What’s wrong with the Bears? 3 biggest issues plaguing the team

You can't blame Chicago Bears fans for being angry right now. Sure, maybe we all got a little too excited this offseason as Ryan Poles wheeled and dealed his way to what was supposed to be an elite offense. I mean, just look at the talent he amassed. Caleb Williams with the number one pick! Keenan Allen for a fourth-rounder! D'Andre Swift for Virginia McCaskey's loose change!

The truth is, us Bears fans wouldn't know a real offense if it pancaked us into the dirt, because we've never seen one. Sure, we've gotten glimpses, such as when Aaron Rodgers used to biannually tune us up, but for the boys in navy blue and orange, putting together an actual offense has never gotten beyond the "concept of a plan" stage.

If Bears fans are guilty of anything, it's of being far too gullible. We bought into the hype. We might have talked a little too much trash a little too soon. So sue us, we're only human. If you cut us, do we not bleed? If you blitz us, do we not get sacked? Wait, don't answer that one.

There are myriad reasons that the Bears offense has been so, well, offensive through three games, and we're going to get into them today. It's a long week between games, and what do sports fans love more than wallowing in our own misery?

The rest of the team isn't perfect, but it's hard to find too much to complain about. The defense has been a little spotty against the run, as they allowed Tony Pollard to get loose in the first half of Week 1 and Jonathan Taylor to go over 100 yards this past Sunday. By and large, though, Bears fans have to feel confident that the D is going to do what it takes to win. Tyrique Stevenson beat the Titans with a pick-six. The entire unit held down CJ Stroud and the Texans but were let down by the offense in Week 2. And despite allowing Taylor to get loose a few times, Jaylon Johnson and company mostly made life hell for Anthony Richardson and Shane Steichen's offense.

Special teams has also been solid for the most part. Would it be nice if Cairo Santos had just a little more leg? Sure, but taking issue with a guy that's made over 90% of his field goals as a Bear seems a tad harsh. Tory Taylor may have gotten bailed out of having a blocked punt on his resume thanks to referee incompetence, but through three games his punting ability has been as good as advertised.

It's clear that the Bears have a playoff-caliber defense and special teams, but the offense needs to start pulling its weight. Here are the three biggest issues and a plan for how to fix them.

Bears issue No. 1: The offensive line is allergic to blocking

The biggest issue facing the Bears is the big guys up front. Caleb Williams has laid to rest concerns about holding onto the ball too long, as his average release time has put him right in the middle of the pack among all starting quarterbacks according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Despite that, he's still been sacked 13 times through three weeks, tied for third-most in the league.

The Bears have had one of the top rushing attacks in the league for the past few years. Part of that can be attributed to having Justin Fields at quarterback, as the current QB1 of the Steelers (even if Mike Tomlin doesn't want to hurt Russell Wilson's feelings by admitting it) amassed over 2,200 yards on the ground during his four years in Chicago. It wasn't only Fields that fueled the ground game though, as D'Onta Foreman, Khalil Herbert and David Montgomery all had a hand in making the Bears rushing attack a success in recent years.

We'll get into the current running back situation in a moment but suffice it to say that the O-line has not been making its impact felt in a positive way. Just look at what other teams were able to do on the ground against the Bears' three opponents. The Bears ran for just 63 yards against the Colts, yet Indy still ranks second-to-last in the league in rush yards. Before Week 3 they were last by a healthy margin thanks to the Texans and Packers running wild on them for 474 combined yards.

Take away Caleb Williams' 44 yards off of scrambles and the Texans allowed only 27 yards on 17 carries to Bears running backs. A week later, though, the Vikings carved them up for 118 yards on the ground, over 100 of which came from Aaron Jones. As for the Titans, they allowed over 100 yards rushing to the Jets in Week 2, then followed that up by giving up another 188 against the Packers.

We have enough of a sample size by now to see that the Bears are doing a poor job of both protecting their quarterback and clearing lanes for their running backs. Teven Jenkins, normally a ferocious run-blocker, hasn't been his typical road-grader self this year, and nobody else has picked up the slack. Nate Davis has continued to be a bust, and Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright have been average at best. The Bears simply aren't moving opposing defensive lines.

The Bears can't truly fix this issue until the offseason, when hopefully Ryan Poles invests heavy resources in the trenches. Seriously, use every draft pick on linemen and sign a marquee free agent or two. For now though, there are things that can be improved upon. For one, the Bears have seemed incapable of picking up a stunt or any kind of exotic blitz. The line is mostly the same as last year, but having Coleman Shelton be the new guy at center means that communication and synergy on the interior line just isn't there yet. That should improve naturally over the course of the season as the line has time to jell.

The running game will be helped by the eventual return of Khari Blasingame, who was the best run-blocking fullback in football last year. Blasingame has been out with a shoulder injury, but the fact that he wasn't put on IR means he should be back soon, possibly even this week.

Finally, the Bears should look to run more off-tackle, because running up the middle just hasn't been working. Let Darnell Wright seal the edge and get out into space and he can do some damage. DJ Moore is a capable blocker, as is Keenan Allen, who should also be back soon.

Bears issue No. 2: D'Andre Swift might not be any good

It's been easy to pick on the line for falling short of expectations these first three weeks, but D'Andre Swift can't be excluded when playing the blame game.

The Bears have made do with unsexy yet effective running backs in recent years, but Swift's signing was supposed to take the rushing attack to new heights. It's been very much the opposite, and like a movie in which the twist should have been spotted from a mile away, the Bears should have seen this one coming.

Swift's previous two employers, the Lions and the Eagles, had and have elite offensive lines. If running backs have been devalued as an asset in recent years, it's because so many teams have proven that you can have a great running game without paying a top running back the big bucks. O-line and scheme is more important, so while sure, Christian McCaffrey is a special player, the Niners have still been able to run the ball effectively with Jordan Mason because they have Trent Williams up front, Kyle Juszczyk lead-blocking and Kyle Shanahan mad scientist-ing up the plays.

Swift has put up solid numbers wherever he's been, but his successors have been clearly better. The Lions have a better running game now with Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs than they ever had when Swift was there. Saquon Barkley has a new lease on life after escaping Giants purgatory and running behind the Eagles offensive line.

I'm convinced that people believe in Swift due in large part to his name. I believe in nominative determinism as much as the next guy, but you can't tell me that if his name was D'Andre Smith he'd be thought of as highly.

Roschon Johnson is a superior back in every meaningful way. He's bigger, he's more decisive with the ball in his hands, and he's a better pass protector. The Bears started to shift things his way in the second half against the Colts, and that should continue. Swift's newly signed three-year, $24 million contract makes it hard to give up on him so soon, but the proof is in the pudding. Roschon is simply better.

Bears issue No. 3: Shane Waldron is losing sight of the plot

I really enjoy playing College Football 25, the most recent entry into EA Sports' long-dormant NCAA football franchise. I've always been more of a defensive guru than an offensive mastermind, and for the first few seasons of my dynasty, most of my games were rock fights. My receivers had no speed, my quarterback had no arm, and any successful drive was something along the lines of 15 plays and 60 yards long.

Shane Waldron is running the Bears offense as if he has those same issues. The only problem is, he doesn't. Caleb Williams showed against the Colts that he can sling it anywhere on the field. Rome Odunze broke out in a big way in Keenan Allen's absence, showing elite hands and the ability to separate from defenders. DJ Moore is a Pro Bowl-level receiver and one of the best route-runners and YAC guys in the league.

Points are down all across the NFL. This lack of scoring has been blamed on defenses guarding against the big play (with Mel Kiper Jr. laying the foundation of a future insanity defense by saying that the two-high safety look should be banned from the league), but I think offenses have just been trained out of even trying to take the lid off of a defense. Most offensive coordinators are so risk-averse, but you can see where that gets you. The Bears had one offensive touchdown through the season's first nine quarters. In that time, Waldron insisted on running the same ineffective running plays. He dialed up the same quick screens. Very few shots were taken, and as a result, very few points were scored.

I don't know if this kind of playcalling was designed to help Caleb get his NFL legs under him, but he showed in throwing for 363 yards in Indy that he's ready for much more than running an ABC offense. He threw two interceptions, but he led the team to 16 points, which would have been more if Cairo Santos had been able to connect on a long field goal and Waldron had drawn up something outside of the Navy playbook on 4th-and-goal from the 1.

It's not sustainable to ask an offense to painstakingly go down the field each time they get the ball. Defenses press up on the line of scrimmage if they're not afraid of the big play. Every single play's success becomes critical to maintaining possession if your only goal is to get 10 yards every three plays. Even if you think you have a 70% chance to convert on third down (a way-too-high number meant to make a point) the odds of doing that seven times in a row if you start from your own 30 after a touchback is about 8%. It's a numbers game, and there's simply no way to score points on a consistent basis while playing like that.

I struggled for points in CFB 25 until I got some four- and five-star recruits into my program. Shane Waldron already has those studs, and it's time he used them to score some points. Don't be like me trying to eke out 20 points on Virginia Tech.