Bears’ offensive struggles are forcing Ben Johnson to have a hand tied behind his back and it has nothing to do with Caleb Williams
Something’s gotta change.
Before we get into this, let’s make one thing clear. The offense of the Chicago Bears was far from the biggest issue against the Detroit Lions in a game where the defense gives up 52 points.
Over the last two days, the issues on the defensive side of the ball have been covered enough. Injuries have hurt the starting unit, the play of the pass rush is unjustifiable, and the cornerback position is a major liability in coverage.
But, how did things look on offense? For starters, quarterback Caleb Williams played a much improved game in Week 2 compared to the frantic mistakes he was making in Week 1.
“I did see significant growth,” Johnson said. “It’s not perfect yet. There’s still a number of plays where our eyes aren’t quite in the right position or we’re holding onto the ball just a tick longer than what we’re coaching. But I did see tremendous growth in terms of going through the progression… I did think he got better from Week 1 to Week 2. I’m encouraged by what I saw and I’m hopeful that we’ll continue to see another leap here this week.”
Even still, the offense seemed to be lacking in other areas and it still looks nowhere near the kind of unit you expect to see from one of the league’s top offensive play-callers, so let’s look into why that’s the case.
Mental errors are still holding the Bears’ offense back
While Williams seemed to clean up his accuracy and decision-making in Week 2, multiple other offensive starters still had massive mental errors. The Bears dealt with a few drops, two turnovers, multiple false starts, some holding calls, and four sacks. Basically, all of the possible negative plays.
“We gotta find a way to run the ball better early in the game. We gotta find a way to not shoot ourselves in the foot with penalties early in the game. We gotta stay on schedule, not have these third-and-longs,” Johnson explained. “I think that all is a big part of the equation.”
The opening drives, for the most part, have been great. Chicago has scored a touchdown on the opening drive in both games this season, something the unit failed to achieve in all 18 games last year. After the opening script is when things fall apart.
Looking at Week 2 alone, the Bears went backwards on four different first down plays due to penalties. The unit, on different drives, faced a second-and-32, third-and-14, third-and-34, and third-and-15. It’s near impossible to come up with any kind of play to convert in those situations.
Having a consistent ground game, and avoiding the penalties, can allow Johnson to actually call the system he wants to run, which revolves around short completions at allow the playmakers to work after the catch. Facing second or third-and-longs, Johnson is unable to call those kind of plays effectively.
Between the first two games of the season, Williams has thrown for 417 yards with 170 of those yards coming after the catch by his skill players. Compare that to the Lions’ offense that had 158 yards after catch in Week 2 alone.
Until the Bears clean up some of the operation offensively, there’s nothing Johnson will be able to do besides call the game with one hand tied behind his back.
“We’re not playing consistently clean football as an offense,” Johnson added. “I think when we do, we’re an explosive team. I think we got significant playmakers across the board. We just haven’t put it together for a consistent basis quite yet.”
The Bears will be looking get it figured out in Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys going up against a Matt Eberflus-led defense that has allowed 61 points combined through two games.
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