“The biggest issue on the offense is not the rookie quarterback,” says Windy City Gridiron of the Bears’ offense
The Los Angeles Rams hit the road for the third time in four games as they face the Chicago Bears in a battle of 1-2 squads. This year’s top overall pick Caleb Williams will take on the 2009 number one overall pick Matthew Stafford.
I spoke with Bill Zimmerman from SB Nation’s Bears blog Windy City Gridiron to get a peek behind the curtain of what’s going on in Chicago ahead of the Week 4 matchup.
Q – The Bears are quite fortunate to not be 0-3 as the offense and Caleb Williams have struggled to find their footing in the early going. Williams had the best game yardage-wise against the Colts, yet he still turned the ball over three times in the 21-16 loss. Could you talk more about the offensive issues so far and where must Williams improve the most as he builds chemistry with his new teammates?
A – Caleb Williams has shown significant growth in each of his first three games. He’s shown tremendous success and awareness in the quick game and the intermediate and deep balls are improving each week. The three turnovers were unfortunate but one pass was a throw that hit Rome Odunze in the hands and then fell into the hands of a defender and the other was a fumble on a missed blocking assignment just as he was releasing the ball so it’s probably not as bad as it looks in the box score. The biggest issue on the offense is not the rookie quarterback, it’s the offensive line and the inability to establish the run.
Q – Part of the offensive issues have stemmed from Chicago’s run game which has been horrific through the first three weeks. Bears running backs are averaging less than 3 yards per carry and free agent addition D’Andre Swift is averaging 1.8 yards per carry. Why has establishing the ground game been such an issue and how does offensive coordinator Shane Waldron kick-start some life into the group to help out his rookie quarterback?
A – This has been a mystery that nobody seems to be able to solve right now. Running backs not named Swift are averaging 3.5 yards per carry which isn’t good but is at least in the realm of normal bad. Swift’s 1.8 yards is just woeful. The scheme has looked disjointed and offensive linemen frequently look lost when they reach the second level. They need a more cohesive plan that fits the offense and one where the linemen all understand their assignments. Swift was signed to be the main ball carrier but that really needs to be abandoned at this point. Every other running back looks better running the ball right now so until Swift can get his feet under him and the Bears can have a more cohesive running attack up front, they may need to reduce his carries and run with the hot hand this week.
Q – While the Bears’ offense has suffered growing pains, the defense remains one of the NFL’s top units. The defense helped Chicago defeat Tennessee in Week 1 and kept the Bears in their last two games, losing by a combined 11 points. What makes this such a formidable unit and what weaknesses could the Rams exploit on Sunday?
A – There aren’t many weaknesses on this defense. The secondary is elite. As a unit through three games, the secondary has only given up 1 touchdown and has three interceptions, including a pick-six. Jaylon Johnson continues to show that he’s become one of the league’s best CBs and their youth of Tyrique Stevenson, Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker are improving every game and they’re already good players. The linebackers are solid in both the run and passing attack. The weakest part up front is the defensive line. They have been able to generate a bit of a pass rush but I still question if they’ll be able to do it consistently throughout the season. It’s also quite difficult to run at Montez Sweat or Andrew Billings but running at Gervon Dexter, the second-year DT out of Florida, can be exploited. Passing the ball short in front of the secondary and running at Dexter is the best approach right now to beating this defense.
Q – General manager Ryan Poles decided to bring back head coach Matt Eberflus following a 5-3 finish to the 2023 season after a 2-7 start. It’s still early of course but the decision to run it back with Eberflus appears to be unwise, especially with the Bears starting over once more under center. Why did the Bears’ front office decide to retain Eberflus instead of simply starting over and what must the embattled coach do to prove he’s the right guy moving forward?
A – To answer that question, you first must understand Bears ownership and that’s too long to answer in one of these exchanges. But, in short, the Bears have only fired one head coach with two years remaining on his contract in the history of the franchise and that was Marc Trestman who was so bad in his last year they gave up back-to-back 50 burgers on defense (the first time that had happened in 90 years) and the team was fighting in the locker room. They had no choice.
Firing Eberflus after two seasons is not something that Bears ownership ever does. Perhaps they’re too loyal, perhaps they don’t like paying two head coaches for two years (it’s probably that), but either way, firing Eberflus was going to be a long shot. Most fans and media understood that with the drafting of Caleb Williams inevitable, it would have been wise to fire Eberflus and go for an offensive-minded coach, like a Ben Johnson, but ultimately that wasn’t the decision that was made. Hopefully, Williams becomes so good that he can cover up the warts of his head coach and the head coach can grow into the position and go from mediocre to above average. Eberflus is a great defensive coach, it’s just that sideline CEO aspect of the job where he struggles.
Q – Heading into the season, the Bears were expected to be players in the NFC playoff picture after drafting Williams and making several key offseason additions. Again it’s early, so the team could always improve as the season goes on. What were your realistic expectations of Chicago entering the regular season and where do they need to grow to live up to their offseason billing?
A – If the offense comes around (and the passing game looks really close to really gelling), this team can start humming because the defense is solid and the special teams unit is strong enough where it isn’t a concern. If the Bears can figure out their running game, balance out the offense and take some pressure off Williams, they should win some games. After the Rams, they play the Panthers, Jaguars, Commanders, Cardinals and Patriots so they have some very winnable games coming up. Hopefully they can win the majority of those, be sitting at 5-4 or maybe 6-3 and have some momentum going into the back half of their schedule which is far more challenging.
