Bears coach Ben Johnson’s bye-week evaluation of his offense produced more negative reviews than positive ones.
“The running game’s struggling,” he said. “The play-action game’s not quite where it needs to be off of that. That’s where you get a lot of explosives and chunk plays. Our screen game leaves a lot to be desired.”
Then there are the penalties. No team has been flagged for more yards per game on offense than the Bears’ 41, and only one team averages more than their 5.25 offensive penalties per game. They rank third in pre-snap offensive flags.
“I think the inconsistent nature with which we’re playing, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot quite a bit,” Johnson said Tuesday before the Bears held a light practice. “We were playing behind the sticks, and you could certainly feel that as I was calling it.”
The Bears are lucky to be 2-2 heading into Monday night’s game against the Commanders. Credit quarterback Caleb Williams, who has helped erase many of the Bears’ mistakes — even the ones in which he has played a role.
Johnson is pleased with his drop-back passing game, which has helped the Bears rank sixth in third-down percentage. That won’t hold, though, so long as the Bears are struggling in other areas of the offense.
“I did feel like we were pretty good at getting back on track as much as we could, but it’s just not sustainable when you’re playing football that way,” Johnson said. “So that’s going to be an emphasis for us going forward. We’ve got to get the pre-snap penalties under control, and they know that.”
Receiver DJ. Moore was more succinct.
“We don’t want to live in that world of being behind the sticks so much,” he said, “and having to go make amazing plays to get the yardage back.”
Through Week 5, Williams has a 97.8 passer rating, about four points higher than league average. He has been sacked 5.1% of the time, also better than league average, and ranks 15th with 231.8 passing yards per game.
Those are promising benchmarks. But the Bears know he won’t continue trending upward if he’s chasing first downs because of penalties and a running game that ranks among the league’s worst. The Bears average 3.8 yards per rush, seventh-worst in the league.
Of the 69 running backs with at least 10 carries this season, Bears starter D’Andre Swift ranks 53rd with 3.3 yards per carry. Backup Kyle Monangai is 49th with 3.6.
Johnson has said since training camp that rushing attacks typically take time to come together. With the trade deadline looming Nov. 4, though, Johnson sounded as though the Bears were more likely to stick with their players than add new ones.
“We’re just not firing on all cylinders yet,” he said. “Sometimes it can be the ballcarrier not hitting the right spot. Other times it’s just our combinations aren’t clean yet. And it’s going to take everybody. … It’s a very complex question.”
One that probably wasn’t solved with an extra week to study. The Bears, though, are optimistic about the most important cog in the offense — their quarterback.
“I think Caleb has grown each and every week,” Johnson said. “He’s getting more comfortable calling the plays in the offense,” he said. “I’m really excited about what the next, call it the second quarter of the season, is going to look like.”
