Something has felt off with the Chicago Bears’ offense ever since the season began. Nobody can pinpoint what is going on with Shane Waldron. He was supposed to bring a credible scheme with him from Seattle. Instead, the Bears are off to one of their worst starts in recent franchise history, which is saying something. It would be one thing if they couldn’t throw the ball. That is par for the course. They have a rookie quarterback and an unreliable offensive line. However, the fact they may have the worst rushing attack in the entire NFL is not something anyone saw coming.
This system was supposed to be different from Luke Getsy’s. It was supposed to be better. That has not been the case. Sure, it is early in the season, and it can sometimes take time to absorb a new system. However, that doesn’t seem to have stopped teams like New Orleans, who just hired Klint Kubiak, from leading the league in points scored. What stands out the most is how out of sorts, undisciplined, and sloppy the entire operation looks. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune asked around the league about it. One answer he got back might be the most damning quote one could imagine.
Talking to scouts around the league, they don’t feel a lot has changed in the Bears’ ground game in moving to coordinator Shane Waldron from Luke Getsy.
“Hired a guy for the exact same offense as the previous guy,” one scout noted.
Shane Waldron being Getsy 2.0 is such a Bears outcome.
In truth, that comment hurts a lot because of its accuracy. Waldron is far too in love with screens, specifically of the wide receiver variety. He gets too cute with his play calling and never seems able to get his players in a rhythm. Worst of all, they both lean on young quarterbacks to make magic happen rather than doing more to make their lives easier. The fact they also seem to hit the same beats in their press conferences about teaching players better and not worrying about a specific identity on offense only magnifies the issue.
Matt Eberflus wanted to separate himself from Getsy because he felt the offense wasn’t progressing as hoped. Yet he never seemed willing to stray too far from the type of coordinator he preferred, both in personality and philosophy. It is horribly fitting that Shane Waldron is turning out to be another Getsy. Perhaps Eberflus’ influence on the entire operation plays a part. Either way, it is evident something is rotten with the entire structure from top to bottom.
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Teven is a flailer. He plays too out of control, and loses his feet too much. He’s a next injury waiting to happen type player. JMHO.
We are not going to fail because of our QB. Get the system in place. As Caleb gets more comfortable in the system, he’s going to give input on game planning and the plays he is comfortable running. He called plays his last year at USC for a reason.
We are a cold weather team. We need to play well in the playoffs when it is cold. We need to own the trenches. Quit with the screens and trying to be fancy, and get good at 4 running plays. Execution wins over talent. Now get good at 4 more.
Pooch, you kinda lose the argument when you bring up Miami and the Raiders; their teams are horrible 1-2 like the Bears. I want to know what McVay is constantly doing with all the injuries and what Lefleur has done with a backup QB and the Vikings O’Connell with Darnold playing well. Besides Belichick (who had Brady running the show for him), no defensive Head Coach Ever wins the Super Bowl!!!!! Peter Carroll won in Seattle but they should have won more than 1.
@Bob Waldron had Pete Carroll as a head coach. But Carroll couldn’t contain Waldron’s tendencies and that got both of them fired. These guys HAVE to be interviewed about the players that are on the team. “What would you do with this person?” Greg Roman and Waldron are “scheme-centric” coordinators. They imagine something (and of course imagine it being successful). But running into reality, they can’t adjust. Getsy was like that. How do you coordinate if a key player is traded, gets injured, signs elsewhere? Reid, Shanahan, McVay, LaFleur are all like that. It appears that DeMeco Ryan’s is going… Read more »
I refrained from saying anything negative about Waldron as soon as he was hired, but he was far down on my list. Read extensively both the writings and comments coming out of Seattle and then listen to post-game interviews. There were a few available coordinators who could talk like Shanahan when talking about offense, but for guys like Kubiak or Robinson or Slowik last year, they have to be supported by managerial assistants who know how to place people to coach. Miami did that in hiring McDaniel (Darnell Bevell), Raiders did that in hiring Getsy (Joe Philbin), other coordinators CAN… Read more »