Bears' search for offensive answers revealing red flags, hard truths

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The search for a competent and reliable offense is on at Halas Hall after the 1-2 Bears put up another disappointing showing in their 21-16 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

The Bears can't run the ball. They've asked rookie quarterback Caleb Williams to drop back behind a mediocre line more than 100 times in the past two weeks.

An offseason of hype has led to another dud start under head coach Matt Eberflus. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron has been harping on technique, fundamentals, and cohesion as the Bears' offense tries to get out of neutral.

"In terms of our offense, I know we haven't lived up to what we want to be in our building," Waldron said Thursday at Halas Hall.

The Bears have maintained that they are close to breaking through. Football is a game of inches, and their execution is just fractions off. If you believe the drum beat at Halas Hall, everything is about to click.

Even if that were the case -- which is debatable -- the Bears are headed for some uneasy questions and truths before they get there.

If they get there.

On Thursday, Waldron opened his press conference -- which felt like a defendant taking the stand at a witch hunt trial -- by praising the Bears' leadership council -- specifically Williams, wide receiver DJ Moore, and tight ends Cole Kmet and Marcedes Lewis -- for their work and communication as they try to fix the offense.

Waldron lauded those four players for "being of the same mindset" and being "solution-oriented" in their quest to get things right.

But that talk, one that happened with three foundational pillars of the Bears' rebuild and a respected veteran in Lewis, shows the Bears' offensive issues might go deeper than just being fractions off in execution.

The meeting with Waldron had a simple message: While the Bears have a lot of talent, that doesn't mean they are infallible. They want to be pushed. They want the hard truths. It's Waldron's job to give them that. That's how they get better.

I think, mainly, just continue to be vocal about the things that he sees and don’t feel like he can’t point guys out," Lewis said on his message to Waldron. "From the oldest guy in the room – being me – to the youngest guy. Don’t feel like you can’t coach us. I want to be coached. I want to be great. This is not, you know, this is not for play. This is our job. We understand that. It’s a high -- stressful, production-based business, and we’ve all got to be doing the same things, or everybody gets fired.

"The ego is supposed to be left at the door. That’s what it’s about. He’s very receptive to that. I think, obviously, coming in, we’ve got a bunch of dudes. Not just guys on the team or on this offense. We have dudes, dudes who have done it at a high level. Sometimes, as the coach coming in, you might be walking on eggshells. I just kind of put that to bed. Nobody’s sensitive in here. We want to win games just as bad as you do. It’s a collaborative effort. This is not Pop Warner. We work together, side by side to get things done."

Lewis said that Waldron has "done a great job of taking accountability and sticking his neck out" when things go wrong. The room appreciates that as solutions are formed.

"He stands up there and lists the plays that he could have called better, puts it up on the board, we all see it" Lewis said. "And I think that’s the best way to do it. I mean, we’re not kids right? We respect that. Because everything is evaluated, especially from a player’s standpoint. Like we know we’re getting evaluated with whatever we’re doing out there. So when a coach throws himself in that pot of gumbo, then we’re all vested, we all have some skin in the game."

This conversation -- one about the desire and willingness to be coached hard -- shouldn't have been needed in Week 4. It shouldn't have been needed at all.

This is the NFL, and these Bears haven't won anything. There's no reason for Waldron to think he needed to treat them with kid gloves, nor was there any reason for the "dudes" the Bears have in the locker room to expect that.

Waldron is viewed as one of the NFL's great teachers, but part of that process is delivering hard truths to an underperforming unit when needed. If we're reading between the lines, it appears that Waldron has put himself up as a shield to take the blame for miscues and miscommunications. That part is vital to creating a cohesive coach-to-player, player-to-coach relationship that will be needed to solve the problems that arise during a season.

Waldron has checked that box.

But this is a Bears team that has a lot of new parts, hasn't played together, and arrived with a lot of hype and press clippings without proof of concept. They were always going to need to have their buttons pushed to reach their potential.

The Bears haven't played good offensive football through three games, and that needs to stop. They have to raise their performance collectively, and if there's a weak link, it must be removed or pushed to improve.

"Without pointing out certain people, I think there is – this game, man, you either expose others or you get exposed," Lewis said of the Bears' issues being in sync. "You don’t have the room to not be doing your thing."

Lewis said he's "put a big emphasis on not keeping anything a secret" as the Bears try to pull out of their offensive rut. That can be translated as one of the Bears' captains saying that people are making mistakes and they will be called to the account during meetings, walk-throughs, etc., as needed.

Thursday's revelations started with a nervous Waldron claiming he needs to "be better" and ended with Lewis offering a peek behind the curtains at the Bears' issues, painting a bleak picture of where things stand through three games.

It's not a good sign when one of your captains has to come out after three weeks and state that it's "not Pop Warner."

In the middle of the Bears' offensive disconnection is Williams, a young quarterback with a ton of potential, who is willing to put everyone on his shoulders and take control of the troubleshooting process. That burden shouldn't fall on the 22-year-old No. 1 pick after three games, but that's where the Bears find themselves.

"Whatever it takes to win the game is what I’m going to do and what I’m happy to do," Williams said. "It’s what I’m here to do is win games, so we’ve got it going, got to get the offense going, got to get the run game going, I’ve got to be better with not turning the ball over and a lot more. We’re going to be better."

"Better" should have begun in the offseason with a firm plan to get the best out of a talented and improved group.

Clearly, that didn't happen. If it did, something was lost in translation.

Instead, the Bears' quest for "better" starts with having uncomfortable conversations and learning hard truths about why they are in this predicament and how to pull out of it.

That's the last place they were supposed to be three games into the Caleb Williams era.

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