ALL-IN on the Caleb Williams era in Chicago? 👀 Stephen A. & Mad Dog DEBATE 🍿 | First Take

ALL-IN on the Caleb Williams era in Chicago? 👀 Stephen A. & Mad Dog DEBATE 🍿 | First Take

That’s awesome. Caleb Williams and the Bears exercised their demons by pulling off their own last second comeback win Monday night up against a team that derailed their season with a Hail Mary a year ago. Williams found away, threw for a touchdown, ran for another to win his third straight game. The Bears, they have now three straight wins since starting the season 0 and two while scoring at least 20 in each of those games. So far this season, Caleb has increased his passing yards per game, his attempts, yards per attempt, and is taking less sacks compared to last season. So, Mad Dog, I ask, are you all in on the Caleb Williams era in Chicago? I am not. And great job for Troy Aman on Monday night because Troy wasn’t into it either. You can tell just by listening to his commentary. And if Ben Johnson, who’s done a hell of a job, and Caleb Williams are going to sit there and tweet about Troy Aman. Time out. Well, Ben Johnson didn’t tweet anything. I mean player. I thought Johnson didn’t like what Aman had to say. He addressed it in the press conference. This is Troy Aman. I mean, this is one of the great quarterbacks in the history of the National Football League with three with three Super Bowls where he played great in all three games. If he wants to have a comment on Caleb Williams, he’s allowed to have a comment on Caleb Williams. Deal with it. Me, you want to kill me, go ahead. What do I know? Because I don’t love Caleb Williams either. He creates his own chaos in some of these games. 26% inaccuracy rate. ESPN made sure they gave you that percentage when they said his throws at times can be inaccurate. He fumbled that snap which cost him an opportunity to win the game late in the third quarter, early fourth quarter. He’s just I don’t know. He’s he he’s he’s so erratic at times in the course of the game. Now, at times he can be great and then at other times you say, “Geez, what are you doing?” I mean, and let’s be honest, this is this let’s be fair right now. And the Bears have a history of doing a horrific job with quarterbacks. Justin Fields, Kade Mcnown, Trabiscy. I mean, this is nothing new. If you’re right now, if you’re the Bears and you want to analyze this, would you rather have Jaden Daniels who is picked two or Williams? I don’t know. What do you think? Daniels, he got to an NFC championship. What about Drake May? There’s the next one I was just going to mention. You want Drake May or you want Caleb Williams? It’s a little early yet for Drake May, but are the early returns? Give me Drake May. I take him right now over Caleb Williams. So to me, despite their record, good win. Daniels fumbled. That’s the reason they won the game. But overall, I am nervous about him if I’m a Bear fan going forward. Big picture. A couple of things. Well, I disagree with Doggy. But but before I disagree with Doggy, let me say this. Um, I’ve been at ESPN since 2003, with the exception of the two-year hiatus from 2009 to 2011. One of the proudest moments I believe we should have is when we acquired Joe Buck and Troy Aman to do Monday Night Football. You’re talking about the A team and you’re talking about a guy in Troy Aman who is a three-time Super Bowl champion, smart as a whip, incredible integrity, and anybody in the world of football who has a problem with him talking about a quarterback should really really check themselves. There is you could have people just as qualified because there are some who are. There’s nobody more qualified than Troy Aman to be talking about the quarterback position in the National Football League. So, everybody just need to stand down. Let’s get that out the way first. Now, let me get to the point about Doggy on Caleb Williams. Doggy, I get where you’re coming from, but I respectfully disagree with you, and I’m going to tell you why. Over his last 12 starts, do you know that Caleb Williams has thrown 20 touchdowns and just three interceptions? Do you realize that Caleb Williams is on his third head coach into this season, game 18 of his professional career, doggy, on his third head coach and his fourth offensive coordinator, who’s had to deal with that. Tell me a quarterback in NFL history that’s had to deal with three different head coaches and four different offensive coordinators inside of 18 games. That was Caleb Williams. Also, we have to take into account that Drake May actually helps the argument to believe in a Caleb Williams. Here’s why. When, no disrespect, but when Bill Bich departed and Robert Craft decided to give the job to Gerard Mayo, didn’t work out, did it? Now you got Mike Vrabel there. And just like that, look at Drake May. We weren’t saying this about Drake May last year, but we’re saying this about him now. Why, doggy? Because you know as well as I do, particularly when it comes to the National Football League, coaching matters. It really, really does. It’s not just about X and O’s. It’s also about development. It’s about culture. And it’s about making sure that that culture is something that augments and elevates your quarterback as opposed to compromising their level of production. That is what Mike Vrabel has done in New England in a short stint there already only six games in. We got to give credit where credit is due. Right now, Mike Vrael is a candidate for coach of the year because of how New England has looked. Now, we get back to Caleb Williams. Jayen Daniels hasn’t had to deal with that. Even Drake May hasn’t had to deal with that. So, look at what Caleb Williams has had to deal with. And look at him from the first two games to the last three games. Look at all of those things and then let’s look at Ben Johnson because now we gonna have to pay attention to giving Kevin Warren the CEO and and and and and Ryan Pace and and and and and Ben Johnson all of these guys credit for bringing in Ben Johnson. So Ben Johnson is there calling plays. He’s the head coach. Look at how he’s resonating. Look at him on a headset. Look at him holding his coaching staff accountable and players accountable. The kind of thing Doggy loves. That’s why I’m bringing it up because Mad Dog Russo with the degenerate gambling tendencies that he has picks up on all of this stuff. It ain’t just about what’s going on in the field. It’s about what’s going on on the sideline. What your mentality is like, where your focus lies, what’s what what what are you doing, what you’re supposed to be doing. This is Mad Dog Russo. He pays attention to all of this stuff. Watch Ben Johnson right here. Watch the job that he’s doing. Look at the players rally around him. Look at the accountability he attaches to them. Chicago has something going on. And then when we take into account Chicago’s history, hey doggy, Jim McMahon wasn’t the star of the Chicago Bears. I mean, we saw him doing, you know, doing the video, the hustling crew and all of that stuff. But this dude was this this is the 80s. This was no Dan Fouts. This was no Dan Marino. This was nobody like that. This was this wasn’t those guys. this that defense and sweetness Walter Payton and the refrigerator you say that you know refrigerator Perry those were the dudes Jim McMahon was a good quarterback but come on now and ever since then the best that you have had to offer was Jay Cutler okay in Chicago cats like that Caleb Williams look at his arm strength look at his ability to make those throws look at his ability to scramble to move look at his NFL body. I believe in Caleb Williams. I don’t He’s not there yet, but he has tremendous potential. And now that he’s got a a coach like Ben Johnson, I think sky’s the limit. I would also argue this to Stephen A’s point. I don’t know if there was a single player, and this includes Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen and all the rest that we talk about, who had more pressure and eyeballs on them coming into this season, considering a they spent big bucks on bringing in the offensive guru, Ben Johnson, but then in the draft getting Colston Loveland, getting Luther Burden, they also have all those other weapons that they have and Roma Dunay, a former top 10 pick. Everyone was looking for Caleb Williams to fail here. And here we are, they’re three and two. He’s won three straight games. I don’t know what else he could have done. doggy. I He I But he was terrible week one against He was not terrible in that game. Oh, he wasn’t good. They had this game. They had that game and then they lost in the end and McCarthy had a great time at the end. He didn’t play well in that game. Doug Douggee went trailing when when trailing or tied. When trailing or tied this season, Caleb Williams is completing 64% of his passes, six touchdowns, just one interception with a passer rating of 103.6. We’re talking about this brother like throw him out with the bathwater, but you got people speculating, can Chicago make noise in the NFC North? What you saying? You look at Green Bay and how they gave up 40 to Dallas, right? You look at Detroit, how they just lost to KC, right? Jay was a rookie and what’s he going to do when he gets back, right? Chicago is right there. And I think that they’re on a comeup. I I I like Caleb Williams. I’m not saying he’s there yet. I know that he has vast ways to go. I listen to Troy Aman. You understand what I’m saying? I get it. I’m not refuting anything that he said. But three head coaches and four offensive coordinators in your first 18 months, I’m quite sure if you sat down and you asked Troy Aman about that scenario, you understand? He would be sensitive to that in his judgment towards Cayla Williams. He has every right to point out what he pointed out. And I ain’t here to refute no damn Troy Aman. Let me be very clear. He’s right with what he says. I’m just saying it’s early. You want to judge Caleb Williams, judge him now that he’s got Ben Johnson because I’m here to tell you I believe I believe in Ben Johnson. I think that man can coach. I really really do. And by the way, we’re seeing and I hate to bring this up, but it’s necessary because y’all are right there in New York. Peter Doggy, you know this. Look at the discrepancies between the two former Detroit Lion coordinators. Mhm. Look at the offensive coordinator that is Ben Johnson in Detroit last year. Look at the defensive coordinator that is Aaron Glenn and look at them as head coaches right now. There is a vast difference when it comes to the level of production that is taking place in Chicago compared to what is taking place in East Rutherford, New Jersey. No doubt. And I would just add and put a button on it. games like Monday night, the Washington game, years prior, Bears would lose those games. They found a way to win. Williams is not the reason they won. He absolutely was. Swift was Swift was the guy. You You have a quarterback giving the ball to Swift, passing the ball to Swift. Williams absolutely was the reason why. Oh, I don’t think so. Okay. Why? We got [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Stephen A. Smith and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo join Peter Schrager on First Take to discuss the outlook for Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears.

0:00 Mad Dog not all-in
2:49 Stephen A.’s thoughts
5:45 Talking Ben Johnson
8:03 Schrags sets the scene
9:13 Troy Aikman’s comments

✔️ Subscribe to ESPN+ http://espnplus.com/youtube
✔️ Get the ESPN App: http://www.espn.com/espn/apps/espn
✔️ Subscribe to ESPN on YouTube: http://es.pn/SUBSCRIBEtoYOUTUBE
✔️ Subscribe to NBA on ESPN on YouTube: http://bit.ly/SUBSCRIBEtoNBAonESPN
✔️ Watch ESPN on YouTube TV: http://es.pn/YouTubeTV

#ESPN #NFL