Last week, former offensive lineman Brian Baldinger raised red flags about how Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron did a poor job of giving Caleb Williams easy ways to beat pressure. Too often, the rookie quarterback was hung out to dry because he had nowhere to go with the football against the blitz. Anybody who watched Sunday night in Houston had to cover their eyes. Williams took a beating all night, absorbing seven sacks and 11 additional hits. Much of it came from the Texans’ aggressive blitz package.
Baldinger went to the tape to see what happened. What he found was the exact same problems from a week ago. There were no built-in easy completions for Williams to get the football out. This led to the inevitable. For all the talk about the offensive line, Waldron is the one who should be getting heat.
It is hard to argue with his assessment. Baldinger understands protection responsibilities. One way a smart offensive coordinator makes life easier on the offensive line is by giving the quarterback quick, high-percentage throws. By most accounts, Waldron hasn’t done that enough.
Shane Waldron has to change his approach.
Whatever he’s doing isn’t working. The Bears are suffering way too many mental breakdowns along the line of scrimmage, making it easy for defenses to exploit. Everything is magnified by the inability to get the running game going, putting even more pressure on Williams to carry the load. The offensive coordinator likely had a plan on how he wanted to develop his young quarterback. That plan has to be shelved. It isn’t working. His responsibility is to do everything humanly possible to protect Williams.
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If that means scaling things back and making a more committed effort to the running game? So be it. If that means more moving pockets and bootlegs? So be it. Shane Waldron must get everybody on the same page before he can start trying to implement his grander visions for the Bears offense. It is clear the confidence is low across the board despite a promising 1-1 start for the team. The good news is Waldron has gone through early-season struggles before. He’s shown he can make adjustments.
It will be interesting to see what he has planned for next Sunday.
I agree with the thought but the question mark is, is Kiran ready? Like TGena has mentioned a ton of times, he’s coming off what could be a more serious injury than many believe and has just recently become available. I’m sure the they don’t want him thrown into the fire of 50+ reps a game and the plan is to ease him into action. Once he gets his sea legs under him and shows he’s ready and able, I’m sure that’s in the plan. On another note, I hope Jenkins can stay healthy and get back in the groove… Read more »
@Tred I would roll with that plan too. Nobody really knows anything about this game, including and especially me, beyond what they can see with their own eyes. Kramer at C and the rookie from Yale at LG may well be the combo that gets us through the year.
@Sam I get that I come off as a Fields truther, and that’s probably a good shorthand way to say it. But I was absolutely on board with drafting a QB this year and letting the competition play out. (For example, I remember posting in favor of drafting Caleb if he slid out of the top 10, or was available in some kind of trade-down scenario.) The best QB to come out of this year’s draft is probably going to be a QB who isn’t on anyone’s radar right now. In the modern league, that tends to happen pretty regularly:… Read more »
Barry.. It’s not about the “competition” between the 2 men. It’s about the locker room. JF has/had close friends in that locker room. Nobody wants to create division in a locker room, especially when you are bringing in a top 1st round pick. But nothing I can say, or anyone else can say, is going to help you get over the loss of JF. He had 3 seasons and proved he just was not growing anywhere near as much as needed or expected. If u want to lay all the blame on the coaches and everyone else, that is certainly… Read more »
I, for one, think that competition would have sharpened Williams before the season, and forced Eberflus to give him needed reps in games. But more importantly, it would have allowed him to show his teammates that he was ready and deserving of taking the job from Fields. You have to remember – like him or hate him – Fields got DJ Moore and Kmet PAID. And guys notice their wallets. But, that’s the past. The problem right now is Pole’s miscalculation and Waldron and Morgan’s mishandling of the offense risks turning Williams into the Field’s Experience 2.0. They need to… Read more »