LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears put together a dazzling offensive performance in their season opener.
But that was last weekend.
“We haven’t put up any points this week,” coach Ben Johnson said Wednesday.
It doesn’t sound as if overconfidence is going to be an issue for Chicago when it faces the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday in its home opener at Soldier Field. The Vikings have won six in a row going back to last season, including a 39-22 victory over Green Bay in Week 1.
“You have that one, it’s really like 12 hours, they say 24, but it’s like 12 hours and then from there you move on to the next team,” Williams said.
Led by Williams and D’Andre Swift, the Bears beat the Carolina Panthers 59-37 on Sunday in the highest-scoring opener in NFL history. Williams passed for two touchdowns and ran for two TDs, and Swift rushed for 124 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bears rolled to 291 yards rushing and 552 yards overall. But that’s all in the past now.
“This is a week-to-week business,” offensive lineman Jonah Jackson said. “We know we have to perform week in and week out and we’re ready for it.”
Swift was selected as the NFC Offensive Player of the Week, but he was listed as limited for Wednesday’s practice because of an ankle/knee injury. Right tackle Darnell Wright was held out because of a knee injury, and running back Kyle Monangai (hamstring), cornerback Malik Muhammad (ankle) and defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo (shoulder) were all listed as limited.
Swift said he was fine. He also was ready to put Week 1 in the rearview mirror.
“It’s over with already,” he said. “So what we’re doing in Week 2, that’s a whole different approach now. We got a big task ahead of us, one that we’re looking forward to, but Week 1 over.”
The 24-year-old Williams looked decisive in the first game of his second season in Johnson’s offense. He was 21 for 29 for 269 yards through the air. He also rushed for 65 yards on 10 attempts.
The performance raised the outside expectations for Williams and Chicago a year after the Bears won the NFC North for the first time since 2018. But Williams dismissed the idea of any carryover confidence from the offensive display against Carolina.
“The confidence aspect, it doesn’t come from going 1-0 the first week,” he said. “That’s not where it comes from, for at least myself and I would say for this team. But for myself, it comes from the work, it comes from the belief in my teammates. It comes from the belief of my coach. And that’s where it stems from.”
Williams and the Bears are playing their first home game since they lost to the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round of the playoffs on Jan. 18. They went 7-3 at home last season.
“We talked in the preseason during training camp just how powerful it is to play at Soldier and we need to come away with home victories if we want this season to go the way we want it to,” Johnson said.
___
