With a record of 0-2, the Indianapolis Colts looked like the perfect opponent for the Chicago Bears and rookie quarterback Caleb Williams to face as they look to find a rhythm early in the season.
But that wasn't the case Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Williams and the Bears' offense once again struggled with poor execution, mental lapses, and curious play-calling in their 16-21 loss to the Colts.
Williams had his first 300-yard passing game and touchdown pass of his career Sunday. Williams went 33-for-52 for 363 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.
"He put up better numbers, but there's inconsistency," former Bears coach Dave Wannstedt said.
But the numbers are just box score window dressing for an offense that has no identity, can't run the ball or protect talented rookie quarterback -- who still has a lot of growing to do.
Here are five takeaways from the Bears' 21-16 loss to the Colts, and what's next.
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Bears' disastrous fourth-and-goal option
Much like the Bears' offense through three weeks, the explanation for a baffling option call at the goal line wasn't good enough.
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Trailing 7-0, and with 1:46 left in the second quarter, the Bears marched the ball down to the Colts' 4-yard line and appeared to be on the precipice of punching it in to tie the game. Three straight runs by Khalil Herbert got the ball inside the Indianapolis 1-yard line, setting up a critical fourth-and-goal decision.
The Bears sent the offense out there and dusted off a play they had worked on all week to combat the Colts' goalline front.
In 13 personnel (one back, three tight ends), Williams motioned running back D'Andre Swift into the pistol formation and attempted to run a speed option to the short side of the field.
The option call now looms as an early black mark on offensive coordinator Shane Waldron's resume -- and predictably, social media wasn't having it.
"It's what we practiced," tight end Cole Kmet said. "We wanted to get a certain look. I don’t know if we got the look we wanted on it. … We wanted to get a certain look they were showing on film at the goal line and you got to give them credit, they played it right.”
Williams throws his first NFL TD
When Williams hit wide receiver and fellow Rookie Rome Odunze for a 1-yard touchdown during the fourth quarter the game Sunday, everyone had the same question.
Which rookie gets to keep the ball?
After Odunze hauled in the scoring strike, he and Williams celebrated with a choreographed celebration that saw the rookie signal-caller chase after the receiver to try and retrieve the memento.
But that was all for show. There was no debate on who would get to keep the ball.
"We're going to cut it in half," Odunze joked after the Bears' loss. "He'll get the right, I'll get the left like the Twix factory. But nah, I think he's going to give me this one. He's going to have plenty in his career, a lot more than me, so he blessed me with this first one."
Coaching perils continue
Many lauded the hire of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron as at least a positive step forward for a talented defensive coordinator still trying to prove he has all the tools needed to be a winning head coach.
But three games into the 2024 season, all the glitz and hype of an offseason of change have faded, and all that remains are poor challenges, wasted timeouts, a 1-2 record, and a worry that head coach Matt Eberflus and Waldron are harming Williams's early development.
With Waldron, one of the NFL's great teachers and adapters, along with three talented wide receivers and running back D'Andre Swift, the thought was that the Bears could lean on the run game and take the pressure off Williams to start the season. All these tools should have allowed Williams to settle in early and work on polishing his footwork and playing within structure so that he could start to take off as the season went on.
But the opposite has been the case.
Entering Sunday's game, the Colts had the NFL's worst run defense. They were giving up over 200 yards per game and were without star defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.
If there were any time for the Bears to get their run game going and make life easier on Williams behind a shaky offensive line, it would be Sunday.
Instead, the Bears asked Williams to throw the ball 52 times. They did so not because the Colts stopped the run but because the Bears refused to even force Indy to prove it could do so.
"I threw the ball 52 times? Jeez," Williams said after the loss. "I do whatever the team needs. So, if it's [throwing] 50 times, it's 50 times. I can't have the two turnovers with those 50 attempts. And then if it ends up being 10 times, and I complete nine of those 10, and we have 300 yards rushing and four touchdowns, I'm fully aware, fully ready to do whatever the team needs. And so, if it comes down to being 50 attempts and us slinging the ball around, if it comes down to being 10 attempts -- it's whatever the team needs, whatever the team needs to get the win.
"We'll keep slinging it, we'll keep working on the run game. We'll keep getting better, definitely, as an offense. We're going to get this thing going here soon."
Execution is lacking
The No. 1 overall pick went 33-for-52 for 363 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in the loss.
But those numbers feel a little bit like lipstick on a pig. The Bears trailed 21-9 midway through the fourth quarter and were only able to really find a rhythm in the passing game when the Colts were playing back and trying to limit the explosive plays behind them.
Williams had several nice moments. The 47-yard dot to Rome Odunze down the sideline was an all-world toss. He had a later completion to DeAndre Carter on which he navigated pressure, climbed the pocket, and threw with anticipation across the middle. But he also had two interceptions and was stripped on a sack late in the game.
The first interception was a "rhythm throw" that Williams was not in sync with. He tried to come back to Carter on a curl route late, but cornerback Jaylon Jones jumped the route for the interception. On the second interception, Williams saw the defender's back was turned and tried to throw a ball for Odunze to go up and get. But the corner got his hand in there and deflected it off Odunze and into the hands of Jones.
On the strip sack, Williams said he felt Colts rookie Laiatu Latu coming around the edge but wanted to make small movements to navigate it because Odunze was about to pop open behind the linebackers. But Latu got on him quicker than anticipated and knocked the ball loose before Williams could rip it to Odunze.
The rookie quarterback knows he has to clean up the turnovers, but he saw Sunday's offensive output as a positive step as the Bears work to flesh out their identity.
As Wannstedt put it, "It's really the execution. It's not, in my opinion, the plays," of what was lacking.
Bears pass, run defense gets good grades
The Bears picked Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson off twice on Sunday. Both came on passes that were thrown directly to the Bears' defense, but those count the same.
However, the Bears' pass defense allowed several explosive plays in the pass game, including a 44-yard pass to Alec Pierce that had cornerback Jaylon Johnson still mad after the game.
"I don't get over it," Johnson said after the loss. "For me, it's one of those things where I'm not over it but I keep playing. I know how to do both at this point in my career. Knowing what the standard is for myself and that's not the standard."
When informed that Pierce has made a few explosive plays early this season, Johnson scoffed.
"That don't got s--t to do with me," Johnson said.
All told, the Bears' defense held Richardson to 167 yards on 50 percent completion. But the explosives they allowed directly led to touchdown runs by Jonathan Taylor and Trey Sermon.
It was a good effort but, as Johnson noted, not the standard.
Next up
The Chicago Bears, now 1-2, take on the Los Angeles Rams Sunday at 12 p.m. at Soldier Field.
