A simple personnel decision is helping the Bears' offense dominate in a key situation the unit previously struggled in
For the second week in a row, the Chicago Bears offense looked like a much improved unit and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron seems to be learning from his mistakes.There's one major correction Waldron made on offense that's paid off in a big way the last two weeks and it's helped put points on the board.During […]
For the second week in a row, the Chicago Bears offense looked like a much improved unit and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron seems to be learning from his mistakes.
There's one major correction Waldron made on offense that's paid off in a big way the last two weeks and it's helped put points on the board.
During the first three games of the season, the Bears offense struggled to punch the ball into the end zone down on the goal-line. With a simple personnel change, the Bears have now managed to score multiple touchdowns inside the five-yard line.
The first change came at the running back position with the Bears utilizing Roschon Johnson more in goal-line packages and short-yardage situations. The other change was bringing an additional offensive lineman onto the field in Doug Kramer Jr.
One of the biggest complaints Waldron received this season came in Week 3 against the Indianapolis Colts. In that game, the Bears had a disastrous goal-line blunder in the second quarter that was heavy criticized for the personnel that Waldron used.
He seemingly learned from his mistakes and the simple fix has now led to four touchdowns. And the plays were different with how Kramer was utilized.
Against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 4, Kramer lined up in the backfield as a pseudo-fullback in front of Johnson and cleared the lane for Johnson to get the touchdown.
Sunday against the Carolina Panthers in Week 5, the Bears used him in a different way with Kramer motioning across the formation to get a key block on the edge while Johnson plowed up the middle.
Two drives later, the Bears got back on the goal line and put Kramer back into the game. On second-and-one from the one-yard line, Swift was the one who was able to power it into the end zone after Kramer motioned across the field again.
Later in the fourth quarter, Kramer was back in at fullback and helped power Johnson in for his second score of the game.
Kramer did have one mistake in the third quarter against the Panthers after getting called for a 15-yard clipping penalty that negated a Caleb Williams touchdown run. But, overall, the change has provided a lot of good things for the unit.
While talking to the media on Thursday ahead of Sunday's game, Waldron gave some insight into why this simple decision has worked successfully.
"When we get together and talk about some goal line short yardage we're always going to get back to what do we see as something that we could utilize this week. And for that particular package right there went with Doug and I think in the plays he was in there, the guys in front of him obviously operated at a high level there to give him a good clean look," Waldron explained. "He's been a guy that's worked his tail off and done all the right things. It's been in a backup role. And so anytime you're on the active roster somewhere that we can utilize our opportunity, and that's something those guys saw, and he went out there and executed."
It's great to see Kramer being able to contribute to the team's success and seeing Waldron use all of his offensive talent to their strengths while proving he can learn from his mistakes.
There are four main reasons why the Bears beat the Panthers in Week 5 and it has the team looking legit
This team is starting to get hot.
