INDIANAPOLIS -- If one play could perfectly encapsulate a team searching for its offensive identity, it happened with 1:46 left in the second quarter of the Bears' 21-16 loss to the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Trailing 7-0, 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), quarterback Caleb 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 play was dead on arrival, as Swift was gaffled by a host of Colts defenders, resulting in a loss of 12 and a turnover on downs.
In a game that was decided on the margins, the option call looms as an early black mark on offensive coordinator Shane Waldron's resume.
Chicago Bears
"It’s a play we practiced all week," Williams said after the loss. "Understanding that when they get around the 5-yard line to 1-yard line, their defense changes, and they get into the 6-1 defense and things like that. They normally crash. Maybe I didn’t get him the edge fast enough. But they didn’t crash how they normally do or how we saw on film and they made a good play."
"It's what we practiced," tight end Cole Kmet echoed. "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.”
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Williams said he had the option to change the play at the line of scrimmage, but because the Bears broke the huddle with 10 seconds left, he didn't want to risk moving people around and getting a delay of game on that critical down.
Facing the NFL's worst run defense, the Bears were unwilling and unable to pound the ball in for a critical early score, and Waldron elected to get cute from the inch line instead of challenging his much-maligned offensive line to get the yard needed.
It was a curious play call, but one the Bears felt comfortable with due to their preparation.
“It’s the play call that was called," wider receiver DJ Moore said. "You got to rock out with it and run it.”
“It was called. So let’s execute," Swift said."
The option call will get all the attention, but the Bears' inability to punch it in from the 4-yard line on the previous three plays is what really hit a nerve in a frustrated locker room.
“I just think maybe as players upfront, we can just have a better attitude toward it," Kmet said. "We just didn’t get it done.
“I think it’s just that aggression That mindset shift. You're tired and it’s a long drive at the end but we got to have that attitude of we are going to finish these guys off. We should think that whatever type of run Shane calls, it shouldn’t matter. ... We should be able to dent that front and get a couple yards there.”
"Down there, we got to find a way to get in there," Moore said. "Jumping, passing, we got to find a way to get in there.”
In the end, the Bears turned the ball over three times Sunday, averaged just 4.7 yards per play and 2.3 yards per rush, and still had multiple chances to leave Indianapolis at 2-1 with a much-needed win.
Instead, the fourth-and-goal option play will serve as an early scar for an offense that still has a lot of work to do to live up to the lofty expectations set for them.
