The Chicago Bears appear to be in freefall, and in an attempt to salvage Caleb Williams' rookie season and potentially Matt Eberflus' final year in Chicago, the team fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron this week.
Back in January, Chicago hired Waldron, who the team tasked with tutoring Williams, the Bears' No. 1 overall draft pick out of USC. While Jayden Daniels, the No. 2 pick, has flourished in Washington, Williams has not — at least recently.
Despite playing behind one of the worst-rated offensive lines in the NFL, Williams led the Bears to a 4-2 record and appeared on the verge of defeating Daniels and the Commanders for their fifth win of the season. But then Daniels successfully heaved a hail mary into the end zone for a game-winning touchdown as time expired, which seemingly sent the Bears into a tailspin.
Bears' Caleb Williams talks Shane Waldron's firing, ‘frustration' amid slump
The proverbial seat for Eberflus, who entered the season against the wishes of many Bears fans, has once again become hot, and Williams, who appeared to be improving week-over-week, has begun to slump over the past month. Chicago evidently decided that as a result, Waldron needed to be ousted after less than 10 months on the job.
The rookie quarterback commented on Waldron's firing Wednesday.
“I obviously saw what happened,” Williams said [H/T NFL.com's Kevin Patra]. “It's tough just because you work months and kind of knew Shane before being drafted here because all of the process and stuff. Just trying to build that relationship and then the guy you've been trying to get on the same page with isn't here anymore. So, now you kind of have to adjust and adjust fast because we are in divisional play and playing the Packers this week.”
Williams, who has played just nine games in the NFL, will take play calls from his second offensive coordinator this week against NFC North rival Green Bay. The former Oklahoma and USC quarterback has yet to play a divisional game in his career.
As for what he thought, in general, of a chance of offensive coordinator, Williams said it was not his place to say, although he did acknowledge “frustration” because of the lack of offensive results this year.
“I don't get to choose decisions, nor do I get to choose whether decisions are good, bad, or indifferent,” Williams said. “My job is to listen, and from there, go do my job.”
Through nine games, Williams has completed 60.5% of his passes and is on pace for 3,372 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. If the last three weeks are any indication of how the rest of the season will go, though, Williams will struggle mightily down the stretch.
Since the Bears' bye week, Williams is completing just 50.5% of his passes and is averaging 156 yards per game. He has thrown zero touchdowns or interceptions in that period, during which the Bears are averaging 9 points per game and have lost all three games.
According to Tankathon, Chicago has, by far, the toughest remaining schedule in the NFL. The Bears still have to play each of their three NFC North rivals — the Packers, Minnesota Vikings, and NFC-leading Detroit Lions — as well as the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.
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