3 Biggest Takeaways From Bears’ Week 3 Loss to the Colts

2. Bad play calling

The Bears seem to be cursed in finding a good offensive coordinator. In the last two seasons, Bears fans have had to deal with Luke Getsy. In 2022, the Bears didn't have much talent on offense, so Getsy got somewhat of a pass for the bad offense the Bears had.

Last season, the Bears had slightly better talent, and Getsy failed to run an effective offense, calling lots of screens and horizontal pass plays. While some of the play calling may have been down to the limitations of quarterback Justin Fileds it stilll wasn;t good enough.

When the Bears brought in Shane Waldron this offseason, there was hope that the Bears would finally have a respectable offense. After all, he did help Geno Smith resurrect his career in Seattle. Yet, Seahawk fans and even some players had different views on Waldron. Jaxon Smith-Njigba did a quick interview with CHGO during Super Bowl weekend, and when he was asked about Waldron, he said, " This is live?".

That's not the response anyone wanted to hear from a former player so many people pushed it to the side. That may not have been the smartest thing to do, as over the first two weeks, Waldron's play-calling thus far has been reliant on deep route concepts and screens,

That did not change this week, as the Bears called lots of deep route concepts and screen passes. While deep route concepts can work, they need to be paired with one or two dump-off options. It seems that Waldron doesn't have those options for Caleb, which leads to throwaways and sacks.

Much like deep route concepts, screens aren't bad until they are over-relied upon. Like Getsy, Waldron seems to call lots of screens. Against the Colts, the Bears ran at least four screens, and only a few worked. If screen plays aren't working, Waldron needs to pivot off of them.

Finally Waldron had a horrible goal line sequence. From four plays inside the five-yard line, the offense was in shotgun the whole time. That play calling makes absolutely no sense. When you're that close to the endzone, get under center and run power up the middle. Even though center Coleman Shelton has struggled, getting less than five yards on four rushes shouldn't be an issue.