Bear Digest

Why One Quarter in a Season or Game Decide Nothing for Bears

Analysis: The podcast sect loves ganging up on the Bears now for their lack of offense and for not drafting Jayden Daniels but it hasn't even been 25% of a season.

Gene Chamberlain

The outlook for Caleb Williams and the Bears offense might look drastically different with a running game supporting them.
The outlook for Caleb Williams and the Bears offense might look drastically different with a running game supporting them. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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It's still only four games into the season and Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldon brought up an interesting point when questioned at Halas Hall this week about the offense's failures in first quarters and on first drives.

They have three first-quarter points and 13 first-half points for four games and no first-drive touchdowns.

It was suggested to Waldron that the Bears are hurting themselves and making it possible they can lose games in the first quarter.

"Can't lose any game in the first quarter," was Waldron's response. 

It's a thought he got from Pete Carroll in Seattle. 

If an NFL team is getting so far behind or making so many mistakes consistently in a first quarter to the extent that they can't overcome them later in the game, then you really have problems. No coaching staff will survive long if they're losing in first quarters, and the Bears haven't lost any games in the first quarter.

They just could have made a few easier to win later in the game if they'd been better earlier, but they had the chance to win at the end in both losses.

Waldron is basically right. Watch any NFL game. They almost all come down to the fourth quarter if not the last few minutes. There are 45 minutes after the first quarter after every Sunday.

Part of the reason Matt Eberflus liked Waldron’s work was how he had coached the offense in Seattle to a number of close wins in tight games. The Bears failed miserably at this under Luke Getsy and with Justin Fields at quarterback.

Now there are numerous podcasters/talk show hosts/panel members dotting social media, TV and radio holding the Bears up for ridicule for: 1) drafting Caleb Williams and not Jayden Daniels; 2) trading Justin Fields and drafting Caleb Williams instead of trading down for a big draft haul; 3) not hiring Kliff Kingsbury and hiring Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator.

Several former NFL players turned talking heads have joined the group reaching for low-hanging fruit this week. The Bears are easy targets because they obviously struggled on offense with Caleb Williams, although there has been improvement and it has occurred on a weekly basis.

Most of the criticism spares Williams himself, and it’s usually pointed at Waldron or at Ryan Poles for not drafting either C.J. Stroud or Jayden Daniels, and most recently at Matt Eberflus for not hiring Kliff Kingsbury.

Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin was one of the former players saying on ESPN’s First Take that they regret taking Williams now and not taking Daniels, although he has no actual proof and sounded more like someone simply popping off in a bar.

“Absolutely they regret it already,” Irvin said of the Bears. “They remember in ‘17 when they took Mitchell Trubisky and Patrick Mahomes is right there.”

In fairness, it was different people making the selection and coaching the team then, but let’s not allow facts stand in the way of dog-piling.

Keyshawn Johnson, on the same First Take, went the offensive coordinator route, saying “…they may regret not hiring Kliff Kingsbury as their offensive coordinator,  a guy who has some familiarity with Caleb’s skill set.” He also suggested the Bears coaching staff will be "on the streets" at season's end.

“Shane Waldron?” Chris Canty said on the same program. “Shane Waldron? That's your guy? I’m sorry, forgive me. I’m not familiar with Shane Waldron's work.”

At least he was honest about his ignorance.

“But either way they have bungled this entire thing when it comes to the drafting and developing a franchise quarterback," Canty said.

It’s hard to see how they’ve bungled anything when he also admitted it’s only been four games and not on Williams himself, who could eventually be a good quarterback. They simply haven't started off as fast offensively in this season as the Commanders.

Then there was Chris Long on Rich Eisen’s show. He essentially said the same thing as the First Take crew but added of the Commanders: “It just seems like Dan Quinn and Co. did a really nice job and we kind of wrote them off relative to the excitement in Chicago."

So the Bears are to be blamed because of media hype that created excitement in Chicago?

Many of these same shows were lavishing praise on the Bears during the draft for getting Williams and Rome Odunze in the first round. Now, because another player is off to a hot start and Williams is not, they’ve made a mistake?

It’s only a start.

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It’s like Waldron said this past week—you win a game in the fourth quarter and not the first quarter.

They’ll see which of these two franchises, the Commanders or whatever they’re calling themselves now, or the Bears, have made good choices at the end of this month when they play each other.

In the meantime, Waldron has an offense showing signs of coming to life, a quarterback showing a little improvement each week and a real defense backing his offense. The Commanders can’t really say this because they traded off their defensive ends, one to the Bears.

As good as Washington is and as bad as they say the Bears are, there is one game difference in their records.

Remember those names: Chris Long, Chris Canty, Keyshawn Johnson and Michael Irvin.
They created a dogpile and with time on the side of the Bears, it’s highly possible they’ll be the ones who have to clean it up later because Washington lost badly to the only good team it played in the opener. Cincinnati is a good offensive team, but no one would confuse their defense with being good.

The Bears have that kind of schedule coming up right now and in a few weeks it’s possible you’ll hear those same critics all singing the praises of Williams, Eberflus, Poles and Waldron instead of calling for the coaching staff to be fired at season's end or mocking them for doing something 99% of NFL teams by drafting Williams.

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.