Did the Bears have a Shane Waldron problem? Or do they have a Halas Hall problem?
That’s a legitimate question after Waldron became the eighth offensive coordinator fired by the Bears in the last 15 years — including head coaches Marc Trestman and Matt Nagy. Waldron lasted just nine games — and was fired just three games after the Bears’ offense scored five touchdowns in back-to-back games for the first time since 1956.
It was a precipitous demise that lent more credence to a narrative that seems to haunt Halas Hall: Anybody of authority who walks in the building becomes the worst version of themselves.
Waldron was hardly a Hollywood hire, but he came to Halas Hall with solid credentials. In three seasons with the Seahawks, his offense produced a Pro Bowl quarterback every year. After Russell Wilson was traded to the Broncos, Waldron turned Geno Smith — a journeyman with 34 starts in nine NFL seasons — into a two-time Pro Bowl quarterback. Waldron’s offenses finished 16th, ninth and 17th in scoring.
With the Bears, Waldron curiously lost his touch. He needed a leadership-council intervention after three games. He had 5-8, 190-pound wide receiver DeAndre Carter blocking 6-3, 270-pound defensive end Tyquan Lewis on a goal-line play against the Colts, then ran an ill-fated option to D’Andre Swift that lost 12 yards.
After fixing that issue by using back-up center Doug Kramer on goal-line plays, he inexplicably got cute at the wrong time and tried a handoff to Kramer in a critical moment against the Commanders. The Bears botched the handoff and the Commanders recovered.
And his luck wasn’t very good, either — not the first Bears coordinator to have that problem. He had No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams at quarterback, with receivers DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze and tight ends Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett. But his offensive line has undercut everything. The five Week 1 starters have played 71.1% of the offensive snaps.
Starting tackles Darnell Wright and Braxton Jones did not play against the Patriots last week. Left guard Teven Jenkins played only 19 snaps because of an ankle injury.
The chain reaction is turning Williams into the worst version of himself. Williams prides himself on his accuracy — 67.5% in his two seasons at USC. But he’s been noticeably off target even on simple throws recently — 50.5% in his last three games and 60.5% for the season.
It’s uncanny how the Bears struggle to bring out the best in football people. When former GM Ryan Pace was with the Saints, he was one of the key guys in identifying Drew Brees as the free agent quarterback the Saints needed to sign. With the Bears, he signed Mike Glennon and traded up to draft Mitch Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes. What happened to the guy they hired?
The Bears’ issues over the years have always started at the top. But even as chairman George McCaskey has distanced himself from football decisions, the Bears still can’t find the right formula for success.
Under McCaskey, who became the Bears’ chairman in 2011, the Bears have had four general managers — Jerry Angelo, Phil Emery, Pace and Poles; five head coaches — Lovie Smith, Trestman, John Fox, Nagy and Matt Eberflus; and now nine offensive coordinators — Mike Martz, Mike Tice, Trestman, Adam Gase, Dowell Loggains, Nagy, Luke Getsy, Waldron and Thomas Brown. And the Bears have zero playoff wins to show for it.
Poles is determined to be the guy to break that cycle. But even he is nearing the line between being part of the solution and part of the problem. It makes you wonder if the right guy is even out there under this ownership.
2. The firing of Waldron reflects most poorly on Eberflus and Poles. They underwent an extensive, purposely thorough search to find a replacement for Getsy — with the No. 1 pick in their pocket — and chose Waldron over, among others, Kliff Kingsbury, who is thriving with the Commanders with a rookie quarterback (Jayden Daniels) and a rebuilt offensive line — arguably a bigger challenge than Waldron had in Chicago.
The Commanders (7-3) are tied for third in points and fourth in yards, and Daniels is eighth in the NFL in with a 101.7 passer rating (68.7% completions, nine touchdowns, two interceptions.).
Four other candidates the Bears interviewed were hired as coordinators, and all rank higher in scoring than the Bears under Waldron (24th) — the Buccaneers’ Liam Coen (fifth), the Falcons’ Zac Robinson (13th), the Saints’ Klint Kubiak (16th) and the Chargers’ Greg Roman (19th).
3. Eberflus’ best hope to survive this season is to make the playoffs. The good news for Bears fans is that he won’t be able to sneak in as a faux playoff team, as Nagy did at 8-8 in 2020 to avoid the axe.
At 4-5 with seven of their final eight games against the Lions (8-1), Vikings (7-2), Packers (6-3) and 49ers (5-4), the Bears will have to earn their way to the playoffs — not only beating quality teams, but likely at least one of them on the road.
4. When Ravens coach John Harbaugh fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron with three games to go in 2012, it turned into a stroke of genius. Under quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell, quarterback Joe Flacco had a postseason for the ages — with a 117.2 passer rating (11 touchdowns, no interceptions) as the Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII.
That’s how much of a difference a coordinator change can make, but it’s not likely to happen that way with the Bears, after Eberflus fired Waldron. The Bears skill-position talent gives new coordinator Thomas Brown a chance to make a big difference. But unless Brown has healing powers, the Bears’ offensive line will be problematic for any play-caller.
5. Red Flag Dept.: The Bears still have major issues, including crisis management public relations — something they’ve never been good at. With outsiders Kevin Warren and Poles in place, it’s disappointing the Bears still don’t have anyone who seems to know when the organization looks bad.
On Monday, Eberflus’ weekly appearance on the “Kap & J Hood” show on ESPN 1000 was a debacle, with Eberflus’ cell phone cutting out three times before he just didn’t call back. It led to irascible host David Kaplan chastising Eberflus on the Bears’ own broadcast home: “Coach, your cellphone is as bad as the offense right now.”
Whether it’s the departure of defensive coordinator Alan Williams last year or Tyrique Stevenson’s discipline for the Hail Mary gaffe this year, the Bears handle bad news poorly, despite plenty of practice at it.
6. “Accountability” could join “collaboration” in the Bears’ buzzword Hall of Shame after this season. The Bears still can’t seem to get the accountability thing right.
“What needs to be different? Everybody just gets held accountable throughout practice,” wide receiver DJ Moore said after the loss to the Patriots. “Even if it’s a little flinch for a false start … or some detail with me or any other receivers, we’ve got to run it back get on that person.
Shouldn’t that already be happening?
“It’s happening, but we’ve got to take it to another level,” Moore said.
6a. Maybe the Bears should try the Deebo Samuel old-school style of making teammates accountable. Samuel confronted 49ers long-snapper Taybor Pepper and kicker Jake Moody — grabbing Pepper by the neck and brushing Moody’s helmet as Pepper swiped Samuel’s hand away — after Moody missed his third field goal of the game against the Buccaneers on Sunday.
It wasn’t a good look, but it got results. Moody, who had missed from 44 yards with 3:13 left in the fourth quarter, hit a 44-yard field goal as time expired to give the 49ers a 23-20 victory. Sometimes, a pat on the back just doesn’t get the point across like a shot to the facemask.
7. Jim Harbaugh Watch: Justin Herbert (123.1 rating) threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Quentin Johnston as the Chargers beat the Titans 27-17 to improve to 6-3. The Chargers have held their last 11 opponents to 20 points or fewer — the longest current streak in the NFL.
8. Quick Hits: The Bears’ four victories are against teams ranked 29th (Titans), 22nd (Rams), 32nd (Panthers) and 27th (Jaguars) in points allowed. They face six teams ranked in the top 11 in the final eight games. … With Doug Kramer replacing injured left guard Teven Jenkins after 19 plays last week, the Bears have made 15 in-game changes on their offensive line this season. The Lions have made none. … Jenkins has played every snap in 20 of his 32 starts.
9. Ex-Bears Player of the Week: Kicker Eddy Pineiro kicked a 36-yard field goal in overtime to give the Panthers a 20-17 victory over the Giants.
Pineiro, who also hit from 53 yards in the game, has made 89 of his last 96 field goal attempts (92.7%), including his last 11 with the Bears in 2019. Cairo Santos has made 124 of 137 field goal attempts (90.5%) since taking over for Pineiro in 2020.
10. Bear-ometer — 5-12: vs. Packers (L); vs. Vikings (L); at Lions (L); at 49ers (L); at Vikings (L); vs. Lions (L); vs. Seahawks (W); at Packers (L).