Shane Waldron was supposed to be the solution to the Chicago Bears’ offensive woes after Luke Getsy was fired. Eight games into the season, it appears that isn’t the case. The unit looks just as disjointed, sloppy, and unexplosive as the past two years. Only this time, it might actually be worse because the Bears can’t run the ball anymore. Players already confronted Waldron about his operation once before. It seemed to work for a time. Now, it’s right back to the same issues. Many are getting tired of it.
The biggest concern is Waldron’s inability to make life easier for Caleb Williams, the third-most sacked quarterback in the NFL and with a league-low accuracy rate on deep passes. The calls for his job are growing louder. However, two Bears insiders have indicated Matt Eberflus won’t do that. Adam Jahns of The Athletic mentioned it first.
“If Matt Eberflus is allowed to fire Shane Waldron during the season, it would be an indictment of himself and would likely become another reason for his own removal.
The Oakland Raiders fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy on Monday. It’s a bad look for the Raiders and the Bears. Eberflus fired Getsy after two years of calling plays for former quarterback Justin Fields.”
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune mentioned the same thing not long after. Eberflus knows that firing Waldron now would be tantamount to career suicide.
“Firing an offensive coordinator eight games into a season isn’t a good look for a head coach who fired the previous coordinator after the last season. Eberflus must have confidence Waldron can find solutions — and not just against a poor opponent like the Patriots — because otherwise I think a move would have been justified, even with the team at 4-4. I’m just not convinced the offensive players have a great deal of confidence in the direction they’re going, and if that’s the case, can you blame them?”
Shane Waldron must improve. That is the only hope.
Eberflus could turn to passing game coordinator Thomas Brown as a play caller without firing Waldron, but that would be a desperation move. Carolina tried the same exact thing last year with Brown. It only lasted three games in which they scored 15, 13, and 13 points respectively. Granted, it didn’t get better after head coach Frank Reich took it back, so maybe Brown wasn’t the problem. Either way, deviating from Waldron at this stage would be a monumental admission of incompetency by Eberflus.
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There is no way he can do that. This is his third year. He hasn’t done nearly enough winning to afford such a bold move. Eberflus must work with Shane Waldron to find solutions to the problem. That is the only way they don’t avoid getting the axe a few months from now. It starts on Sunday. The New England Patriots are not a good team. This is a game the Bears should win handily. If the offense still struggles, the calls for change could grow deafening.
Just say no to lifeboat ethics! Push them off. Push them hard.
Is that really a Ryan Leaf analysis video at the end of the article?!?? Ya thats the guy I’m listening too
If the Bears do lose this game against New England I believe that’s the end for Woldron. No way he keeps his job playing as poorly as they did against AZ. I think that’s career suicide for Eberflus to not make changes after another deflating loss this time against a 2 win team. Sadly the Bears could easily be 7-2 right now. Maybe even 8-1. But we see the same mistakes over and over and now we’re 4-4 with very little hope remaining. The Bears offense needs a blow out game.
Waldron needs to re-evaluate his scheme. Williams had PLENTY of time, on several plays, to check down, but he DIDN’T. Kmet saw ONE target over the last TWO games. THIS is NOT acceptable! Swift has below average field vision, missing opportunities to gain yards, because he didn’t LOOK at how a play and blocking was developing. Now that the by week os over, (losing momentum gained), lets see if the Bears can get back on track. The talent is there, but injuries have hurt the continuity in growth. Technically, the Bears STILL control their destiny. It’s a tough road ahead,… Read more »
The sharks are circling. Should lifeboat ethics save any of them? Nope! We Lions kill Hyenas but we don’t eat them and we would never save any of them.