The Chicago Bears have started 0-2. They have now lost 12 of their last 13 games. Blame is getting thrown around left and right. Caleb Williams is at the heart of it. On the surface, the young quarterback is far down the list of this team’s biggest problems. Their defense is a complete sieve, and they still can’t run the ball. That said, the quarterback is the one player who dictates team success more than any other. Williams has six victories in 19 games. Part of the problem is his general lack of efficiency. While he can produce some incredible big plays, he doesn’t seem as able to keep the team in advantageous down and distances. That is why the Tyson Bagent buzz hasn’t gone away.

Chicago’s backup may not have Williams’ raw talent, but he appears to understand the game on a deeper level. He thinks it at a high level. That is why some have wondered if head coach Ben Johnson might be tempted to make a change if Williams doesn’t clean things up. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN dropped a bombshell on that front in a new column. It appears people inside the building felt Bagent operated the offense better than Williams. It doesn’t mean a change is imminent. Johnson is willing to be patient.

However, the leash might be shorter than people realize.

Fowler: Yeah, we hit that Giants’ QB outlook hard last week; it’s worth watching. Otherwise, the NFL’s quarterback picture is pretty clear, so I’ll throw two NFC North wild cards out there.

What if the Bears’ Caleb Williams doesn’t find his footing in Ben Johnson’s timing-and-rhythm passing game by, say, Week 10? I think Williams showed positive signs in Sunday’s loss in Detroit. But the feeling coming out of camp was that, despite Williams’ otherworldly talent, the offense was a bit crisper with Tyson Bagent running the huddle. Is Johnson willing to be patient here? I think so. And Williams’ immense talent is a commodity worth betting on. But these coaches feel pressure to win — three-year grace periods no longer exist — and Johnson didn’t draft Williams. Just thinking out loud.

Tyson Bagent may have already seen this coming.

It was always slightly puzzling that the young quarterback opted to take a contract extension from the Bears. People felt he would’ve had a chance to go somewhere else to compete for a starting job next offseason. Electing to stay put sent one of two signals.

1. He’s not confident he is ready yet.
2. He believes there is a real chance he will see the field at some point in Chicago.

The first option doesn’t sound like Tyson Bagent at all. Self-confidence is something he’s always had. He carries himself like a starter, even if he’s willing to play the backup role. Accepting a two-year extension to make sure he stays put feels more like a calculated gamble that Johnson will give him a look at some point. Williams controls how this will go. If he keeps improving, this storyline will never materialize. Still, it sounds like the possibility is very much there.

Caleb Williams has improved. The evidence is there if you’re willing to pay attention. He’s gotten much better at his pre-snap process and post-snap reads. The ball usually goes where it’s supposed to on time. He has drastically improved his ability to avoid sacks, which was a huge problem. There are still accuracy issues to work through, but he’s proven he can throw with precision when things are clicking. It feels like he has taken the lessons from Ben Johnson to heart and begun to embrace what it means to be a professional.

However, certain issues still need to be addressed. While he isn’t solely responsible for this, the numbers paint a clear enough picture. Williams hasn’t been utilizing his tight ends nearly enough. Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland have been almost invisible through the first two weeks. That isn’t a great look for a team that took a tight end 10th overall. Johnson didn’t single Williams out for this, but it’s evident he had hoped they’d be more involved, as Adam Jahns of CHGO pointed out.

The Bears needed their tight ends to help in Week 1 with the Vikings’ blitzes. But their target load in Detroit was definitely an issue. Tight end Cole Kmet had two catches for 29 yards, but his 22-yarder came from backup Tyson Bagent. Loveland’s only target against the Lions was also from Bagent.

“I kind of knew that first game that the tight end position wasn’t going to be featured as much,” Johnson said. “This game I thought we were going to bounce back more both with Cole and Colston.”

The numbers show that Williams is part of the problem.

He doesn’t seem to target tight ends often enough. It happened last season with Kmet, who only had 55 targets after getting 90 the year before. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune revealed that Johnson has given the quarterback ample opportunities to take advantage, but Williams hasn’t.

According to SumerSports, the Bears have been in 12 personnel (one running back, two wide receivers, two tight ends) 44.9% of the time, the fourth-highest percentage in the league. So they’ve been leaning into the position in terms of personnel, but it has yet to show up in terms of production and targets in the passing game.

If you go back to last season, when Kmet had 11 games with three or fewer targets, this isn’t a new trend. The shame of it is Kmet was super productive with his opportunities when they came last season. He caught 85.5% of the passes on which he was targeted and had a career-high 8.6 yards per target.

The common denominators are Kmet, who has proved to be a reliable cog in the passing game, and quarterback Caleb Williams.

Caleb Williams has a history of this.

Everything goes back to his time in college. Caleb Williams barely utilized the tight ends in three years between Oklahoma and USC. Lincoln Riley’s offense didn’t seem to have much use for it outside of blocking duties. No tight end ever had more than 32 catches in a season during those three years. It was the wide receiver show. That would explain why Williams does the same in Chicago. He was programmed to think the tight ends play a secondary role in any offense.

The issue is that he never had players as talented as Kmet and Loveland. These guys can make plays. Williams is doing the Bears a serious disservice by not exploiting them more. It’s like owning a nice sports car but never putting it into fifth gear. That is something he must correct moving forward. Defenses have reasons to fear the Bears because of those two tight ends. Yet they won’t if the quarterback refuses to throw them the ball.

Starting 0-2 is never great. It immediately leads to thoughts that the team isn’t going to have a good year and might already have to start looking towards the next season. Obviously, that isn’t what the Chicago Bears are thinking right now. Head coach Ben Johnson is doing everything he can to prepare this team for Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys. A win there might be enough to at least steady the ship. However, a loss might send things spiraling out of control. It already feels like things aren’t in a good place. The Bears were crushed 52-21 in Detroit, and Johnson felt compelled to call out players for their bad practice habits.

The thing about NFL teams is they’re not stupid. When they smell an opportunity, they will pounce on it. Anybody with common sense can tell things aren’t great in Chicago’s locker room. In such cases, it could usually mean players are for sale on the trade market. That is why, according to sources, the Bears have already been getting calls about the availability of some of their top veterans. Among them are D.J. Moore, Montez Sweat, and even Jaylon Johnson. Anybody with credibility is being inquired about.

The Chicago Bears aren’t in that headspace yet.

They still believe they can get things turned around. While some fans may not buy into that idea, it’s how things are at the moment. Johnson and others feel a win over Dallas and Las Vegas the next week gets them to the bye week at 2-2. Then they can reassess things, make adjustments, and prepare for a critical stretch against Washington, New Orleans, Baltimore, and Cincinnati. The Saints are already viewed as one of the league’s worst teams. The Bengals won’t have Joe Burrow. Washington doesn’t seem to have the same mojo they did last year.

Anything is possible. That said, if things crumble as many expect, the trade deadline at the end of October could get really interesting. Johnson supposedly has considerable personnel power. He may wish to unload various players he sees as weak links to his objective of building a winner. It sounds like the Bears will have a market.

Health has been one of the defining characteristics of the Chicago Bears‘ season so far. That is especially true on defense. Each of the first two games saw them without Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, and T.J. Edwards. Three of their best players. It showed in a 21-point 4th quarter against Minnesota and allowed 52 to Detroit. Matters got even worse on Wednesday when Grady Jarrett, their veteran leader, was nursing a knee injury. It wasn’t limited to the defense, though. Running back D’Andre Swift was also limited by a quad issue.

Many might see this as just one disaster after another. Maybe in the immediate context it is. Then again, the Bears were terrible even with those two on the field. These injuries might be a blessing for the team. Why? It opens the door for the coaches to give some of their draft picks playing time. Seventh round pick Kyle Monangai has gotten occasional work already, averaging four yards per carry in limited snaps. The bigger one is Shemar Turner, their 2nd round defensive lineman. He hasn’t played at all since he missed much of camp with an injury. Jarrett being out would allow the Bears to work him into the rotation.

The Chicago Bears should start giving young guys a chance.

Head coach Ben Johnson sent another message on Wednesday that he is unhappy with the practice habits of several guys on the roster. Often, the best way to counteract such issues is by benching them. Give the jobs to guys who want to be there and are willing to work hard. Monangai looked good in training camp and the preseason. He has a skillset that fits well with Ben Johnson’s system, even if he may not have the explosiveness. As for Turner, he certainly has a great mix of power and violence. The Bears defense could use both right now. Getting those two on the field might not lead to great efficiency at first, but this team needs a jolt from somewhere. In such situations, a youth infusion is the best remedy.