Caleb Williams (13), the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft, will open his rookie season as the Bears’ starting quarterback.
Andy Nelson/AP
When Jay Cutler and the Bears’ offense produced five touchdowns in a 41-21 rout of the Indianapolis Colts in the 2012 season opener at Soldier Field, Bears fans were making a lot of noise. Too much noise.
Despite the victory and offensive output, Cutler was miffed that the home crowd seemed unaware of standard NFL fan etiquette: When your team has the ball in the red zone, pipe down and let the quarterback operate the offense.
“Please, please, please, let’s tone it down a little bit when we’re down on the 20,” Cutler said. “You’re more than welcome to yell and scream and do whatever you want to do after we score. But please, let’s go ahead and quiet the stadium down and save it until after we scored.”
Cutler’s admonishment of the fans was deserved, but the crowd’s ignorance was understandable. Bears fans hadn’t been conditioned to know all the nuances and unwritten rules of rooting for a consistently productive offense. Many of them had rarely if ever seen one, or had forgotten what one looked like.
Even back in 2012, the Bears had ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in points score just twice in the previous 20 seasons. Their average rank since 1992 was 20th, with 11 seasons in the bottom 10. How were Bears fans supposed to know what to do when the Bears are in the red zone? The offense was hardly ever in it.
That dubious history of bad Bears offenses has not changed in the ensuing 12 seasons.
The Bears have ranked in the top 10 in scoring just four times in the last 33 seasons. And each time it was fleeting, a sudden surge followed by an immediate return to normal — when the Bears were eighth in 1995 (26th, 28th, 25th and 25th the next four seasons); second in 2006 (18th, 14th, 19th, 21st); second in 2013 (23rd, 23rd, 28th, 29th); and ninth in 2018 (29th, 22nd, 27th, 23rd).
Offense has been a chronic struggle for the Bears in most current fans’ lifetime. Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton broke the NFL career rushing record in his illustrious career, but the Bears were an average of 19th in scoring in his first 10 seasons (in a 28-team league) and never higher than 13th. When Payton rushed for an NFL-record 275 yards against the Vikings in 1977, the Bears scored 10 points.
No wonder the Bears are known historically for their defense — the Monsters of the Midway. It doesn’t seem like it will ever change. But after the Bears took quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft and wide receiver Rome Odunze with the No. 9 pick, Bears fans can dare to dream.
With Williams, wide receivers DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Odunze, running back D’Andre Swift and tight ends Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett, the Bears objectively have the potential for an offense that will someday be a franchise rarity — the star of the show.
That literally hasn’t happened for more than a season since the 1950s, with quarterback Ed Brown and wide receiver Harlon Hill — but really back to the glory days of the 1940s, when the Bears were an offensive revelation with quarterback Sid Luckman. The Bears were first or second in the NFL in scoring in eight of nine seasons from 1939-47 (averaging 33.6 points per game in 1941-43).
When the Bears won the Super Bowl in 1985, their offense was second in the NFL in scoring, but Buddy Ryan’s devastating “46” defense was the star of the show. When the Bears won the NFL title in 1963, the league-leading defense that allowed 9.8 points per game carried them all season — right down to Larry Morris and Ed O’Bradovich intercepting Y.A. Tittle passes to set up both touchdowns in a 14-10 victory over the Giants in the NFL Championship game. The Bears’ offense ranked 10th out of 14 teams that season.
Even now, the Bears’ defense under coach Matt Eberflus that has expectations of being in the top 10 in points allowed after a strong finish last year figures to take the lead in 2024. At least to start. But the potential for the Monsters of the Midway to become an offensive juggernaut — believe it or not — is there.
How soon? When Soldier Field is silent when Caleb Williams has the offense inside the 20, you’ll know it has arrived.