Bears failing No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, not the other way around

It's been a slog for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears offense. Don't blame the No. 1 overall pick, though.

Sep 22, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indianapolis Colts defensive end Tyquan Lewis (94) tries to tackle Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) on during a game against the Chicago Bears at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christine Tannous USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images / Christine Tannous USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

The Chicago Bears need to do more to support the No. 1 overalll pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, quarterback Caleb Williams.

Through three games, nothing has come easy for Williams and the Bears, who sit at 1-2 after a frustrating road loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 3.

Williams certainly gave everything he had in Sunday's 21-16 loss, passing for a career-high 363 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Those two touchdowns were the first touchdowns of the season thrown by any rookie quarterback around the NFL. Unfortunately, Williams was under pressure and took four sacks. He also threw two interceptions.

The first overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft has taken his fair share of lumps in each game so far this year. For the season, Williams has been sacked 13 times, and he's been hit many more times, besides.

Some of the sacks can certainly be attributed to Williams. However, Chicago's offensive line has been downright offensive far too often this season.

All this to say: Don't blame Caleb Williams for the Bears' offensive struggles.

In his NFL Week 3 recap column, Mike Sando of The Athletic shared the perspective of one NFL personnel man. Short version: The Bears have bad coaching and a bad offensive line.

“The Bears’ problems, in my opinion, start with the offensive line and the construction of it,” an evaluator said. “Then it’s Waldron, especially when you look at the other coordinators in the division. He is clearly fourth. The head coach is fourth. Right now, the quarterback is surviving on his own.”

Wisdom cries out!

You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone that would argue Bears head coach Matt Eberflus isn't the worst head coach in the NFC North. Dan Campbell, Matt LaFleur, and Kevin O'Connell are all extremely well-regarded around the NFL, and their teams are all playoff contenders.

The jury is still out on Shane Waldron, who did some nice things with the Seattle Seahawks and quarterback Geno Smith. But again, it's not hard to argue he's definitively the worst offensive coordinator in perhaps the toughest division in football.

As for the Bears offensive line, well if you're brave enough just peruse "Bears offensive line" in the search function on X. It's scary.

Some folks may want to point to how the Bears did bring in all this offensive talent at the skill positions to bolster Williams and the offense. That's fine. But don't tell me you're serious if you're including running back D'Andre Swift in that group.

Through three games, Swift is averaging 1.8 yards per carry! His rushing yards over expected is minus-83, and he's minus-24 in rushing EPA. Everything about the Chicago rushing attack is inefficient and bad.

Quite simply, the Bears aren't serious about pounding the rock. And they aren't serious about protecting Caleb Williams.

Until those two things start to happen, it's going to be a rough ride for the young quarterback. And it's worth mentioning that these two things are the same two things that plagued the Chicago offense during the Justin Fields era. And wouldn't you know it? Fields is actually starting to show growth in Pittsburgh. Crazy stuff.

The bottom line is that the Bears are the ones failing Williams. It's not the other way around. Hopefully that changes soon, because a kid with this type of talent comes around every 10-15 years or so. They have a good one, and it would be a shame to see Williams' talent go to waste.