Caleb Williams sees that it only comes together after the defeat

By the steps they took, he meant the timing and execution of the passing attack. When he wasn't getting sacked and separated from the football or throwing to opposing cornerback Jaylon Jones, Williams was throwing the ball down the field in a way the Bears hadn't in his first two games.

It was not a winning football. He saw it as a lost football that could be used to win at a later date.

The first drive of the fourth quarter was perhaps where Williams showed what he was truly capable of. They managed 70 yards in 13 plays and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Rome Odunze. They converted all three third downs during the march.

However, the two-point pass failed and the Bears were still down 14-9. He later threw a 6-yard touchdown to tight end Cole Kmet.

With his 363 passing yards, he broke the rookie record of 314 set by Mitchell Trubisky against the Lions in December 2017.

He finished the race with 33 successful attempts out of 52, a remarkable total that winning teams do not usually achieve.

“I mean, I'll do whatever the team needs, you know what I mean?” Williams said. “And so if it's 50 times or 50 times, I can't have two turnovers on those 50 attempts, you know.”

On this day, for the third straight game, the Bears had no running game to complement his passes, so they had to rely on attempts and completions.

“So if it comes down to 50 tries and we're throwing the ball around, if it comes down to, you know, 10 tries, then it's whatever the team needs, whatever the team needs to win,” Williams said.

Their running attack stalled at the goal line when the Colts were inside the 1-yard line in the second quarter; the final play was an unfortunate and possibly ill-advised option toss to D'Andre Swift that resulted in a loss of 12 yards.

“I guess maybe I wasn't quick enough to the edge or whatever the case may have been, but they didn't crash like they normally do or like we saw them on film,” Williams said of the defenders on the edge. “And, you know, they played well, had an extra player over there. And maybe it was the gun or whatever the case may have been.”

Williams said he had the opportunity to change the game but did not do so.

More than those botched plays and the strip sack he endured in the second half, Williams may have regretted not standing by the defense until it was finally exhausted.

“They work hard every week to go out and do what they do,” Williams said.

“They're doing well. And we're going to get better on offense.”

“Obviously the defense is playing great. Obviously they don't want points on the scoreboard, but I mean, I think it was two (Bears) interceptions or something, you know, two interceptions on their side is all we need on offense, you know.”

Williams is willing to play the waiting game. There are 14 left and if the offense improves sooner rather than later, there may be better days later when the schedule gets tougher.

“Like I said, it's a long season,” he said. “And so we have to adapt, change and adapt to the players and the guys that we have in those rooms because we have special guys, whether it's on the offensive line, running backs or, you know, wide receivers.”

“And you know, you have to be able to adapt and all that. I think it starts with communication and that's something that's consistent throughout a long season, throughout a game where, you know, rhythm, you know, starting fast, you know, throughout a game where you know, you want to get things going, you want to be consistent, you want to be explosive, all those different things.”

They will try to put it all together next week against the Rams, but this time with a win.

Twitter: BearsOnSI