It is a tradition, unlike any other, to see our hopes for the Chicago Bears offense fade just as the calendar flips from summer to fall.
First-year Bears Offensive Coordinator Shane Waldron has a laundry list of problems, many of which we have seen before in the play callers who have come before him. Hence, Bears fans are well-equipped to diagnose these issues and offer solutions — if only because this isn’t our first rodeo.
For what it’s worth, it isn’t *ALL* bad for Shane Waldron and the Bears offense. But the concerns are (1) valid and (2) very visible. Before we get into that stuff, I did find some encouraging trends. Yeah, I know … I couldn’t believe it either until I saw it with my own two eyes.
Here is the good news for Shane Waldron
I’m starting with the good (well, relatively good) news because I know that you’ve probably been drilled with bad news Bears things if you are reading this at BN Bears. And since I appreciate your readership, I don’t want to continue bopping you over the head with that stuff. This isn’t to say that we won’t get into the stinky stuff in Shane Waldron’s broken Chicago offense later in this post. It’s just that I did unearth some positive trends that I felt were worth sharing.
For instance, D’Andre Swift’s snap share is taking a tumble:
- Week 1 vs. Titans: Swift was on the field for 70 percent of the offensive snaps
- Week 2 vs. Texans: Swift saw the field for 66 percent of the offensive snaps
- Week 3 vs. Colts: Swift was on the field for 53 percent of the offensive snaps
The Swift experiment isn’t working out for the Bears. Chicago’s RB1 is averaging 1.8 yards per carry and a woeful 2.7 yards per touch this season. As a result, we saw Roschon Johnson get an uptick in action, going from no offensive snaps in Week 2 to 33 (37 percent snap share) in Week 3. That number figures to grow for Roschon so long as Swift continues to struggle to gain yards in Shane Waldron’s offense.
LOOKING BACK ON WEEK 3: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly From Bears-Colts
It wouldn’t be ideal to see Swift ride the pine after the Bears made him a high-priority signing in free agency, but the offensive coaching staff needs to re-consider the role he’ll have moving forward if that side of the ball is to turn it around ASAP. And because Chicago’s offense is equipped with a pair of backs who are capable of handling an increased workload with Roschon Johnson and Khalil Herbert still on the roster, Shane Waldron could easily tweak his offense for the better while Swift sits.
While Swift’s snaps are on a downward slide, tight end Cole Kmet’s reps are on an upward swing:
- Week 1 vs. Titans: Kmet was on the field for 48 percent of the offensive snaps
- Week 2 vs. Texans: Kmet saw the field for 77 percent of the offensive snaps
- Week 3 vs. Colts: Kmet was on the field for 81 percent of the offensive snaps
What makes this trend so encouraging is that Kmet rewarded the Bears for the increase in snap share with a 10-catch, 97-yard day on Sunday. Plus, he scored a touchdown:
.@CALEBcsw hits a wide open @ColeKmet for 6!
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 22, 2024
📺: #CHIvsIND on CBS pic.twitter.com/XzuEre51pf
Last year, we saw Justin Fields build a connection with Cole Kmet that saw Fields throw accurately and efficiently when targeting his tight end and Kmet making the most of the increased target share. I entered this year hoping that Kmet could build something similar with Caleb Williams. Perhaps Shane Waldron can draw stuff up to allow Kmet to take advantage of Keenan Allen’s absence and make that happen. If his Week 3 performance in Indianapolis is any indication, we’re well on our way toward seeing that happen.
And based on Gerald Everett’s snap count, I think we’ll see more Kmet one way or another. Just like fellow free agency addition D’Andre Swift, Everett’s snap count has taken a dive:
- Week 1 vs. Titans: Everett was on the field for 61 percent of the offensive snaps
- Week 2 vs. Texans: Everett saw the field on 46 percent of the offensive snaps
- Week 3 vs. Colts: Everett was on the field for 33 percent of the offensive snaps
Between the Swift and Everett playing time reduction (as well as Nate Davis going to the bench in favor of Matt Pryor), I feel as if Shane Waldron is showing signs that he is willing to make personnel adjustments in an attempt to get the most out of the offense. Perhaps the next adjustment to make is removing from the playbook that sprint option play designed to go nowhere fast and the one where he asks a pass-catcher to block a defensive lineman one-on-one.
Here is the bad news for the Bears and Shane Waldron
The thing about a “there’s good news and bad news” post is that you can’t just skip out on writing the “bad news” section.
We’ll start with this stat from The Athletic’s Robert Mays…
… because there is nothing like Shane Waldron calling for a rookie quarterback to throw a bunch in tough third-down situations with a shoddy offensive line. I know Caleb Williams threw for more than 360 yards, tossed a pair of touchdowns, and looked better at the end of the game than he did at the start of it. But asking a rookie signal caller to sling it 50+ times in his third start is sub-optimal:
I suppose we can also highlight these two plays that happened in back-to-back weeks.
The first one comes via Adam Hoge, who highlights this from the loss against the Colts:
Matt Eberflus on DeAndre Carter being matched up against Tyquan Lewis on this 3rd & goal play:
"Shane (Waldron) and I watched the tape at 6:30 this morning and we talked that through. That's gotta be a better call and a better matchup there." pic.twitter.com/cGmpQSrA2N— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) September 23, 2024
It doesn’t matter to me that, in an ideal world, Keenan Allen (6-2, 211 pounds) is delivering that block instead of DeAndre Carter (5-8, 190 pounds) because there is no logical explanation for asking a wide receiver to be left alone blocking a defensive end in that spot. It is arguably a firable offense for Shane Waldron to call that in the first place.
There are times when things happen in the course of the game that break your brain, but you brush them off because sometimes random stuff happens. But that we had inexplicable blocking assignments in consecutive weeks frustrates me. Remember when it happened the previous game against Texans with Cole Kmet being left to block Houston star pass-rusher Will Anderson Jr.?
This isn’t what any of us thought we’d see from a Shane Waldron offense:
WELCOME TO AREA 51 🛸
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) September 16, 2024
📺: @SNFonNBC pic.twitter.com/xyv4m1zjdv
Ulitmately, the bad news section boils down to the fact that hiring a new play caller hasn’t immediately led to a change for the better. Maybe I was foolish to assume that addition by subtraction would pay immediate dividends.
In the end…
There are things that Bears Offensive Coordinator Shane Waldron can fix moving forward. He can switch up his running back usage, deploy different offensive line combinations, remove silly plays from the playbook, and re-work this offense to allow rookie quarterback Caleb Williams to shine. And because, as Patrick pointed out in the offseason, there is a track record of success for Waldron. In other words, there is stuff Waldron can fall back on and pull from to right the ship in Chicago.
Unfortunately, whatever changes the Bears can make under Shane Waldron won’t fix the offense overnight. And because we’re already heading into Week 4 of the 2024 NFL schedule, it is fair to wonder if the changes being made will take hold in time for this thing to get turned around.