Evaluate or incriminate? The chore of trying to discern whether or not Chicago Bears’ rookie QB Caleb Williams has been playing up to his potential in his first two starts is muddy. Can any quarterback be evaluated separately from the offensive line whose job is to protect them? It’s a lot easier to incriminate the O-line for missing assignments and generally having sub-par play, than it is to push blame on the quarterback for now.
Off To A False Start
Even as an unproven NFL commodity, Caleb Williams has more pure talent as a passer than any other Bears quarterback of yesteryear. Why hasn’t it translated to the field yet? Several issues have become brutally apparent through the first two games of Williams’ NFL career. His offensive line is egregious and needs immediate attention. Extremely conservative play calling that does not cater to his strengths or the skillsets of the weapons around him has also been an issue. Thirdly, he’s a rookie transitioning from middling Pac-12 competition to the NFL, where the players at every position were All-Americans in college.
In week two versus the Houston Texans, Williams was under fire getting sacked seven times. Houston also registered 11 QB hits and 36 total pressures on 48 dropbacks. He threw his first two interceptions of his career, trying to push the ball downfield under near-constant pressure. The Chicago Bears’ offensive line was an absolute sieve.
At times the Bears’ offensive line looked like they had never seen a stunt or a twist that was done routinely by the Texans defensive front. They were also duped by blitzing linebackers or defensive backs. Mostly, they are just getting beat one-on-one. That could be caused by a lack of confidence in the scheme, slowing them down.
The Potential Solutions
The situation needs to be remedied quickly, but the Bears can’t get drunk on the idea of trades that involve a ton of draft capital. The Bears should look into some available free agents they could bring in to work out on the interior offensive line. Such top offensive line prospects include Centers Corey Linsley (age 33), Brian Allen (age 29), Mason Cole (age 28), and Scott Quessenberry (age 29). Available free agent offensive guards of note are Mark Glowinski (age 32), Phil Haynes (age 29), Halapoulivaati Vaitai (age 31), and Matt Feiler (age 32).
Clean up the yellow hankies. There were penalties aplenty on the offensive line in the game versus the Texans. For example, Bears RT Darnell Wright had a tough night with several penalties being called on him. Across the line – false starts, holding, and illegal formation at pivotal points in the game were called. That’s one of the many ingredients to the disastrous recipe that has been the Bears’ offense thus far.
Looking At The Positives
The Bears Offensive Coordinator can help with penalties by getting the plays in quicker. Williams can help by being more consistent and decisive before the snap. The play clock has run to zero too frequently, forcing timeouts, penalties, and premature snaps.
It’s not all bad. All five starting offensive linemen for the Bears played every single snap against the Texans. 70 consecutive reps for the linemen and the QB should eventually lead to cohesiveness and consistency. Against Houston, there was not enough time for growing or learning. It was pure survival mode as soon as the ball was snapped, every single time. If the Bears do not bring in any free agents, their playing time together should start to pay dividends.
Final Thoughts
If the Bears can quickly slap some duct tape over the gaping hole in the hull of their offense, it’s not too late to right the ship. The Bears could feasibly roll into their week 7 bye at 3-3, or even with a winning record. The Bears’ next four games are against winless teams. All the Bears need to do is pull off two or three victories over the Indianapolis Colts, LA Rams, Carolina Panthers, or Jacksonville Jaguars. If the Bears can do that, they should still be in the race for the NFC North, especially with the Lions and Packers both having one loss already. Get right and get healthy during the bye, they’ll be fine.
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