Will Thomas Brown be able to fix the Bears' spiraling offense or is this just another band-aid decision by Matt Eberflus
The Chicago Bears made a necessary decision on Tuesday morning, electing to move on from offensive coordinator and play-caller Shane Waldron.In Waldron's place, passing game coordinator Thomas Brown was promoted into the vacant role and will guide the offense going forward.While it was the right decision to make, what kind of impact will Brown truly […]
The Chicago Bears made a necessary decision on Tuesday morning, electing to move on from offensive coordinator and play-caller Shane Waldron.
In Waldron's place, passing game coordinator Thomas Brown was promoted into the vacant role and will guide the offense going forward.
While it was the right decision to make, what kind of impact will Brown truly have working with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams becomes the obvious question.
Before we get into that, the decision to move on from Waldron further casts a dark shadow on head coach Matt Eberflus and his ability to make the best decisions for his team when it comes to managing his staff.
When the Bears hired Waldron back in January, the former Seattle Seahawks' offensive coordinator was the only interviewee that got a second interview with the team. After making the decision to hire him, Eberflus praised Waldron's communication abilities. On Monday, communication was one of the things highlighted as a disconnect with the offense leading to Waldron's downfall.
So how do things get better with Brown taking Waldron's place as the team's primary play-caller on offense? For starters, Brown has always had a strong relationship with communicating with his players. Last season with the Carolina Panthers, Brown was voted No. 2 in the NFLPA's top coordinator survey, which described his style of coaching as intentional and demanding of his players.
With the Panthers, Brown served as the primary play-caller for three games until then-head coach Frank Reich took back the reigns in Week 11. After that game, Reich was fired and Brown was given back control of the offense with former head coach Jim Caldwell assisting him as a special advisor.
Overall, the Panthers were a bad team in 2023 and had arguably the worst offense in football. But it's unfair to completely throw all of that onto Brown. The Panthers had one of the league's worst supporting cast along with a struggling rookie quarterback.
How does he change things this time around with the Bears and Caleb Williams? The level of support helps given the talent on the Bears' offense but Brown now has a new idea of how best to help a young quarterback learn and that's what will help Williams.
Earlier this season, Brown was asked about being overly careful with the Bears' rookie quarterback and offered a telling response, via Jason Lieser.
“You can’t be scared to throw the football and take chances," Brown said. "You would never make any plays.”
Being aggressive is something everyone has been wanting to see out of Williams and the Bears' offense this season. However, Eberflus has been drilling turnover-free football into his quarterback all season and it's not been doing him any favors.
The best way for Williams to learn and grow is by taking risks that his defense can bail him out of. And the best way for this offense to find success is by stretching the field and putting the ball into the hands of the play-makers such as WR DJ Moore.
On the flip side, not everything has been on the play-calls and the design. Williams has struggled with his accuracy and reads, the offensive line has struggled with protection, and the pass catchers have had issues creating separation. Brown is the type of coach to light a fire under all of the offensive players to put an end to those minor issues.
As for the play-calling, we'll soon see if Brown is given the permission to take the training wheels of his rookie quarterback and use this offense to the best of their abilities. If not, it'll be even more of a dark shadow overtop of the team's head coach.
