People keep talking about Caleb Williams and his passing game results. The truth is anybody not blind can see the real problem with the Chicago Bears offense is how ineffective their running game is. After ranking 2nd in the NFL last season, they have dropped to 30th through the first three games. Experts can’t understand how things got this bad. It seems to be a combination of poor blocking and the running backs’ inability to hit the holes when they do appear. It is one giant car crash. That makes many wonder if a big part of the issue is offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and his scheme.
It didn’t take long for people to notice that he had a tendency to favor running out of the shotgun formation. Never was this clearer than during the Bears’ ill-fated goal-to-go sequence in the first half against Indianapolis. They ran out of shotgun and were emphatically stuffed four times in a row. Through the first three games, the Bears have run it 24 times out of shotgun, excluding Caleb Williams scrambles. They have 49 yards on those plays, good for 2.04 yards per carry.
Many are screaming why the Bears aren’t running more from under center. Nicholas Moreano of CHGO spoke to Roschon Johnson, Khalil Herbert, and Braxton Jones about it. Their replies suggest they’ve wondered the same.
Johnson highlighted with an under-center run, “the momentum you have going towards the line of scrimmage” is the biggest difference from running in the shotgun…
…Herbert mentioned that from the I-formation, “you’re deeper so you got more time and more room to work with.”…
…“It’s simple, but there a lot of run schemes that I feel are simple, too,” Jones said. “Simple is fast and fast, usually is good.”
Shane Waldron has to go with what works.
Now, make no mistake. The Bears haven’t been stellar running from under center either. Still, it has been far more effective than in shotgun, averaging around 3.8 yards per carry. It isn’t great but is far more preferable to the alternative. Even an average running game would help ease the pressure on Williams to do everything himself, which has inevitably led to lots of mistakes as a rookie. Effective offense must be about balance. For three weeks, the Bears haven’t had it.
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This may not be the style Shane Waldron wanted to run. He likes to have his quarterbacks working in shotgun. The problem is it loses effectiveness if you can’t run from that formation. Under center might be a little old school, but it remains productive and is easier to execute. It might be wise for the Bears to tweak the game plan to feature more plays in those formations. Williams seems more than capable of working under center. Perhaps once everybody gets more comfortable, Waldron can try again.
