Shane Waldron hasn’t had a great time lately. The former Seattle offensive coordinator came to the Chicago Bears with plenty of hype. He’d had considerable success over the past three years, getting some productive seasons out of the resurgent Geno Smith. Many felt his ability to develop quarterbacks was precisely what the Bears needed as they prepared to welcome Caleb Williams. Unfortunately, the season’s first three weeks have been nothing short of a disaster.
Williams has been sacked 13 times. Chicago has the 30th-ranked rushing attack in the league. Worst of all, Waldron is making some pretty awful play calls. Nothing exemplifies this more than calling a speed option on 4th and one at the goal line against Indianapolis last week. Former league MVP Cam Newton took one look at it on his podcast and wasted no time going after the source of the issue.
“That’s not a good play call. This is not Caleb Williams’ fault. This is not D’Andre Swift’s fault. This is the play-caller.”
He went into details.
The play was dead on arrival because of what Waldron asked his players to do. Specifically, it was asking left tackle Braxton Jones to somehow seal off #94 Tyquan Lewis despite the defensive end being lined up on his outside shoulder.
“There’s a defender that’s stacked over the outside edge of [the defensive end]. That’s who the tackle has to go get…
… He has to get to the guy that’s screaming — who touches the running back first. That’s who he’s trying to block. See how fast he gets there. You think [Jones] can get there? … He’s trying to run down a guy who’s 215 pounds and runs a 4.6, 4.7. The guy trying to block him is 315 pounds and runs a 5.2. Hello? Certain things just ain’t gonna happen.”
It’s a good thing Newton didn’t see earlier Shane Waldron calls.
One that has a ton of people outraged happened in that same sequence when he asked 5’8 wide receiver DeAndre Carter to block Lewis on a run play. Predictably, the defensive end blew right through him to help make the stop. As to the option play, many couldn’t understand why the Bears didn’t just kill the play. Williams had that authority at the line of scrimmage. This means either Waldron didn’t have an alternative ready, or the quarterback didn’t see the danger. In reality, it was simpler than that.
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Chicago didn’t break the huddle fast enough.
By the time they reached the line of scrimmage, the clock was already ticking down. If Williams had tried to kill the play, it almost certainly would’ve resulted in a delay of game penalty. That put the rookie in no-mans-land. He either went with the original play with a low chance of working or accepted the likely penalty. He chose the former. Still, this doesn’t excuse Shane Waldron from anything. The original call was still doomed from the start. Nobody with common sense runs an option in such a congested area. Newton had no problem pointing that out.
To the contrary Dr. Steven Sallie!
I would love for Velus Jones Jr. to become the Bears version of MIA”s De’Von Achane; or, DET’s Jahmyr Gibbs.
I’ve always had a taste for “Humble Pie” and those Steve Marriott years.
“Oh-La-De-Da” will make your day — “30 Days In The Hole” might change your life.
RIP, Lil’ Stevie.
So many apologists with so little time!
Velus, please do not score because TGena will never speak to me again. If you are headed to the wide open endzone, then please make sure to lateral to another Bear before crossing the goal-line; that’s another Bear, not a Ram! Thank you in advance for your understanding. And if you have time, demonstrate to Allen on how to catch a sure TD pass. Spread the wealth Velus, while you are still here.
Let everyone cluck like hens. Our F-ing HC has a F-ing beard, F’ers. Eberflus said our QB would put it together around week 4-5, IIRC. Training camps aren’t what they used to be, and there’s a high rate of turnover with staffs each year. We have our OC, Eberflus needs to set the team identity, and that includes the offense. He’s the buck stops here guy. Eberflus/Waldron/Caleb need to take these weeks, and identify what we do well. There are many disjointed teams out there right now. It’s early in the season, and our team will look completely different come… Read more »
Bears win by 4 —No CW Ints