Bear Digest

Bears Can't Totally Avoid Blame Game on Blocking Breakdowns

Caleb Williams took some blame, offensive linemen took some blame, and coach Matt Eberflus even gave some out for the blocking breakdowns leading to seven sacks Sunday.

Gene Chamberlain

The pass blocking for Caleb Williams was a huge issue Sunday and there were other contributors besides blockers.
The pass blocking for Caleb Williams was a huge issue Sunday and there were other contributors besides blockers. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
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Before blaming the offensive line for a stack of sacks piled up Sunday by the Houston Texans, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams accepts his responsibility.

The stack was so high, there are plenty of shares of blame to go around. Particularly in blitz pickup, the quarterback has his role.

“I’m always involved in communication,” Williams said Wednesday at Halas Hall. “It starts with me and the center first.

“And then, throughout the game a few times, the clock got kind of low and I was on a different cadence that I didn’t want or shouldn’t have used with the clock being that low. You get the call in the huddle and you’re in that for however long and then you get up there and you’ve already called your cadence. Trying to change the cadence at the line instead of using some of our tools that we have, that comes with time and more communication from myself and using the tools that I have to get the ball off without using a cadence that may be a little bit longer.”

The Bears haven’t been able to run the ball either and it goes hand in hand with poor pass blocking. Teams get the Bears into poor down-and-distance situations and know the pass is coming. They can tee off or even blitz without fear.

Williams believes the run is coming.  The pass blocking will be easier at that point.

“I think one of the things we’ll be able to do really well soon is be able to run the ball,” Williams said. “I’m trying to figure out which runs exactly fit well with our personnel, the people we have. I think that’s a thing that’s going to emerge here really soon, and having confidence and keeping steadfast with that, you know, with running backs, receivers, tight ends, everybody having confidence that we are going to break through and figure out exactly what our personality is of the run.”

When the running game breaks, it doesn’t necessarily mean a 40-attempt effort by the Bears.

“I think every knows that you should being able to run the ball well as a team and do it effectively,” Williams said. “It doesn’t mean you have to run it 30 times. You can run it 15 (times) and it amounts to the same thing and can be just as effective.

“Everybody knows that having an effective running game just helps everything, and an effective passing game helps the run game. It’s us playing together the way that we should.”

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Even with a better running game and better communication, it's going to come down to linemen actually making the block. Coach Matt Eberflus didn't spare one lineman when discussing how the game's final drive bogged down. It was Darnell Wright.

"So in terms of what happened in that one, I mean everybody saw that the protection broke down at the right tackle," Eberflus said. "But that comes down to fundamentals."

Eberflus saw a better week coming up front from a week stressing the basics of blocking, even if a first-round pick like Wright should have that down at this point in his second season.

"Yeah, we’re looking for continuity and consistency and communication and getting better," Eberflus said. "That’s what we’re focused on. I go back to my original comment—it’s fundamentals and basics.

"It’s important that we get that down as a group. So we’re going back to that. That’s what wins football games."

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain

GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.