Caleb Williams and the Bears couldn’t do anything in the first half of Thursday’s game against the Detroit Lions. The attack couldn’t do much of anything, with just 53 yards on 19 offensive plays. Williams completed just 30 percent of his passes for 34 yards as part of overall offensive struggles.

The entire unit came alive in the second half and, thanks to some clutch defensive stops and takeaways, the Bears were able to stage a second-half comeback.

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Williams is getting good in those situations, finding ways to turn it on late and keep his team in it. He was 15-for-24 passing for 222 yards and three touchdowns down the stretch.

The team fell just short of another comeback, and while then-head coach Matt Eberflus deserved to take heat for not using the team’s final timeout to avoid the disastrous end to a 23-20 loss to the Lions, Williams played a part in the issue. He took a sack, though the rusher was on him quickly and he wasn’t able to get away fromhim on a designed draw. Then it took forever to get the offense lined up, and him changing to a play that would be the final play took more time and didn’t work out. Williams said he didn’t feel it was his position to call a timeout, and his last-ditch effort didn’t work out.

His late play was excellent, though, and shows how good he can be in the clutch. He’ll have to move on from more turmoil following Matt Eberflus’ firing, but Williams has done well during tumultuous times.

Let’s use key metrics, stats and analysis to break down his performance against the Lions:

Week 13 stat line

Box score

20-for-39 passing (51.3 comp%), 256 yds, 6.6 ypa, 3 TD, 0 INT, 97.8 passer rating; 4 rushes, 39 yards, 3 sacks, 0 fumbles

PFF Metrics

PFF Passing pressure

Kept clean (66.7%): 16-for-30, 168 yds, 5.6 ypa, 2 TD, 0 INT

Under pressure (33.3%): 4-for-9, 88 yds, 9.8 ypa, 1 TD, 0 INT

Not Blitzed (72.9%): 14-for-27, 175 yds, 6.5 ypa, 3 TD, 0 INT

When Blitzed (27.1%): 6-for-12, 81 yds, 6.8 ypa, 0 TD, 0 INT

PFF Passing direction map

Overall evaluation

Anthony Herron’s take

“This was another disappointing result for the Bears, but there’s hope in their rookie quarterback. After a rocky first half, he really responded in half No. 2. I know a lot of Bears fans are wondering where things go from here but, not only as it relates to this season and the direction of this franchise, we’re seeing mounting evidence that you’ve got a franchise QB behind center. There’s no reason to think you won’t be able to build something around Caleb Williams.

After what we saw in the second half – Detroit had been one of the nest second-half defenses in football – Bears fans got another comeback from Caleb.”

Williams, Teven Jenkins on Caleb’s Week 13 performance

“It’s tough doing all of that and then not being able to come out with the win, but it’s definitely encouraging because the fight that these guys have overall – defense, special teams, these offensive players it’s – I go around and tell the guys after this game and these past couple games that I love them and appreciate them, and let’s keep going. That fight, especially – we spoke about it the other day with the record that we have – there’s not many times where teams are still fighting how we fight, so much love and appreciation to them, and can’t wait to keep going.” – Williams

“I thought he played great. He grinded. He was tough. He knew we had a bunch of crazy looks on defense and he sat in there and he was throwing the ball and he was doing great. To come back like that just shows the type of heart he has and the type of heart this team has.”

Rookie rankings (NOTE: As of publication Daniels, Nix and Maye have yet to play. Story will be updated once they do.)

Williams is among four rookie quarterbacks making regular starts for their respective teams at this time. Here are their overall stats through 13 weeks:

Jayden Daniels (Washington): 227-of-332 passing (68.4 comp%), 2,613 yds, 12 TD, 5 INT, 7.9 ypa, 97.6 passer rating; 99 rushes, 556 yds, 7 TD; 27 sacks, 3 fumbles

Bo Nix (Denver): 259-of-399 passing (64.9 comp%), 2,548 yds, 16 TD, 6 INT, 6.4 ypa, 88.9 passer rating; 64 rushes, 300 yds, 4 TD; 19 sacks, 1 fumbles

Caleb Williams (Bears): 253-for-411 passing (61.6 comp%), 2,612 yds, 14 TD, 5 INT, 6.4 ypa, 86.1 passer rating; 59 rushes for 378 yds; 49 sacks, 4 fumbles

Drake Maye (Patriots)*: 148-of-226 passing (65.5 comp%), 1,458 yds, 10 TD, 7 INT, 6.5 ypa, 85.4 passer rating; 33 rushes, 286 yds, 1 TD; 21 sacks, 5 fumbles

* Maye assumed the starter’s role in Week 6

Cole Kmet on what comes next for Williams

“Props to Caleb for keeping us in it the way he’s done it and he’s been making plays. Definitely a lot of learning moments throughout this, still for him and the rest of the offense. When you claw like this and you battle like this and you keep coming up short, it hurts. It really hurts.” — Kmet