Williams’ improvement shows in Bears’ play-action game plan

The Bears enter a critical six-game stretch to end the regular season when they play the Eagles on Friday in Philadelphia.

Chicago enters Week 13 at 8-3 atop the NFC North. The team’s final five opponents — the Bears play the Green Bay Packers twice — have a combined 33-22-1 overall record, with the Cleveland Browns weighing that record down at 3-8.

A win Friday would go a long way in not only improving the Bears’ playoff chances but also showing the rest of the NFL they are legitimate contenders. Here are three of the most interesting things the Bears said Tuesday.

Williams’ development in play-action

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin complimented Bears quarterback Caleb Williams after Sunday’s loss to the Bears. He told reporters Williams was hard to defend because of his ability in play-action.

That was a big compliment given where Williams was when he started this offseason under first-year head coach Ben Johnson. Williams hadn’t run much play-action during his rookie season last year or in college. But it was something Johnson used a lot as the offensive coordinator with the Detroit Lions.

Williams struggled with it at times at the start of the season as he tried to become more comfortable under center. Now, Williams uses it to a level where opposing coaches have to scheme against it.

“Caleb has really embraced it,” Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said. “He’s done a great job of working through kind of the nuances of those things, whether that be footwork, whether that is related to his eyes once he snaps his eyes around and getting them to the defense and being able to reassess, but he’s certainly come a long way from where we started.”

Play-action makes things more confusing for defenses, especially with a mobile quarterback such as Williams.

“It’s something we’ve worked on,” Williams said. “It’s something that I’ve worked on, just getting consistent with footwork and delivering a good ball for the guys.”

On juggling an injured defense

Plenty of unexpected role players played a big part in Sunday’s win. Cornerback Nahshon Wright intercepted his fifth pass of the season, while linebackers D’Marco Jackson and Amen Ogbongbemiga stepped up.

Chicago played without six defensive starters Sunday. But the defense made enough plays to hold off a late Steelers comeback. Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen credited the players for being ready when their number was called, as well as his coaches, who put in extra work to make sure everyone was prepared.

“We do a lot extra with the guys that aren’t necessarily expected to play a lot of snaps because eventually they have to play snaps and nobody cares,” Allen said. “I mean 90% of the world doesn’t care about your problems, the other 10% is glad you got them, so you know that’s just the way we operate.”

Possible reinforcements might force Allen to juggle his lineup even more. Cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon could be activated off injured reserve before Friday’s game. That could lead to some tough choices, including what to do with Wright and slot cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who’s played well in Gordon’s absence.

Allen was confident he and his coaches would find a way to put the team’s 11 best players on the field.

“It’s a good problem to have, and we’ll have a plan to try to utilize all the pieces that we have to the puzzle,” Allen said. “We’ll try to utilize those to the best of our ability to try to get ourselves in the best position to be successful.”

On executing a ‘dirty ball’

Bears kicker Cairo Santos joined the latest trend of a new style of kickoff in the NFL on Sunday when he used a “dirty ball” or “knuckleball” kickoff against the Steelers.

It involves kicking the ball at a lower and faster trajectory, which makes the ball’s path unpredictable for returners. Some kickers, such as Santos did Sunday, also try to have the ball fall in the landing zone so that the returner struggles to handle it based on its unpredictable bounce.

Santos had been working on the kick for much of the season and even teased it in warmups before games. But Sunday was the first time Santos used the kick.

“You have to be careful with it,” Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said. “Obviously, the (Los Angeles Rams), they do a lot of it, all right, and affects your field-goal percentage too because it’s two different leg swings. So, you’re teaching the kicker to do two different things, so you have to be careful with that. Out in (Los Angeles), that got to them a little bit, and it’s gotten to different teams around the league at times. So, you just have to master it and use it when you need it.”

The kick fooled the Steelers at times Sunday. Pittsburgh’s Kenneth Gainwell bobbled the ball the first time Santos used it and returned it to the Pittsburgh 5-yard line. The Steelers didn’t start any drive after a kickoff better than their own 27, as the Bears’ special teams found an innovative way to impact Sunday’s win.

“We just want to help and aid the team in any way possible, whether that’s from a defensive drive standpoint or that’s an offensive drive standpoint,” Hightower said. “We just want to help the team and contribute. That’s all we care about.”