1st and 10: Shane Waldron triggers a Halas Hall problem?

The bears had one Shane Waldron Problem? Or do you have a Halas Hall problem?

That's a fair question after Waldron became the eighth offensive coordinator fired by the Bears in the last 15 years – including head coaches Marc Trestmann And Matt Nagy. Waldron lasted just nine games – and was fired just three games after the Bears' offense scored five touchdowns in back-to-back games for the first time since 1956.

It was an abrupt demise that gave more credence to a narrative that seems to haunt Halas Hall: “Anyone with authority who enters the building becomes the worst version of themselves.”

Waldron was hardly a Hollywood hire, but he came to Halas Hall with solid credentials. In three seasons with the Seahawks, his offense produced a Pro Bowl quarterback every year. After Russell Wilson was traded to the Broncos, Waldron turned around Geno Smith — a journeyman with 34 starts in nine NFL seasons — to a two-time Pro Bowl quarterback. Waldron's attacks finished 16th, 9th and 17th in the points standings.

With the Bears, Waldron strangely lost touch. After three games he needed intervention from the leadership council. He was a 5-8, 190-pound wide receiver DeAndre Carter 6-3 blocking, 270-pound defensive end Tyquan Lewis on a goal-line play against the Colts, then he ran in with an ill-fated option D'Andre Swift that lost 12 yards.

After fixing this issue using Backup Center Doug Kramer On goal-line plays, he inexplicably got sweet at the wrong time and attempted a handoff to Kramer at a critical moment against the Commanders. The Bears botched the handoff and the Commanders recovered.

And he wasn't very lucky either – he wasn't the first Bears coordinator to have this problem. He had the number 1 overall ranking Caleb Williams at quarterback, with receivers DJ Moore, Keenan Allen And Rome Odunze and tight ends Cole Kmet And Gerald Everett. But his offensive line underperformed everything. The five Week 1 starters played 71.1% of the offensive snaps.

Starting tackles Darnell Wright And Braxton Jones didn't play against the Patriots last week. Left guard Teven Jenkins played only 19 snaps due to an ankle injury.

The chain reaction turns Williams into the worst version of himself. Williams prides himself on his accuracy – 67.5% in his two seasons at USC. But even on simple shots, he's been off by a lot lately – 50.5% in his last three games and 60.5% this season.

It's scary how the Bears struggle to get the best out of football players. As a former GM Ryan Pace was with the Saints, he was one of the key people in the identification Drew Brees The Saints had to sign a free agent quarterback. He signed with the Bears Mike Glennon and traded to the draft Mitch Trubisky above Patrick Mahomes. What happened to the man they hired?

The Bears' problems over the years always started at the top. But also as chairman George McCaskey Even though he has distanced himself from football decisions, the Bears still can't find the right formula for success.

Under McCaskey, who became Bears chairman in 2011, the Bears have had four general managers – Jerry Angelo, Phil Emery, Pace and Pole; five head coaches – Lovie Smith, Trestman, John FoxNagy and Matt Eberflus; and now nine offensive coordinators – Mike Martz, Mike Tice, Trestman, Adam Gase, Dowell Loggains, Nagy, Luke Getsy, Waldron and Thomas Brown. And the Bears have zero playoff wins.

Poles is determined to be the man to break this vicious circle. But even he approaches the line between being part of the solution and being part of the problem. It makes you wonder if the right guy is even out there under this ownership.

2. Waldron's firing reflects most of this bad on Eberflus and Poland. They undertook an extensive, intentionally thorough search to find a replacement for Getsy — with the No. 1 pick in the bag — and chose Waldron over Waldron, among others Cliff Kingsbury, who is successful with a rookie quarterback for the Commanders (Jayden Daniels) and a rebuilt offensive line — arguably a bigger challenge than Waldron faced in Chicago.

The Commanders (7-3) are tied for third in points and fourth in passing yards, and Daniels is eighth in the league with a passer rating of 101.7 (68.7% completions, nine touchdowns, two interceptions). NFL.

Four other candidates the Bears interviewed were hired as coordinators and all rank higher in scoring than the Bears under Waldron (24th) – the Buccaneers Liam Coen (Fifth), the Falcons Zac Robinson (13.), the saints Klint Kubiak (16th) and the Chargers' Greg Roman (19th).

3. Eberflus' best chance of survival This season is about making the playoffs. The good news for Bears fans is that he won't be able to sneak in as a fake playoff team like Nagy did when they went 8-8 in 2020 to avoid the axe.

At 4-5 in seven of their last eight games against the Lions (8-1), Vikings (7-2), Packers (6-3) and 49ers (5-4), the Bears have to fight for victory Playoffs – not just against top teams, but probably against at least one of them on the road.

4. As Ravens coach John Harbaugh Offensive coordinator fired Cam Cameron With three games to go in 2012, it became a stroke of genius. Under quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell, quarterback Joe Flacco had a postseason for the ages – with a passer rating of 117.2 (11 touchdowns, no interceptions), the Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII.

That's how much of a difference a coordinator change can make, but that probably won't happen for the Bears after Eberflus fired Waldron. The Bears' skill position talent gives way to a new coordinator Thomas Brown a chance to make a big difference. But if Brown doesn't have healing powers, the Bears' offensive line will be problematic for any play-caller.

5. Red Flag Department: The Bears still have major problems, including crisis management public relations — something they've never been good at. With outsiders Kevin Warren and the Poles are in place, it's disappointing that the Bears still don't have anyone who seems to know when the organization is looking bad.

On Monday Eberflus' weekly appearance takes place in the “Kap & J HoodThe ESPN 1000 broadcast was a debacle, with Eberflus' cell phone failing three times before he simply stopped calling. It resulted in an irascible host David Kaplan chides Eberflus on the Bears' own home radio: “Coach, your cell phone is just as bad as the offense at the moment.”

Whether it's the departure of the defensive coordinator Alan Williams last year or Tyrique Stevenson Although the Bears have no discipline for the Hail Mary gaffe this year, they handle bad news poorly despite having plenty of practice at it.

6. “Accountability” could be part of “collaboration.” in the Bears Hall of Shame after this season. The Bears still don't seem to be able to get the accountability thing right.

“What needs to be different? Everyone is just held accountable during practice,” wide receiver DJ Moore said after the loss to the Patriots. “Even if it's a little twitch about a false start … or a detail with me or other receivers, we have to take it back and get to that person.”

Shouldn't this already happen?

“It’s happening, but we need to take it to another level,” Moore said.

6a. Maybe the Bears should give it a try Deebo Samuel Old school style of holding teammates accountable. Samuel confronted the 49ers long snapper Taybor pepper and kicker Jake Moody — he grabbed Pepper by the neck and grazed Moody's helmet while Pepper pulled Samuel's hand away — after Moody missed his third field goal of the game against the Buccaneers on Sunday.

It didn't look good, but it got results. Moody, who had missed from 44 yards with 3:13 left in the fourth quarter, kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired to give the 49ers a 23-20 victory. Sometimes a pat on the back just isn't enough to get the point across better than a shot at the face mask.

7. Jim Harbaugh Watch: Justin Herbert (Rated 123.1) threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Quentin Johnston as the Chargers defeated the Titans 27-17 to improve to 6-3. The Chargers have held their last 11 opponents to 20 points or fewer – the longest current streak in the NFL.

8. Quick Hits: The Bears' four wins are against teams ranked 29th (Titans), 22nd (Rams), 32nd (Panthers) and 27th (Jaguars) in points allowed. In the last eight games they face six teams ranked in the top 11. … With Doug Kramer replacing injured left guard Teven Jenkins last week after a 19-game absence, the Bears have made 15 in-game changes to their offensive line this season. The Lions didn't make any. … Jenkins played every snap in 20 of his 32 starts.

9. Ex-Bears Player of the Week: Kicker Eddy Pineiro hit a 36-yard field goal in overtime to give the Panthers a 20-17 victory over the Giants.

Pineiro, who also scored from 53 yards in the game, has made 89 of his last 96 field goal attempts (92.7%), including his last 11 with the Bears in 2019. Cairo Santos has made 124 of 137 field goal attempts (90.5%) since taking over for Pineiro in 2020.

10. Bear Knife – 5-12: vs. Packers (L); vs. Vikings (L); at Lions (L); at 49ers (L); at Vikings (L); vs. Lions (L); vs. Seahawks (F); at Packers (left).