Bear Digest

Bears Report Card Against Colts: Offense's Identity Is Now Clear

Grading the Bears: The Bears have traded in their faulty identity on offense for a new faulty identity it would seem, and it cost them a 21-16 loss on Sunday to Indianapolis.

Gene Chamberlain

Rome Odunze turns upfield after a catch. The Bears in defeat could at least say they got the ball to their rookie receiver more.
Rome Odunze turns upfield after a catch. The Bears in defeat could at least say they got the ball to their rookie receiver more. / Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images
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The Bears believe the offense made strides even in a 21-16 loss to Indianapolis, largely because of the two late touchdown passes.

They're searching for that offensive identity, they say, but if they keep running the football this way their play itself is offensive.

"I think we're right there," Caleb Williams said.

It's wishful thinking without a running game.

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Williams saying this about the offense is like the person who aspires to be an Olympic swimmer celebrating because they just learned to dog paddle.

Hey, you've got to start somewhere. The problem? Water rushes in awfully fast during an NFL season. It's going to take something more and it's going to require it very soon or this season will be lost before the halfway point.

As much as the Bears love the idea of passing better and that they're getting better at it, winning still requires some ability to run the ball. It requires some physicality.

The Bears offense is a bit like the morbidly obese person who decides to correct their problem by not eating for a month. They couldn't pass but could run. Now they can't run at all but think they can pass, which is still questionable, as well.

Green Bay wins with a backup quarterback because of its running game, the Steelers are 3-0 because of defense and because Justin Fields is limiting his mistakes but also because they run the ball.

Running is not important?

With Monday night's game still to be played, eight of the bottom nine NFL teams in average yards rushing per game have losing records. Of course, the Bears are one of those teams, ranking 30th, after they were a top-2 team rushing the last two years. 

It's not the end of the world this early in the season, but figuring out the reasons for their running game issues is a deeper problem than just a lack of commitment by offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

Without a running quarterback like they had in the past, the extra threat has been removed. So their backs and blockers are left to their own devices. They don't have what it takes to run.

Teams run without running QBs all the time, but it takes actually running it to be able to run it. The Bears don't give themselves the chance for this by throwing 52 times.

It's Week 4 and the running game still looks like it's stuck in training camp.

Here are grades for Sunday's loss to the Colts.

Passing Game: D+

The yardage was nice. The two touchdown throws were worth celebrating, and so they did, even when they shouldn't have because it caused them to waste a timeout. But the two interceptions and the failure to properly protect Williams on max-protection when there was a huge stip-sack in the fourth quarter make for poor passing. They shouldn't get too carried away with Williams' yardage total through the air because 44 came on a meaningless failed Hail Mary to end the second quarter. The Bears are throwing it now after they couldn't in Week 1, this is true. Yet, they're still not throwing it efficiently.

Running Game: F

Roschon Johnson's 3.8 yards per carry made him look like Rick Casares compared to what they've gotten from the rest of their running attack this year. D'Andre Swift keeps spinning his wheels, Khalil Herbert couldn't get 4 yards on three runs at the goal line when they needed it. Wouldn't a power back like Johnson have made more sense in close? Solid run blocking in short yardage is always a sign of a truly good running attack. The Bears haven't been able to execute properly in short yardage since the John Fox era, and it did them no good because they couldn't pass at all then.

Pass Defense: B

Only a few plays broke for bigger gains and they picked off Anthony Richardson twice, but those few blown coverages became huge in a closer game. The pass rush generally produced enough pressure and Montez Sweat had his first sack, but they couldn't do this on every down and when they operate from behind most of the game there is less margin for error against the pass. 

Run Defense: C-

Throughout most of the game, Gervon Dexter and Andrew Billings kept things under wraps up front, but eventually they wore down under the crush from their own ineffective offense. Jonathan Taylor managed to get the Bears out of their assignment lanes on a couple of runs and burned them when they did with longer runs, in between being tackled for loss. One was a 29-yard TD. T.J. Edwards was strangely found near the bottom of the tackles chart. Giving up 4.5 yards per run isn't winning football however they slice it.

Special Teams: D

The 56-yard field goal miss isn't the end of the world but Cairo Santos is capable of making one indoors and didn't. Punter Tory Taylor had a poor day by averaging 42.3 yards per punt and the punt coverage unit compounded this by making it a 36.0-yard net day. How does Daniel Hardy jump offsides on a punt? It's something you might do when you've got punt block on in a desperate situation but clearly this wasn't the case when he committed the penalty to extend a Colts touchdown drive. What Hardy did was the same thing as a turnover.

Coaching: F

Their talk about running it better against the worst run defense in the league was so much hot air. Shane Waldron's decision to run a fourth-down option play needing less than a yard for a TD showed what they really feel about their toughness, the quality needed for a running game. In fact, it typifies Waldron's approach to the run in general. Running is just done through deception in his offense and not hard, physical play. This isn't going to play in the city of Chicago, especially in December. How does Matt Eberflus not have the two-point decision already made and Waldron not have the play already given to the offense after the TD pass to Rome Odunze? The wasted timeout because they didn't was eventually needed even if they tried to downplay its importance in the postgame press conference. Eberflus' use of a timeout with 5 1/2 minutes left was also very questionable strategy considering how much time was still left to play.

Overall: D-

The Bears say they are still looking for their offensive identity but that's not true. They already have it. They are soft. That's their identity.

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.