Stock up, Stock down after Bears blowout loss to Patriots |
How low can the Bears go after their 16-point loss to the New England Patriots? This is not a team Chicago should have lost to. Something happened during the bye week that completely upended the offense, and the hail-mary loss against the Washington Commanders certainly did not help. Are there any positives for the Bears?
Caleb Williams - Stock Down The bright side is not rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. He is not improving and is making the same mistakes. Through the first nine games of the year, Williams has been sacked 38 times, which is the most in the NFL. Not all of these sacks are his fault. But, he is also holding onto the ball too long. So far, he is averaging 3.26 seconds before the pass, which is No. 30 in the NFL, according to ESPN. This was a criticism of him coming out of college and it has not disappeared in the NFL. For Bears fans, it seems like a familiar story as this was a common critique of former quarterback Justin Fields. Williams needs to show some signs of improvement and develop some chemistry with his playmakers if Chicago’s offense is going to do anything the rest of this season. Shane Waldron - Stock Down Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s stock cannot get any lower. He should be fired. There is not anything Waldron has done to warrant him keeping his job. The play-calling has been horrible. His decisions, especially crucial ones, are not logical and only hurt the team. Having him around could be incredibly detrimental to Williams’ long-term development. There is no question about it - he should be fired. Waldron is not capable of being an offensive coordinator. T.J. Edwards - Stock Up The one bright side for the Bears is linebacker TJ Edwards. Edwards had the lone turnover of the game, an interception that set the offense up near midfield. He is leading the team in tackles so far this season with 73 tackles and had his second pass breakup of the season last week. Keeping up his current pace in tackles, he would finish the season with 138 tackles. That would mark his fourth season in a row with over 100 total tackles. In addition, his missed tackle percentage of 2.7 percent is the lowest out of any Bears player who has started in all nine games. While the run defense as a whole has not been great, Edwards has been making some plays and performing similarly to how he did last year. Chicago’s Offense - Stock Down There is nothing positive to say about the offense as a whole unit. The run game underperformed against the Patriots. Passing has been a problem, as the offense is not gelling together. It is not all on Williams and not even all on Waldron. The offensive line is not performing, although the plethora of injuries, including both tackles being out against New England, is not helping. There have been numerous dropped passes by various playmakers. Tight end Cole Kmet is not getting the ball enough. He at least had four targets last week, but that was the first game he had multiple targets since Sun. Oct. 13 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, which was also the last time they won a game. Since coming off the bye, Chicago has scored one touchdown. They cannot do that if they are going to have a chance at beating the Green Bay Packers this coming Sunday (Noon / FOX).
