Bears' pre-bye struggles remained in Week 8 despite a blatant commitment to fix them and it's starting to be a major concern
The Chicago Bears vs. Washington Commanders matchup on Sunday ended up being dominated by one play in particular, and rightfully so.The Commanders' walk-off Hail Mary against the Bears was an insane play the end the game but it covered up a lot of other major takeaways.Most notably was the unjustifiable play of the team's offense […]
The Chicago Bears vs. Washington Commanders matchup on Sunday ended up being dominated by one play in particular, and rightfully so.
The Commanders' walk-off Hail Mary against the Bears was an insane play the end the game but it covered up a lot of other major takeaways.
Most notably was the unjustifiable play of the team's offense in their first game after the bye week, especially when the unit scored five offensive touchdowns in each of their previous two games.
The Bears' offense looked completely out-matched on Sunday against the Commanders' defense and resorted back to all of the issues that plagued the unit over the first few weeks of the season.
For starters, the offensive line looked worrisome again, even before the unit suffered injuries to three different players. The unit gave up three sacks, two other QB hits, and committed four penalties (each by a different player).
The worst part of the offense's struggle wasn't the play up-front though because they've shown that can be fixed. The worst part was the fact that the unit still cannot find a successful start, something they haven't be able to do in any game this season.
Leading up to Week 8's matchup, Bears' offensive coordinator Shane Waldron admitted for the second time that starting slow on offense was a real problem, and something he identified in his self-scouting during the bye week as an area to fix.
"I think the big thing obviously is starting faster, keep putting an emphasis on that," Waldron said last Thursday. "A lot of that's going to come down to opening-drive third-down conversions, knowing that if you can stay (on the field), you can convert on third downs, you can extend those opening drives, you can extend those first-quarter drives and play a little more efficient at the beginning of games.
"But it's also not to say that if you play well throughout the course of the game, you (don't) have a chance to rebound from those things if it doesn't start perfectly. That would be the biggest takeaway from the week off and looking back."
How did the self-scouting work out for Waldron on Sunday? The Bears started the game with a three-and-out on offense against the Commanders that included a delay of game on third-and-15 that killed the team's opening drive.
On the next offensive possession, the Bears punted the ball again after a six play drive that included three incompletions and a false start by left tackle Braxton Jones. On the third drive, it was another three-and-out to end of the first quarter.
Just look at how unsuccessful the Bears have been in the opening quarter through the first seven games of the season.
It's a miracle that the Bears were only down 6-0 to start the second quarter. In fact, the team never put points on the board until the final seconds of the third quarter.
Waldron has had a lot of bad personnel and play-call decisions so far since joining the Bears' coaching staff this season, but not figuring out the early struggles when you've admitted multiple times that it's a major issue is going to cost him his job or the team a lot more games if it's not figured out sooner than later.
