When Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was criticized for an ill-fated option play on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line against the Colts in Week 3 — D’Andre Swift lost 12 yards on a play that never had a chance — he tacitly if not directly acknowledged the error.
“All those situations start with me,” he said. “I’ve got to be better in that situation, and I will. … I’ve got to put us in a better position.”
But it was a totally different story Thursday, when Waldron was asked about his decision to hand off to Doug Kramer — a 6-2, 300-pound center being used as a fullback in goal-line situations — on a critical third-and-goal play at the Commanders 1-yard line. It blew up when Kramer — who had never had a carry in the NFL or in college — mishandled the handoff and the Commanders recovered the ensuing fumble.
It was rife with irony. Waldron’s successful solution to the goal-line issue against the Colts — using Kramer as a blocking back — was now the problem.
But this time, Waldron didn’t back down. If he had it to do all over again, he would call the same play.
“Every play call that doesn’t work out, you look at it and see, ‘Was it the best call in that situation?’ ” Waldron said, “‘What could I have done better as a play-caller? What situations could I have put those guys in?’
“But I have all the confidence in the world in all our players. It’s something we’ve repped and worked on. It came up in the moment, as a third-and-one call. It didn’t work out.”
Whether it worked or not, the criticism was that it was too cute for an offense still on training wheels in such a critical situation. Using Kramer as a blocking back at the goal line, however unorthodox, was working. The Bears scored four touchdowns from the 1 with Kramer on the field — Roschon Johnson and Swift two times each.
But Waldron seemed to take it one step too far in that moment. The Bears, trailing 12-7 with 6:21 left in the fourth quarter, had a chance to score a touchdown and steal a win.
“I felt confident in the moment in that call and it didn’t work out,” Waldron said. “When calls don’t work out, there’s gonna be criticism. I’ll always look inwardly first and then move on to the next one, and we’re on to Arizona.”
Asked if the criticism was valid, Waldron reiterated his defense of the call.
“I think there’s always valid criticism when things don’t work out,” Waldron said. “We’ll work inwardly. We’ll wrap our arms around each other and work to look forward and execute better and call better plays the next situation that that arises.”
He said he would call the same play if he had the call to do over.
“Yeah, I was confident. I had trust in it,” Waldron said. “And looking back at it, all the things that go into any call throughout the course of the game, whether it’s early calls that lead to stuff not working, or calls in the middle, calls in the end, critical calls — I always assess those and go forward.”
Though Waldron’s play call was disconcerting, it was one bad play — a bad play that was erased when the Bears offense got another chance and scored with 23 seconds left. The bigger issue was Waldron’s offense — which had scored 36 and 35 points in its previous two games — stagnating for most of the game following a bye week.
With a minute left in the third quarter, the Bears had run 37 plays for 116 yards (3.1 average) and scored no points.
Waldron blamed the offense being “behind the sticks” on its first two drives because of a six-yard loss on a Caleb Williams run and two penalties — third-and-15 and third-and-20 on the first drive; first-and-15 on the second.
But that’s an issue in itself. The Bears had a delay of game penalty on the third offensive play. Braxton Jones had a false start on the second drive. The offense should be sharper than that coming off a bye week, you would think.
Waldron wasn’t concerned about it. They’re working on it.
“It’s something we’ve talked about every week and it’s something we’ve addressed and talked through the why each game,” Waldron said. “It’s about getting out there, being confident, staying ahead of the sticks and having a successful quarter.”
If there was a positive out of the offensive malaise, it was that the quarterback seems like the least of the Bears’ worries. Caleb Williams was inaccurate from the start and not in the groove he was in before the bye — completing 4 of 16 passes for 36 yards for a 39.6 passer rating until the final two drives. But with victory in sight, he turned it up a notch. Williams completed 6 of 8 passes for 95 yards and a 114.1 rating to give the Bears a chance. There is hope that Waldron will be better Sunday at Arizona. But with Williams, it’s an expectation.