INDIANAPOLIS — Caleb Williams couldn’t believe his ears.

“I threw it 52 times? Jesus,” he said.

It wasn’t good for him or for the Bears, who suffered their second straight loss, a 21-16 defeat to the Colts in a game that was always a few quarters longer than the screen of a dark cell phone.

A Bears offense openly searching for its identity found none on Sunday when it decided to drop Williams 56 times to pass. He was tackled four times, including when rookie defensive end Laiatu Latu took the ball from him at the Bears’ 11 midway through the fourth quarter on the game’s most important play.

A franchise counting on Williams to improve with every game needs to keep him healthy all season to reap the rewards, and that won’t happen if they keep throwing this often.

A team playing outside in the cold needs to run better than it did Sunday, when offensive coordinator Shane Waldron called run plays that averaged 2.3 yards against the NFL’s worst rushing defense.

Williams was diplomatic when asked if the team’s identity could be that he would only be the 10^and Bears player who ever threw 52 or more passes.

“I do what the team needs,” he said. “If it’s 50 plays, it’s 50 plays. I can’t have two (interceptions) on those 50 attempts. If it ends up being 10 plays and I complete nine of those 10 and we have 300 yards rushing and four touchdowns? …, then I’m fully aware, fully prepared to do what the team needs.”

This isn’t what he needs. Or what the team needs.

Williams went 33-for-52 for 363 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions and an 80.8 passer rating. All career highs and, on the surface, productive — Justin Fields threw 40 passes just once with the Bears, and even then he managed just 166 yards.

You can’t believe your eyes, nor can Williams’ ears. Most of Williams’ damage came in a cosmetic fourth quarter when the Bears chased points against a defense that played soft coverage.

When the Bears trailed by two scores or more, Williams went 15-for-19 for 133 yards, two touchdowns and a 130.9 passer rating. The rest of the way, he went 18-for-33 for 230 yards, two interceptions, one fumble and a 51.3 passer rating. Take away the 44-yard Hail Mary to DJ Moore at the end of the half that fell a yard short of the end zone, and Williams had a 44.5 passer rating when the game was within one score on Sunday.

When asked if he was concerned that Williams had given a false positive, Eberflus praised his ability to run a two-minute drill throughout the fourth quarter.

“Sometimes you’re down a score, sometimes you’re down a field goal,” he said. “You definitely have to move the ball in that situation.”

Thanks in part to mistakes by Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson, who finished with a 39 passer rating and two interceptions, the Bears trailed by five points when they forced a run with about seven minutes left in the game.

On the first play of the drive, the Bears blocked with five linemen and two tight ends against a four-man rush. Latu beat tight end Cole Kmet around the left end.

“I just lost there,” said Kmet, who had 10 catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. “I have to do better. Disappointed in my technique there.”

Williams said rookie Rome Odunze, who had a career-high six catches for 112 yards, had just gotten open behind a linebacker. Latu swung at the ball with his right hand as Williams began his throwing motion. The ball shot forward and was picked up by the Colts’ Grover Stewart.

The moment felt like when Mitch Trubisky and Fields would fumble late in the game. So did Williams’ interceptions. Three plays after hitting Odunze along the left sideline for a gain of 47 yards in the second quarter, Williams was late throwing a short route to DeAndre Carter and was intercepted by Jaylon Jones. The cornerback got another in the third quarter, when Williams threw into a tight window and hit Odunze with both hands, only to have the ball ricochet off Jones’ right arm and he tapped his toes along the sideline.

“He looked good – apart from the mistakes,” Moore said.

That’s a big caveat. The turnovers are what cost the Bears the game.

Kmet said he “looked like the No. 1 overall pick at times.” Those plays didn’t come often enough, or at the right times.

Williams wasn’t as good as the stat sheet showed Sunday, and the Bears’ offensive identity remains unclear. Odunze said the offense was “making strides,” Kmet said it was “feeling better” and Moore said it felt like it was “coming to life.”

Just imagine what they would say if the Bears scored more than two touchdowns.

“Having that offensive identity is — I think it’s brewing,” Williams said. “I think it’s a lot closer than it was the week before, or weeks before. And I think once we figure that out, this thing is going to get going. I think we’re there.”

On Sunday it felt different.