Kurt Warner raised eyebrows last week following the Chicago Bears‘ loss to the Washington Commanders. Caleb Williams didn’t have the best game, so it was assumed the critical Warner would dress down his performance. Instead, the Hall of Famer took a thinly veiled shot at offensive coordinator Shane Waldron for not doing a good enough job getting his young quarterback easier looks. That was the first big red flag that something was seriously wrong with the Bears’ passing game.
Now, following another ugly showing in Arizona, two more former quarterbacks have come out blasting Waldron. Dan Orlovsky of ESPN did a three-minute breakdown of how Waldron’s passing game concepts make no sense. It is almost impossible to determine what the Bears coordinator wants to accomplish. He wasn’t alone. Longtime former backup Chase Daniel did an even more extensive breakdown on YouTube, and he echoed those same thoughts.
Williams is surviving Shane Waldron at this point.
It should be considered a minor miracle that he hasn’t played worse over the past two weeks. Despite taking nine sacks, he has managed to avoid throwing any interceptions. His 65.4 passer rating is mostly due to his low 49.23 completion percentage. That goes back to what Orlovsky and Daniels talked about. Waldron isn’t doing enough to get Williams easier completions. What makes it all the more baffling is that he seemed to do exactly that in the three previous games before the bye week.
Brad Biggs indicated recently that players in the locker room would welcome a change at offensive coordinator. However, there is almost no way Eberflus will dismiss Shane Waldron. If he does that, it will be a glaring admission that he had once again failed to find the right guy for this team after dumping Luke Getsy in January. It would be tantamount to career suicide. That means one of two things happened. Either Waldron stays put, and the Bears pray he figures it out, or a change comes from higher up the chain.
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For Williams’ sake, something needs to happen soon.
I just have a hard time with Lambert NOW pushing the criticism of the offensive coordinator while refusing to write about Getsy’s issues last year (and the year before). When do people blame the boss? When all the wheels fall off and there is ANOTHER rebuild?
The Las Vegas Raiders quickly removed Luke Getsy lass than 8 games into the season. Bears should have done that two years ago.
Fix the coaching before blaming players.
@Dr Melhus – “If Caleb isn’t generational, that’s on Poles.” You wrote that, right?
I rest my case.
Caleb needs to start taking the easy plays that are literally right in front of him. Fields did the same shit. Um sure I’m not the only one who spends half the game screaming at the tv THROW IT!!! He’s a rookie and he will learn hopefully. You absolutely need to take these super easy throws and move the dam chains. Wayyyy too many 3 and outs for this offense as Caleb hunts for big plays.
A couple of thoughts…. I think whether or not Williams is a “generational talent” doesn’t matter now—he is our QB for the next few years, we should work with what we have. IMO he is an above average talent around whom the Bears could build a successful team, but the OC is really hurting him. The play calls and protections provided Williams by the O-line (whether by protections called or personnel providing them) are a huge factor in his success. I truly believe that with an average offensive line Williams could be wildly successful. His ability to scramble and stay… Read more »
Incredible – we have a coach who is historically bad for the franchise who management won’t fire. A coordinator who suffers the same affliction as the last OC – namely not using the talent to it’s strengths who management won’t fire because they’re willing to stay the course. Insane. Not to mention we were sold on a “generational” QB that looks like the last QB without the same level of athleticism. But everything stays the same. Maybe the Bears won’t be any good until there’s new ownership that will focus on accountability. Truly sad for such a loyal fan base.