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CHICAGO (WGN) — Momentum behind the Chicago Bears is far from lost and more than just palpable; it’s familiar.
What makes it even more precarious is that the franchise also feels like it’s on the precipice of going where it has never gone before, all due to Caleb Williams and the climate surrounding their promising young quarterback.
The thing is, though, while he may take the lion’s share of the blame, he isn’t the only player on Chicago’s offense who is culpable for their struggles.
The Bears are 4-3, winners of four of their last five. In little more than a month, the defense went from hapless to turnover-happy. The rushing attack transformed from lacking to legitimate. The kicking game? From nebulous to knockdown.
However, even with those factors taken into consideration, there are still numerous issues surrounding the Bears and their current offense that have onlookers trying to figure out why they haven’t taken the leap many envisioned would happen soon after the arrival of Ben Johnson.
When properly firing, the current iteration of the Bears feels like an homage paid to the talented teams of Chicago’s recent past—most specifically, the early 2010s teams that came stocked with talented defenses and a thoroughbred in the backfield—Matt Forte.
But Caleb Williams—the Bears’ quintessential piece of the puzzle, the prince who was promised, Chicago’s Lisan Al Ghaib—remains a tantalizing, yet unfinished product, while the rest of the offense continues to shoot themselves in the foot before they even get the ball snapped.
The former Heisman Trophy winner has flashed the “God-given ability” of his right arm, but we have yet to see him maintain a consistent display of said ability. It’s a situation that evokes shades of Thanos, pre-infinity stones. An ominous titan driven to great lengths to achieve the heights of his power, but just not there yet.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Williams has the longest completed air distance on a throw in 2025—the 65-yard flea flicker to Luther Burden III during Week 3’s 31-14 drumming of the Dallas Cowboys—traveled 62.1 air yards.
It’s a throw that perfectly encapsulates his talent. When Williams is on and Chicago’s offense is in rhythm, the Bears are poetry in motion. It’s just that so many parts of Chicago’s engine need maintenance that we rarely find ourselves in those situations.
Look no further than two specific facets of the Bears’ offense—pre-snap penalties and their red zone operation.
Collectively, Chicago is a league-worst -28 in net penalties and -279 in net penalty yardage. The Jacksonville Jaguars are second-to-last in net penalties at -21, and the Denver Broncos are a distant second-to-last in net penalty yardage at -142. The Bears are also 7-for-7 on committing more penalties than their opponents, and in all but one game, they have been called for eight or more penalties teamwide.
Those numbers are indicative of a team-wide lack of execution before and after the snap, but when the curtain is peeled back to reveal the offense’s contributions to those numbers, it paints a pre-snap picture with a dash of holding.
Chicago is tied for the league lead in false start penalties (16) with the Los Angeles Chargers, who have yet to have their bye week. Their second-most-called penalty is offensive holding (11). They are also tied for eighth in the NFL in illegal formations, although they have only been flagged for that twice.
The Bears also have a top-three most-penalized player among offensive linemen, running backs and tight ends. Darnell Wright is tied for second among offensive linemen in total penalties (6) and total penalty yardage (40). Colston Loveland is tied for first in total penalties (4) and is tied for second in total penalty yardage (30). D’Andre Swift is tied for second in both total penalties (2) and total penalty yardage (20) among running backs.
Five of Wright, Loveland and Swift’s 12 total penalties have been false starts.
“We’ve talked about it with the players. We’ll certainly make sure that they understand—especially now that we lost a game and the penalties were a big culprit as to why we didn’t have the success we wanted to,” Johnson said about Chicago’s false start issues on Monday. “It really opens Pandora’s Box up here where, [we’re like] ‘Hey, all hands on deck here.’
“We’ve got to get this thing fixed. We’ve been harping on it as a coaching staff, and when it results in a loss, I think it just magnifies the issue that was at hand.”
Where does Williams stand on his team’s penalty issues?
“It’s us focusing and not having the brain farts. Me emphasizing in the huddle, us making sure that when we break the huddle, everybody’s on the same page,” Williams said Wednesday. “Then everybody just being confident in themself and understanding that we know the play. We know what we need to do. We need to go execute. Sit in there, whatever the cadence is when the ball’s going to be snapped, and we’re firing off on the same page.
“It is up to us as players. Like I’ve said, the best teams are player-led teams. That’s something that we need to focus on, something we need to fix as a team, is these penalties. They’re happening in critical moments and critical downs for us … We’ve got to find a way to fix it and that starts with us as players.”
Then there are Chicago’s red zone issues—an area where Williams and his team have collectively struggled.
Just last week, the Bears’ opening possession found its way into the red zone, only to stall out like a jet in too-high altitudes when it mattered most.
On the sixth play of the 13-play, 64-yard drive, Williams hit Rome Odunze for a 13-yard gain that put them at the Baltimore Ravens’ 17-yard line. Swift ran right for a 7-yard gain on first down, then Williams picked up another 2 yards on a scramble to give the Bears third-and-1 at the Ravens’ 8-yard line.
Williams and Chicago’s offense went no-huddle in 11-personnel on the next play. As Williams delivered his pre-snap cadence, Loveland flinched and was flagged for a false start, but it didn’t matter. Williams found Odunze again for a 7-yard completion and another first down.
On first-and-goal from Baltimore’s 6-yard line, Swift moved the line of scrimmage three yards further. Next, Kyle Monangai was stuffed going east-west for a 2-yard loss. Then Caleb Williams was sacked after Ravens defensive end Mike Green beat Theo Benedet around the edge from a wide-9 technique.
Out came Cairo Santos, and the Brazilian Bear Booter banged home a 32-yarder. Instead of finding paydirt and a potential 7-0 edge, the Bears were up three.
A similar outcome played out on their very next drive, although the possession stalled just outside the red zone on the Ravens’ 22-yard line.
Williams found DJ Moore for a 10-yard gain on third-and-7, only for Moore to gain three yards on a handoff, and the next two Williams passes to fall incomplete. Out trotted Santos once more, and for the second consecutive drive, three points were added to the board instead of six.
“We could’ve been up 14 in those first two drives we had,” Williams said after Sunday’s loss. “That would have created a bunch of momentum for us. And I think that’s how it’s been a good amount of the year.”
Eight weeks down, the Bears are scoring touchdowns on only 47.83% of their offensive possessions that reach the red zone, good for 26th in the NFL. It’s a number that elicits momentary roars as the car accelerates out of a green light—the ever-so-often D’Andre Swift rocket around the edge or shot to Rome Odunze—but also depicts a blown gasket more often than not.
So what has led to those blown gaskets? It’s partially fueled by a drop in production from Williams the moment Chicago gets inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, but also a lack of execution by others on Chicago’s offense.
From 20-yard line to 20-yard line, Williams is 115-for-183 (62.8%) with 1,481 yards passing, 5 TD passes and 2 interceptions. His quarterback rating from midfield to the opponent’s 21-yard line is 96.5.
Inside the red zone, Williams is 16-for-28 with 79 yards, 4 TD passes and 1 interception with an 86.9 quarterback rating. According to The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain, Williams’ Expected Points Added (EPA) Per Attempt, EPA Per Dropback and completion percentage also have all declined once the Bears get inside the red zone.
When it comes to Bears running backs inside the red zone, D’Andre Swift has 12 carries for 23 yards and 3 touchdowns inside the 10-yard line. Among NFL running backs with at least 10 carries inside the 10-yard line, only Jonathan Taylor, Josh Jacobs, Jahmyr Gibbs, Kyren Williams and Chase Brown average more yards per carry, but Swift and Roschon Johnson (often used as a short-yardage bruiser) are listed as out for Sunday’s matchup against the Bengals.
Rookie Kyle Monangai has 4 carries for -4 yards inside the opponent’s 10-yard line this season.
“It just comes down to execution. As a run game, as a pass game, it comes down to details,” Williams said. “Run game; stand on landmarks, hitting the holes, finding those—even if it’s not a gaping hole, getting those dirty four yards, three yards, because that goes a long way. Then pass game, it’s just being on the same page.
“Like the one sack that I had down there in the beginning of the game, it’s just being able to either dirt it or find the back right there. [I] peaked, didn’t see him. We were on the same page in that situation, didn’t see him, 45 (Mike green), and I tried to go make a play for us. Just being in those situations, finding check downs, being on the same page, being in detail, finding execution.”
As quarterback of this team, Caleb Williams is an extension of Johnson and Chicago’s coaching staff out on the field. Not only is it his job to complete passes and run for first downs when the situation calls upon him to do so, but it is also his responsibility to relay play calls and make sure the entire offensive unit is on the same page.
But even if he does all of that in a cool, calm and collected manner, he still can’t help it if Loveland false starts, Monangai makes the wrong read on a handoff, or Darnell Wright is called for holding. It’s up to everyone as a whole to make it work—pre-snap, in the red zone or otherwise.
The Bears will have every opportunity to reclaim momentum against Cincinnati, which has a defense ranked dead last in points per game (31.6) and has allowed the most red zone touchdowns in the NFL this season at 27—18 passing and nine running.
But if the sky continues to fall for Chicago, Williams will take the lion’s share of the blame, although it’s far more than just a Caleb problem for the Bears.