The Bears' Williams Wall
by Mark Saade on Aug 25, 2010 7:00 PM CDT
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Ugh! That’s the best way to describe Chicago Bears left tackle Chris Williams in the game against the Oakland Raiders. A game in which Williams gave up four sacks, making Oakland’s defensive end Kamerion Wimbley look like, well, Julius Peppers. You can't call Williams' game good. That's just obvious. But you can't call it bad because it was the pre-season and the team was trying out different scenarios to better prepare their new left tackle for the regular season.
Watching Wimbley run past Williams time after time was frustrating for me to watch. Hence the, Ugh!
I can only imagine how o-line coach Mike Tice felt.
Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz has said that the Bears were experimenting a lot in the game on Saturday, and that Williams was put on an island or given no help at times to see how well he would handle the pressure.
According to Mad Mike and Tice, the Bears have over 37 different protection packages that could, or would, have helped out Williams.
I think Jay Cutler would have liked at least one of those calls.
As the Bears left tackle of the future, Williams is etched in to protect The Franchise Jay Cutler for many years to come. It should be nothing new to the former first round pick, he’s been protecting Cutler for years, dating back to their college playing days together at Vanderbilt.
Two weeks ago I wrote about how the constant battles between Williams and Peppers would greatly improve the young tackle’s game. Even after last Saturday night’s game, I believe Williams will improve and become who we thought he’d be with the 14th overall pick.
On the flip side, Chicago Tribune writer Dan Pompei wrote an article yesterday exploring the possibility that the constant abuse Williams endures in practice, by going up against a five time Pro Bowler, may be messing with the young man’s psyche.
Coming out of college, the biggest knock on Williams, besides his ailing back, was his lack of toughness. It was moreso his mental toughness however, not his physical. Scouts claimed that he did not have a ‘mean streak’ or that he’s not ‘nasty enough’.
Apparently you have to be part bouncer, part 'roid-rage to play o-line.
But could Williams be mentally weak? Could he be questioning his skills this early in his NFL career?
If this is true, the game against the Raiders may have shattered any bit of confidence Williams had left. I know it’s only a pre-season game, but if a guy is mentally weak enough to lose his mojo in practice, live game action may scar him permanently.
What do you think WCG? Are the Williams/Peppers battles in practice good for Williams or is Peppers making the young guy wish he had put his Engineering degree to work instead of playing football?
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Enough already please
Williams will be fine. He had a bad preseason game. Come week 5 of the regular season no one will be talking about this isht.
by Dozjah on Aug 25, 2010 7:08 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
Great post...but dear lord!
You said it all when you wrote about the coaches experimenting with Williams. Arizona will be the ‘dress rehearsal’ game. We should be able to see where He’s at in that one. As for peppers, well, look at the panther’s o-line. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes.
by ifuwannacrownem on Aug 25, 2010 7:30 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
He single-handedly ...handled... Allen in the MNF against the Vikes.
So if he’s questioning himself, that’s just silly. Hopefully the coaches can show him some of that game tape or something and give him back some precious confidence.
"They say the glee team has lured stragglers into sniper traps with cheery renditions of hit songs." "Really? And people fall for that?"
All the greats have a bad game
Look at it this way….
You want Williams struggling in August or January?
by Bear Lovin 21 on Aug 25, 2010 7:55 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Mean streak? 2 words...
Ritchie Incognito.
We could have had this guy for nothin’.
But nice guy Lovie doesn’t like a bully.
If Lovie had it his way, we would give the opponent a massage after the game..
I like incognitos style
but his temper gets the best of him on many occasions, i can easily picture forte getting a 45 yard run the incognito throwing a cheap shot and costing 15 yards.
by Bear Lovin 21 on Aug 25, 2010 11:37 PM CDT up reply actions
I think maybe both things can be true...
Williams is not on a collision course with draft bust disaster, nor is he the next Walter Jones. He’s the basic physical and mental prototype to play LT at the NFL level. His success will largely be measured (fairly or unfairly) on his individual play and it’s effect on the offensive team. If the team works to develop his skills and provide him the support he requires, he will probably be a better than average LT. I believe Tice can get the most out of his skills, but it will take more than good position coaching to make him a success. In time, I believe he will be a solid but not spectacular LT.
IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO FIRE LOVIE!
In the SD game
he was graded the best out of any of the linemen. Plus, like Angelo said, the team didn’t scheme at all along the line. I think he’s going to bounce back quickly.
"In order to have a winner, the team must have a feeling of unity; every player must put the team first- ahead of personal glory" - motivational sign at Halas Hall.
The thing that surprised me most
about CW giving up four sacks was the fact Wimbley seemed to use the same outside speed move to beat him. Pretty vanilla moves as far as I’m concerned. Maybe his knee bend was bad, along with the combination of his short arms? I’m not entirely sure why he looked so bad.
"In order to have a winner, the team must have a feeling of unity; every player must put the team first- ahead of personal glory" - motivational sign at Halas Hall.
Except...
2 of those 4 sacks came on the inside, not the outside speed rush. 1 was counted as “half” Williams fault because it was a stunt, and GARZA blew the pick up….The second interior sack was when Cutler stepped up to avoid the DT pressure from the right, and walked into Wimbley.
Williams had a rough game, but HE gave up 2 sacks, the other two got piled on him for QB and LG mistakes.
by Brendan Hess on Aug 26, 2010 1:41 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Ok
Thanks for the clarification. I thought I saw three from the outside, but obviously could be wrong. I’m in CW’s camp as far as the notion of the game being an aberration.
"In order to have a winner, the team must have a feeling of unity; every player must put the team first- ahead of personal glory" - motivational sign at Halas Hall.
Wimbley isnt a terrible rusher btw
He did have 11 sacks as a rookie and in my opinion hes better than your average rusher so its not like williams got abused by a no name. Not saying its ok for him to give up that many sacks in just one half but the guy he gave them upto has talent
So he's got an engineering degree, huh?
For a lot of scouts, smart = mentally weak. See Myron Rolle.
Pat Riley is the devil.
I understand why they did it, but I think it's a much better idea to "experiment"
when you have a backup in under center. Letting the face of your franchise get annihilated doesn’t seem like a good way to run your tests. That’s like lighting your house on fire to find out if the FD can make it there fast enough.
"The time has come to get deeply into Football. It is the only thing we have left that ain't fixed." - HST
by JerBear50 on Aug 26, 2010 1:20 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
+1...
So either the coaches are stupid or they are trying to gloss over the fact that Chris had a bad game. It reminds me of every big political downfall, it’s almost never the crime, it’s the cover up that brings down the roof!
IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO FIRE LOVIE!
It's the pre-season
But still 4 sacks by Wimbley is unacceptable.
"Boozer's dumbass dunked, so i dunked on his dumbass"- Joakim Noah
Best to Expose CW to EVERY situation he may encounter
Speaking as an owner/trainer/former Marine…… The best way to build a guys mental toughness is to challenge him and force him to fail. It is only through our failures that we truly discover our own mettal by overcoming those failures.
One bad game, who cares?? CW will be great. He’s finally healthy, he’s getting plenty of reps and he’s constantly challenged. One thing Tice is good at is building a solid line through technique and adversity. You watch this next game, CW will silence every critic.
He never lost his mojo, he was just exposed to some new situations.
by Suffering from Chicago Sports on Aug 26, 2010 2:06 PM CDT reply actions
hmmm
interesting post. i believe cw had a bad game, one of the few he will have in his career. I do believe there was some fluff though about the line protections and wanting them to evaluate individual performance. KILLER KAM was one of the bright spots on cleveland. the man can play and he is extremely fast coming off the edge. i believe in cw
by Tommy Ohyeah Mcduffie on Aug 28, 2010 8:56 AM CDT reply actions
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