The start to the Chicago Bears 2024 season on offense was expected to have a much different outcome, instead it was shockingly similar out of the gate. That includes the early rain of boo's coming from the home crowd at Soldier Field.
The response from the crowd was warranted following a frustrating day from the Bears offense, led by their new franchise quarterback Caleb Williams making his first regular season debut.
The offensive unit never managed to reach the endzone and only had seven plays of 10+ yards during a 24-17 win against the Tennessee Titans. And there's one clear reason why the unit struggled to find success on Sunday.
In the Bears win against the Titans, the offense under new coordinator Shane Waldron gained just 147 total yards. The biggest concern was the fact that the unit went 2/13 on third down and especially struggled on third-and-short.
On third down attempts with less than five yards to go, the Bears were 0/5. Four of those five attempts ended with incomplete deep passes.
"Obviously we didn't perform how we wanted to," Williams said after the game. "We want to be the most efficient team out there, myself included. Didn't perform the way that I wanted to, I missed a few passes... and it's just not being on the same page passing wise. Just understand that I need to be better and I will be better."
Williams noted if he cleans up some of the miscues and misfires during the game in those key situations, things could have been drastically different for the unit.
That's one of the biggest takeaways Williams needed to learn from his regular season debut in the NFL and it's great to see him already acknowledging that. The bulk of the issues on third down can't be directed at one thing in particular but various errors that will be easy to work on correcting going forward on offense.
"You can't pinpoint one group or one person," wide receiver DJ Moore explained . "We all got to be on the same page and when we are, you can see we can move the ball. When we aren't, things get in a lull and we can't have that."
A lot of the Bears miscues on offense were miniscule errors that were barely missed and having those compound throughout the game were the root of the struggles. By just taking what the defense gives you on those third-and-short scenarios, the big plays will eventually open up and hit for the Bears offense to get on track.
"I think it's a pace thing," head coach Matt Eberflus added . "[Williams] likes that and I think he's very natural doing that. Going fast and doing the no huddle. Not saying we're always going to do that but it's certainly a way to spark the offense."
The Bears offense also dealt with a few issues on the injury front with top wide receivers Moore and Keenan Allen briefly leaving the game before returning to the field. Overall, it wasn't the start fans in the home crowd were expecting to see out of the unit but there's plenty of mistakes to learn from going into next week.
Related: Bears player with high hopes in 2024 puts himself right back in the doghouse after huge mistake vs Titans
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