Three Takeaways from Bears loss to Colts

Christine Tannous - USA Today Sports

by Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - Mon Sep 23 12:00:02 GMT-05:00 2024

Three weeks into the NFL season, the Chicago Bears continue to be a work in progress as they dropped their second straight game 21-16 to fall to 1-2. Even with the loss, there were plenty of things to get excited about, most of which fell on Caleb Williams and his 363-yard passing day.

Was he perfect? No, he was far from perfect, as he threw two more interceptions to go with his first two career TDs. He also threw 52 passes in the game, and when you are having a tough time running the ball, throwing 52 times isn't going to cut it when you have a rookie QB playing. You also saw the defense continue to play well enough to win, even if the final score doesn't show that. Regardless, this team has some work to do as they may not be as good as people hoped this season, which would sting when you look at the hype this team had.

This team can't run the ball yet

As much as people hated Luke Getsy and some of the play calls he made, he at least knew how to run the ball. The Bears were one of the best running teams in the game the last two seasons with him as the OC. That included being the NFL's best-rushing team in 2022, as the Bears needed to rely on their run to be successful.

A big part of their success revolved around Justin Fields, but even with him no longer on this team, Chicago still has D'Andre Swift, Khalil Herbert, and Roschon Johnson. They were expected to be one of the better running teams again. Whatever Shane Waldron is doing right now isn't working, as the Bears are the worst rushing team in the game right now, and it isn't close.

Sunday was a prime example of how bad the rushing attack is. Johnson led the team with 30 yards on the ground, but they finished with less than 70 yards total on the ground. That came against a team that had allowed more than 200 yards on the ground the first two weeks, so struggling like that isn't sitting well right now. They need to pick it up if they want to win games because Williams can't do it himself.

That is the Williams the Bears have been waiting for

After two less-than-appealing games at the QB position, Williams finally broke out and showed the NFL what he could do as he put together a great game. Sure, the two interceptions are a concern, but with two TDs and 363 yards through the air, Bears fans saw his potential as he is a big play waiting to happen.

As good a game as he had, you can't expect him to do this every week, let alone throw 52 times in a game. This is a rookie who will make mistakes, and the more you make him throw, the more likely it will be that he will make mistakes. This is a team that has no margin for error.

This all falls on the Bears' offensive line, which cannot establish a true rushing attack to take the pressure off Williams. The fewer yards they run for, the more times Williams will be forced to pass, putting more pressure on himself to carry the team. At some point, Waldron and the offense need to make the adjustments necessary to get the ground game going, and those adjustments need to happen sooner rather than later.

Is this defense overhyped?

This is a difficult question when you look at how they have played in the first three weeks of the season, but you must ask if the defense is overhyped. Sure, they are making plays and forcing turnovers like they did a season ago, but three games into the season, they are also giving up more big plays and having a tough time stopping the run.

That was never an issue for this team last year, and with Jonathan Taylor picking up over 110 yards and two scores yesterday, you are noticing that more teams are having some success running the ball against this defense, even if the yardage isn't always there. Another concern on the defensive end is the lack of quarterback pressure at times, which was the main area they wanted to fix.

Darrell Taylor had a massive first game but hasn't done much in the past two games, while Montez Sweat hasn't made the massive impact this season that the Bears hoped he would. For a team that is struggling to run the ball and has a rookie quarterback under center, a strong defense needs to carry this team, and right now, the Bears defense hasn't been quite as strong as they would've liked.