The Chicago Bears couldn’t get the job done against the Indianapolis Colts, losing 21-16 in yet another disheartening performance on offense. It feels like a broken record, constantly criticizing the Bears’ offense year after year. And yet, there seems to be no urgency in fixing what’s not working. The Bears still couldn’t establish the running game, even against the NFL’s worst run defense. Questionable play-calling/coaching decisions remained evident, and players were not playing up to expectations. As a result, several concerning stats about the Bears’ offense highlight the pressing areas that need improvement.
Harsh Numbers Highlight What the Bears Must Fix on Offense
Inefficiency on 2nd-Down
According to TruMediaSports, the Bears have converted only five of their 59 second-down plays into first downs this season — a mere 8.5% success rate, the lowest in the NFL by a wide margin. No other team in the league is under 18.8%.
Failing to convert on second down results in, unsurprisingly, a high number of third downs, which isn’t ideal for a rookie quarterback. This keeps the offense extremely predictable and leads to the explanation for the difficulty in sustaining drives.
Nonexistent Run Game
Chicago’s run game has been abysmal. D’Andre Swift, who the Bears signed in the offseason on a three-year, $24 million deal, has struggled, managing just 68 yards on 37 carries — an average of 1.8 yards per carry. The offensive line hasn’t been the best this season, but part of the nonexistent run game has been Swift’s inability to find the open rushing lanes. It’s only been three games so far, but there’s got to be a mix-up in the backfield. Swift just isn’t the three-down back the Bears want him to be.
Instead, the Bears should give Roschon Johnson more carries. Compared to Swift’s 1.8 yards per carry, Johnson averaged 3.8 yards per carry on eight attempts. Significantly better than Swift, plus Johnson is a better pass protector than Swift. Giving him and Khalil Herbert more opportunities could help turn around the Bears’ run game.
D'Andre Swift – 1.8 (37 carries)
Khalil Herbert – 2.0 (8 carries)
Roschon Johnson – 3.8 (8 carries)Only one running back has shown any ability to generate yards behind the Bears' O-line this year.
— Dave Kluge (@DaveKluge) September 22, 2024
Baffling Play Calls on Offense
Perhaps the most critical moment of the game ended disastrously. The Bears were inside the five-yard line, but instead of trusting their No. 1 overall pick to make a play, Offensive Coordinator Shane Waldron called four consecutive handoffs. All of them came out of the shotgun formation, and the final attempt on fourth down was a pistol option play with Swift positioned nearly ten yards behind the line of scrimmage.
Yeah this 4th down call lol pic.twitter.com/tdlo3zpEsr
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) September 22, 2024
It’s stuff like this that isn’t sustainable in the NFL. It’s simply impossible to win games with play calls like this. There’s no identity on offense, and Waldron doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of playing to his players’ strengths.
The Bears Offense Have to Be Better, and Fast
This isn’t the end of the world for the Bears, but letting Caleb Williams throw over 50 times in a game is unacceptable.
“This is not who we want to be.”
Tight End Cole Kmet said after having a career game with ten receptions and 97 yards. He knows, along with many Bears fans, that they are better than this. Everyone, from the coaches to the players, must take accountability and work on patching up those critical mistakes. Once that happens, good things will start to happen for this team.
Main Image: Grace Hollars – USA Today Sports
