The Bears have the most unprepared offense in the NFL. There’s no other way to interpret their incompetence at the start of games.
The Bears are the league’s worst team on their first drive, averaging just 11.9 yards — almost half the next-closest team and one-quarter of the league-leading Chiefs through 16 weeks. They’ve scored just twice on their first possession, the lowest number in the league. They’re one of three teams to not score a touchdown on the first drive — Thursday night’s opponent at Soldier Field, the Seahawks, are another.
The Bears are inept in the first quarter, too, where they average a league-low 3.81 yards per play and have totaled a league-worst two touchdowns. No one has fewer first-quarter passing yards, and only two teams have fewer rushing yards.
“That’s been a plague for us all season,” offensive coordinator Chris Beatty said this week. “Not being able to start fast enough.”
There’s a lot of blame to go around — including on rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, whose 494 first-quarter passing yards are the fewest among any quarterback to run 90 plays in the frame. Only two players have a worse first-quarter completion percentage, and only three have a worse passer rating. Entering Wednesday’s games, no quarterback had been sacked more in the first quarter. At halftime of the last four games, Williams and the Bears have trailed by a combined score of 80-14.
Williams will be the main attraction for any head coaching candidate this offseason. The rookie needs to improve his preparation — and upon his slow starts — to become the standout quarterback upon whom the Bears have staked their franchise.
Beatty said this week that he defines efficiency as Williams being sharp in his cadence and rhythm.
“That’s kind of where we’ve been lacking almost all season, to be honest,” he said.
The Bears stressed those two things heading into training camp. It’s disturbing that his hasn’t been fixed.
Williams said he feels more comfortable “being faster with the cadence, getting up there, setting the motions, when it needs to be snapped, sending the motion and using the motion with my cadence to be able to undress” the defense. He’s not comfortable enough early in games, though — and settling in once his team is down three scores matters little.
Williams’ coaches are to fault, too — he’s on his third different offensive coordinator. The first one, Shane Waldron, refused to script plays at the start of the season until veterans protested. Thomas Brown was less than a month into his play-calling duties when he was named interim head coach, moving from the coaches booth to the sideline and seemingly losing his touch along the way.
Blame general manager Ryan Poles — he failed to build an adequate offensive line and didn’t pair Williams with a veteran quarterback to walk him through daily routines. Backup Tyson Bagent is just in Year 2.
“I do think [Williams] is eager to learn,” Beatty said. “Learning how to learn, I think that’s a lot of it, too. That’s what some people understate when you’re talking about the learning curve for younger quarterbacks is learning how to be a quarterback. Learning how to study, learning how to prepare for the game. What’s your rhythm as opposed to what somebody else’s rhythm is? We can all look at it and say, ‘Well this veteran did it this way.’ But he’s got to figure out his way.”
Williams still hasn’t figured out how to begin games.
“it’s not just one position or one person,” interim coach Thomas Brown said. “Unfortunately at times guys have taken turns not doing things properly, not being detailed enough.”
That’s disturbingly accurate. Sunday, it was receiver Rome Odunze fumbling twice in the first quarter. Thursday night, it’s bound to be someone else — the Bears have lost nine in a row, after all.
“There is a lot about this league that is hard,” Beatty said. “I guess that’s a theme every week.”
