throughout the season, the rhythm of the week, just getting more comfortable and being more consistent with myself throughout the week.

‘Then we just build and communicate, as I said before. Building on things, whether good or bad. I think we’re doing well.’

Twitter: BearsOnSI