Caleb Williams did everything he could to lift the Chicago Bears to a victory on Sunday over the Indianapolis Colts. Unfortunately, his three turnovers marred an otherwise encouraging performance with 363 yards and two touchdowns. He also again didn’t get any help from the running game, which failed to even crack 70 yards. Plenty of people have no issue blaming Williams for the loss, which is par for the course. However, one notable former quarterback isn’t buying that noise. The source of the rot traces to Shane Waldron and his overall process as a play caller.
Tim Jenkins played quarterback for both the Los Angeles Rams and Calgary Stampeders. Over the past few years, he has established one of the more renowned quarterback training schools. He also has a YouTube channel where he has become one of the best at reviewing game tapes. Bernstein and Holmes of 670 The Score brought him on their show to ask what he saw from the Colts game. Was Williams the problem? The short answer is no.
It was something far more alarming.
“Transparently, man? I think it, a little bit, with the staff (is) kind of what we got going on. We had some pretty egregious, I think, play-calling issues, but I also think time management issues. Overall handling of the game. About as bad as it can get. Especially when you look at the Colts.
Two weeks ago we were talking about the Chicago Bears offensive line cannot handle when the tackle and the end on the defense twist, right?…And then the Colts, they’ve got like no line movement. So you have to say go into it arguably the worst defensive game plan you could have for the Bears offensive line and we still struggled.
So to me, it’s just like I think maybe it’s time to panic a little bit with the staff.”
Shane Waldron is in a bad place.
This isn’t Seattle, where he sat in a smaller media market masked by a successful head coach like Pete Carroll. Chicago is a top market with ravenous fans, and Matt Eberflus is going into his third season, having yet to produce a winning record. Combine that with the pressure of coaching a #1 overall pick and it is getting easier to understand why Waldron seems overwhelmed. None of the confident scheming he showed in Seattle has been present. The past three weeks have felt like a gross mishmash of Luke Getsy and Matt Nagy.
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Now, the good news is that there are 14 games left. The Bears still have time to get things sorted out. Shane Waldron might finally be getting a grasp of his personnel. Cole Kmet and Roschon Johnson saw a lot more action against Indianapolis. If he can somehow provide a jolt to the run game, he might be able to get things on the right track. If he can’t, he, Eberflus, and the rest of the staff may not survive into 2025.
If no improvement over the next two should be winnable games, then something drastic must be done. I strongly suggest that the offensive coaching staff, Flus, and even Poles experiment with psychedelics as a group for 16hrs. Everyone should be placed in a room with all necessary equipment from primitive to the latest technologies. The goal should be to come up with at least 12 new ideas and 12 new plays to be utilized with specific players/situations for game #6. No women, weapons, alcohol, incense, TVs, or phones allowed. Lighting should be somewhat dimmed and only psychedelic music of some… Read more »
It doesn’t seem to me that the Bears are hiring OCs that aren’t lazy. Watch previous film and see what the players strengths are. Have the players on their line do what they do best. Most plays can be ran with different blocking schemes. How can Waldron possibly make them look this bad?
If he doesn’t have a grasp of his personnel by now, he’s not an NFL person. I don’t think we need to see any further evidence. Fire Shane Waldron, fire Chris Morgan, cut Nate Davis, and send a message to the rest that this type of performance has no place in the future of this organization.
But it’s the McCaskeys so nothing will change.