Bears look as lost as ever in 21-16 loss to Colts
INDIANAPOLIS — The alarms have gone off on the Bears .
So much has looked wrong about them at the start of a season in which they're aiming for the playoffs, and they were worse than ever in a dismal 21-16 loss to the Colts on Sunday. The Bears caught every possible break and found maddening ways to waste all of them.
The clumsy, disheartening beginning of their season is indefensible. It can't be excused by saying rookie quarterback Caleb Williams needs time to develop or offensive coordinator Shane Waldron is trying to find the right recipe. It's bigger than that.
The offensive line has been flimsy, and that's a structural problem the Bears probably won't be able to fix until the offseason. It doesn't matter how much skill talent general manager Ryan Poles assembled if the line can't give it time and space to thrive.
Waldron's play calling alternates between bland and baffling, a combination painfully illustrated late in the second quarter when the Bears breached the red zone at the 19-yard line and gained a net of six yards over 10 snaps — the last being a confounding option call at the 1-yard line in which Williams pitched to D'Andre Swift for a loss of 12.
And while coach Matt Eberflus' defense has been overwhelming, that's not enough. It's not enough for the Bears to win consistently — they've been down the road many times — and it's not enough to satisfy his job requirements. Any frustration with Waldron also falls on Eberflus, who in three seasons still hasn't proven he can be more than a defensive coordinator.
It's too early to make a determination on Williams' future, but it's fair to say this isn't off to a good start. The Bears didn't have nearly the ideal infrastructure they thought they were welcoming him into, and he hasn't looked nearly as NFL-ready as everyone believed.
If it takes Williams until halfway through the season to find his groove, it'll be too late. The first half is by far the lighter part of the Bears' schedule, and they likely won't have many opponents as beatable as the Colts. They're going nowhere.
