Under fire: Caleb Williams, the Bears O-line and uninspired play-calling

The daytime soap opera General Hospital has been on the air for over 60 years, making it the longest-running scripted drama in Hollywood history. As would be expected for a show that has produced more than 15,000 episodes, the cast has changed over time, but many of the show's storylines, such as love triangles, revenge plots and characters having amnesia, have repeated for decades.

The Chicago Bears are their own kind of soap opera, and when it comes to crafting a successful offense, they have their own kind of amnesia. Much like General Hospital, the franchise, which has been around since 1919 and has played over 1,500 games, is in need of some fresh material.

The NFL and the style of football played in it has undergone major changes over the years, yet the Bears have mostly stayed the same. No other franchise has resisted the allure of the forward pass like the Bears have, an innovation that was instituted in the NFL *checks notes* oh, only 91 years ago.

The Bears haven't had a quarterback that was considered one of the best in the league since Sid Luckman helped the Allies take their minds off of World War II in the 1940s.

What's worse is that the franchise has rarely, if ever, seemed particularly interested in doing something about it, so while Hall-of-Fame running backs such as Gale Sayers and Walter Payton have thrilled visitors to Soldier Field, they've always been relied upon to carry their respective offenses nearly single-handedly.

That was all supposed to change when the Bears drafted Caleb Williams this spring with the number one pick in the draft. Williams, a Heisman Trophy winner from quarterback-hotbed USC, has drawn comparisons to Patrick Mahomes for his exciting, improvisational style. Not content to let Williams fend for himself, Bears GM Ryan Poles made sure that the rookie was surrounded with skill position talent, from returning pass-catchers DJ Moore and Cole Kmet, to new arrivals Keenan Allen, D'Andre Swift and Rome Odunze. Poles even hired a respected offensive mind in Shane Waldron to replace Luke Getsy, the previous offensive coordinator who was often the subject of Bears fans' ire.

The Bears have more offensive weapons than ever before, yet through two weeks they've managed just one offensive touchdown. The reasons are obvious for anyone that has watched the games, and while this is nothing new for Bears fans, it's especially frustrating because we were promised that this time was going to be different.

Bears offensive issue No. 1: The offensive line stinks

There's not really a way to say it any more plainly than that. The Bears can't block — not in the running game, where Swift has managed only 48 yards on 24 carries this season, nor in the passing game, where Williams has absorbed 10 sacks in two weeks.

There isn't a single member of the offensive line that has had a good start to the season. Braxton Jones got beaten repeatedly by the Texans' skilled ends on Sunday night. Teven Jenkins, who has struggled with injuries for most of his career but who most Bears fans would say is the best player on the line, was unable to contain either Mario Edwards Jr. on the Texans or T'Vondre Sweat of the Titans in Week 1. Coleman Shelton has been a turnstile at center. Nate Davis and Darnell Wright, when they haven't been committing penalties, have been unable to create a pocket for Williams or create any rushing lanes.

Ryan Poles has committed some draft resources to fixing the line, such as using a first-round pick on Wright last year, but in free agency, he's mostly only made low-budget moves, with predictable results. It's too late to do much about the line this year, but with the rest of the roster seemingly ready to compete, Poles needs to direct all his energy this offseason to find pieces that work upfront.

That includes taking a long, hard look at Chris Morgan, the team's offensive line coach since 2022. If Morgan can't mold this into a cohesive unit, Poles needs to find someone who can.

Bears offensive issue No. 2: Shane Waldron's playcalling has been rough

After being traumatized by two years of Luke Getsy calling runs up the middle on 2nd and 10 and dialing up the same screen play twice in a row, Bears fans would have happily accepted Uncle Frank from Home Alone as the team's new offensive coordinator. The offense under Getsy only seemed to flourish when Justin Fields would take it upon himself to make something happen, and never because of the unimaginative play calls that Getsy radioed in. Look what ya did, ya little jerk.

Getsy is gone to Las Vegas now, surprisingly not as a roadie for Adele or an Elvis impersonator, but as the OC for the Raiders. In his place is Shane Waldron, most recently of the Seahawks, and though Bears fans were mostly a happy bunch when he was hired this offseason, it's been an undeniably bumpy start to his tenure.

Seattle's offense under Waldron averaged 3.3 points per game more than the Bears for the three years he held the OC position. Geno Smith flourished under his tutelage, and Waldron gained a reputation for having a balanced and creative approach, which is a breath of fresh air after how stale the offense often looked under Getsy.

It can't be easy to jump to a new team and be expected to create magic immediately, but there's no disputing that Waldron hasn't yet found his footing as Bears OC. A big part of being a successful play-caller is catering to your team's strengths, and Waldron hasn't done that yet. We haven't seen him move the pocket much for Williams when faced with the harsh truth that the line can't do its job, and too many times the Bears have tried to run up the middle despite showing no ability to push the interior defensive line back.

Having a line that can't be counted on hamstrings Waldron's ability to use the entire playbook, which is why we need to start seeing some of the creativity he became known for in Seattle. Why not max protect so that DJ Moore or Rome Odunze can have a chance to get open deep? Why not call some screens for D'Andre Swift or Roschon Johnson? Everything the Bears have done thus far looks basic, but basic only works when the team can handle the fundamentals. The offensive line has shown that even that is asking too much.

The Bears need to use the middle of the field more. Cole Kmet should be Caleb Williams' safety blanket, but he has only six targets in two games. Williams delivered a strike to Moore on a slant early on against the Texans. Let's see more of that. Let's run some bootlegs or some shovel passes. Anything but a run up the middle on first down and then a straight drop back on both second-and-long and third-and-long with a line that can't hold up and an opposing defense that is pinning its ears back.

Waldron is still getting his feet under him, and still learning what his offense can and can't do. I expect we'll start to see him reach into his bag of tricks this week against the Colts.

Bears offensive issue No. 3: Caleb Williams is missing throws that the Bears need him to make

It's an oft-repeated line that quarterback is the most difficult position in sports. That's true, but what they don't tell you is that playing quarterback when nobody will block for you, let alone when you're a rookie, is damn near impossible.

Imagine being an air traffic controller, often cited as the most stressful job there is, and having to direct takeoffs and landings while being chased by athletic nightmares like Will Anderson Jr. Let's just say that it would be a bad day at the airport.

With just 267 yards passing, no touchdowns and two interceptions, Williams has had a rough start to his career, and the worry is that the Bears risk ruining him or getting him hurt behind this porous front. Former Texans quarterback David Carr was, like Williams, a top overall pick, and his career never really blossomed the way it should have because he took such a beating behind a bad offensive line. The same could be said of Justin Fields, Williams' predecessor in Chicago.

Williams is getting the ball out quickly, something Fields never mastered. That's a positive, but what's not good is that he's been inaccurate, especially on deep balls. Worse yet, Williams isn't just missing these throws, he's not even giving his receivers a chance. DJ Moore was visibly frustrated on Sunday night after Williams sailed one out of bounds on a long sideline route in which he had man coverage. There are few corners in the league that stand a chance against Moore in that situation, and Williams needs to dial in and give his best playmaker a chance to, well, make a play.

The offensive line is the biggest reason the offense has been sputtering through two weeks, but Williams was touted as a generational prospect and the savior of the franchise. The Bears have a defense that is at minimum very good and might possibly be great. They don't need Williams to throw for 300 yards a game just yet, but when he has an open receiver downfield, he needs to start hitting him. That's a reasonable ask of a prospect that arrived with so much fanfare.

The Bears are on the road again this week, but even though they're away from Soldier Field yet again, the offense has a chance to make a statement after two straight weeks of ineffectiveness. The 0-2 Colts have given up the most rushing yards in the league, and the second-most yards overall. Last week they got gashed by a Packers team that was playing without Jordan Love. It's time for the offensive line, Shane Waldron and Caleb Williams to step up. Will they, or will the neverending offensive soap opera continue?