Caleb Williams identifies Bears' biggest issue vs. Bengals

Caleb Williams came away encouraged by some of what he saw from the offense. But the Bears quarterback also identified an obvious problem that needs to be cleaned up: Penalties.

"We just got to clean up the penalties, that was 90% of practice," Williams said. "Just clean those up."

It wasn't all negative. Williams and the Bears offense produced several explosive plays against Cincinnati and had success during red-zone work, including touchdown passes to Colston Loveland, Kalif Raymond and Kaden Davis.

"We had some pretty big explosive plays, and it looks and feels different," Williams said.

That's an encouraging assessment from Williams, considering he felt like he was drinking from a firehose this time last year.

Caleb Williams wants better situational execution from Bears offense

Williams' bigger concern wasn't whether Chicago could generate explosive plays. It was whether the offense could consistently execute when situations demanded it.

"But in situational football, we've got to be better, whether it's protecting the football or total execution from the front and wide receivers," Williams said.

The Bears have enough offensive talent to create highlights. Williams is surrounded by a deep collection of weapons. The next step is eliminating the self-inflicted mistakes that can turn touchdowns into field goals, manageable third downs into obvious passing situations, and productive drives into punts.

And Williams isn't pointing the finger at one position group.

"It's a combination of all of us."

Bears ceiling on offense remains incredibly high

Chicago's offense produced plenty of encouraging moments against Cincinnati. Williams connected with Loveland for a red-zone touchdown despite tight coverage from safety Jordan Battle. The Bears also successfully handled a Bengals blitz on Raymond's touchdown.

But Williams isn't satisfied with a few highlight-reel plays. The Bears want to know how good their offense can become in 2026, and Thursday provided another reminder that the ceiling is high.