INDIANAPOLIS — Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams took a pretty good step forward in his third start, but the Chicago Bears did far too much wrong to beat a previously winless team in losing to the Indianapolis Colts 21-16 on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Bears (1-2) would prefer not to see a rookie — or any quarterback — have to attempt 52 passes and a total of 56 dropbacks when adding in three sacks (an improvement) and one scramble.
That’s a week after Williams dropped back to pass 48 times in a road loss to the Houston Texans and it’s where we’ll get started. Here are 10 thoughts on the offense and what’s next for the Bears.
1. No team wants to establish the identity of being a finesse team on offense but that is precisely what the Bears are right now.
The Bears earned that label when they proved unable to run the ball against not just the worst run defense in the NFL, but the worst run defense through the first two weeks of the season since 1978. The Colts were trampled by the Texans and Green Bay Packers through the first two weeks — and there the Bears were, on the doorstep just before halftime trailing 7-0 and with a chance to even the score.
On first-and-goal from the 4-yard line, Khalil Herbert got halfway to the end zone when he took a direct snap and plowed straight ahead.
Herbert got 1 yard on second down and then was stacked up for no gain on third down when defensive end Tyquan Lewis crashed off the edge and stuffed the play. Facing fourth-and-goal from the 1, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron called a speed option to the left with Williams pitching the ball to D’Andre Swift, who subbed in on the play.
Maybe the option and pitch can be executed a little more crisply by Williams. I’m not sure. But he’s not an option quarterback and to be very clear, I’m not pinning the blame on him for this play blowing up.
Left guard Teven Jenkins lost his balance off the snap and as he fell to the ground he tripped left tackle Braxton Jones from behind. When Jones went down that left linebacker Zaire Franklin free to pursue Swift, who found himself out on the edge with five Colts defenders to navigate. The play was completely doomed and Swift lost 12 yards trying to turn nothing into a miracle.
Oof.
It’s not fair to say that a failed opportunity at the end of the second quarter is the lone reason the Bears lost a five-point game. It’s not the only reason and there were many other opportunities. But a score there sure makes a difference.
As I understand it, there was a check to a different play that could have been made in that situation and Williams essentially confirmed as much.
“We have the option to change the play right there,” he said. “(Play) clock was running down, in those moments, you don’t really want — you don’t necessarily want to get the flag (for delay of game).
“Got out (of) the huddle, I believe with around 10 seconds. So, I didn’t want to get up there and alert the player, change the play or things like that — have it around five (seconds) or so, or whenever everybody got set. At that point, you’ve got to call and run it and get going.”
OK, back to the play call. What was the thinking?
“We liked the play,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “We’ve just got to get to the second level, get to the linebacker there, so we’re up two and get them there on that. We were going to pinch off the end man on the line of scrimmage, and we’ve got to execute better.”
Was the play not ideal against what the Colts showed pre-snap?
“I don’t know that,” Eberflus said. “Because I’ve got to look at the tape. I know the design of the play was to go against that personnel group.”
Column: Chicago Bears opt for finesse over force during their moment of truth on the goal line
Swift said the play worked during practice in the week versus a similar look.
“It was successful (in practice),” Swift said. “We’ll look at it on tape to see what we could have done differently to make it successful. Defense was flowing. I tried to make something happen. It just wasn’t there.”
When the Bears review this one, I wonder if they will stick to the thinking it was a good call against a specific look or admit, in hindsight, this is one they’ve got to put in the junk drawer.
“Being right there, an inch from the (goal line) or so, the 1-yard line, and then not get that,” Williams said. “Seeing that things like that is a play we practice all week, something — understanding that when they get around the 5-yard line to 1-yard line, their defense changes, and they get into those 6-1 defense and things like that.
“They normally crash and things like that. I guess maybe I didn’t give them the edge fast enough, or whatever the case may have been, but they didn’t crash how they normally do, or how we saw on film. They made a good play.”
While Williams dropped back 56 times, the offense was more committed to the run game than that number might suggest. That’s because the offense ran 84 plays, the most it has had in a regulation game since 1999. There were 28 rushes for 63 yards against a defense the Packers hit for 261 rushing yards the week before.
If the Bears cannot run the ball on the Colts, it’s going to be tough sledding against almost any team. That’s where this offense is three games in with 218 rushing yards on 72 carries (3.03 average).
Roschon Johnson gained 1 yard on a fourth-and-1 play just before the fateful goal-line series and that was a positive. There were a small handful of productive first-and-10 carries throughout the game before the Bears were forced into two-minute mode midway through the fourth quarter and had to throw to stay in the ballgame.
But they couldn’t line up against a Colts defense missing its best player — defensive lineman DeForest Buckner — and move Indianapolis off the line of scrimmage. The Colts should have been an antidote for what has been ailing the Bears up front and they were not.
So, when the Bears had first-and-1 from the Indianapolis’ 6-yard line late in the game, Williams threw a touchdown pass to Rome Odunze. The Bears are a finesse team up front right now and that’s going to put more pressure on Williams. He took a step forward in this game, no question, but there will be an awful lot of pressure on him in an offense that cannot impose its will on the opposition.
According to Pro Football Reference, it’s only the fifth time the Bears have run 84 or more plays in a non-overtime game. Oddly, they’re 1-4 in those games.
- Oct. 31, 1999: 48-22 loss at Washington, 94 plays
- Nov. 16, 1997: 23-15 loss to New York Jets, 90 plays
- Nov. 10, 1968: 27-19 win over San Francisco 49ers, 85 plays
- Oct. 25, 1964: 27-20 loss at Washington, 85 plays
Down the road, I suspect we’ll look back on this game and talk about Williams passing for 363 yards, the most ever by a Bears rookie. In the days to come — and for the season ahead — the inability to run the ball and the failure to punch it at the goal line is going to be problematic.
2. The downside in the Bears running 84 offensive plays is they generated only 395 yards (4.7 per play).
It’s only the sixth time since the start of the 1990 season that a team has had 395 or more yards and averaged 4.7 yards or fewer per play.
That’s hard to do. But the Bears pulled it off because Caleb Williams played better in completing 33 of 52 passes for 363 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions and one lost fumble that I don’t believe was his fault. More on that fateful snap in a little bit.
Williams has stuff to clean up but there is also plenty to look forward to in a season that will be defined mostly by his progress. Williams has an aggressive throwing mentality and he’s programmed to try to push the ball into tight windows downfield. It will be trial and error as he learns when the time is right for those calculated risks. That’s all part of the maturation process right now, as he’s only played three games.
The Bears probably don’t want this process sped up with so many dropbacks — calling that many pass plays is not a recipe for success — but he’s a gunslinger and he’s going to have two or three throws a game where you say, “What is he thinking here?”
That’s what he is and should be expected. That is why the Bears drafted him with the top pick. It’s a better situation to be in than having a quarterback who is so petrified of turning the ball over that he’s checking the ball down routinely and throwing it away. We saw a lot of that from Mitch Trubisky early in his career.
I’m not advocating for Williams to live dangerously with regularity but it comes with the territory and the young quarterbacks have to learn what they can get away with and what they need to avoid.
Williams has bigger upside as a thrower and he put up big numbers in just his third start. He threw two touchdowns and used the middle of the field a lot more than he did through the first two weeks, utilizing tight end Cole Kmet.
“I do actually,” Williams said when asked if he believes the offense is closer to finding an identity. “Got our first two pass touchdowns of the year. Having the offensive identity is — I think it is brewing. I think it is a lot closer than it was the week before or weeks before. And I think us figuring that out is going to get this thing going.
“I think we’re right there. On all the plays we were just simply, one small detail — I mean, that’s myself included on some of these plays that happened today, but we’re one small detail (away). A lot of these plays that, like I’ve said in many other interviews, that these small details always add up to be something bigger.”
Pass protection was improved but the Colts didn’t have upper-tier linemen, not established ones yet, like the first two opponents. That was a small step forward and, again, it should be recognized Williams used the middle of the field more.
“Our pass protection this game was definitely a lot better,” Williams said. “We changed some things up. Figuring out what fits us as a team. The constant communication that I’ve talked about before, I think goes a long way. And I think we need to keep doing that. Like I said, it’s a long season. So, being able to adapt — change and adapt to the players and people that we have in these rooms because we’ve got special guys, whether it’s the offensive line, running backs and wide receivers — being able to adapt and all of that, I think it starts with communication.”
Williams has expanded his connection with Odunze and you have to believe some big plays will be coming for DJ Moore. The Bears outfitted Williams with a wristband that included plays, which helped with the operation at the line of scrimmage in a loud road venue with the roof closed. In all, there were a lot of learning moments. You just wish he didn’t have to sling it quite as much.
3. Running back Roschon Johnson got a larger share with eight carries for 30 yards.
He was on the field for 33 snaps, including plays with penalties, compared to 46 for D’Andre Swift and eight for Khalil Herbert.
Johnson got heavy usage on third down, replacing Travis Homer, who was placed on injured reserve after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured finger.
Talking to scouts around the league, they don’t feel a lot has changed in the Bears’ ground game in moving to coordinator Shane Waldron from Luke Getsy.
“Hired a guy for the exact same offense as the previous guy,” one scout noted.
The running game is hard to watch, especially when the field is compacted inside the low red zone. The Bears do not move people off the ball and usually the defense is creating backfield penetration. There’s no daylight there. It’s easy to criticize Swift, who had 13 rushes for 20 yards. Take out the fourth-and-1 disaster where he tried in vain to create something out of nothing, and it’s 12 totes for 32 yards. Still not good. But how much yardage has Swift actually left on the field? Some, sure. But it’s not all him.
The Bears put Johnson in there and gave him more work because they likely wanted a physical guy who could break more tackles and move the pile a little bit. It’s hard to know what Swift can do in this offense right now because it is struggling so much up front.
I’m not sure the return of fullback Khari Blasingame from a knee injury — he’s missed the last two games — will add a lot to the ground attack. It won’t matter if Blasingame is in there if he cannot get to the second level. They’ve got to combo and clear for him, and they’ve been so inconsistent and the timing has been iffy, that it’s hard to find crisply executed running plays, especially with any kind of regularity.
If you didn’t see this coming, you probably were not paying attention. When they signed Swift, they were not planning on pounding the rock. He played with arguably the two best offensive lines in the league — the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles — the past two seasons. How much of Swift’s success was him and how much was the line?
Instead of dwelling on that, the Bears need to tinker with what they’re doing in the run game. It’s going to change on a week-to-week basis but they need to consider personnel in the backfield and how they can remain committed to the run to keep some balance in what is a finesse offense.
“I just really think it’s about fundamentals, right?” coach Matt Eberflus said. “Fundamentals — I think we’re committed to it. I thought we ran the ball really good on the inside and the outside, in terms of play selection, which I think you need to do. You’ve really got to stretch the defense inside and outside that way. I do feel, though, on the outside plays, we’ve got to block the perimeter better.
“It seemed like, we’ve got to look at the tape there and see where we have to get that perimeter blocking done better, because it looked like there were some guys that shook loose.”
I’ll agree that the Bears’ commitment was improved. But they’ve got an awful lot to clean up here and — again — this was a terrible run defense the Bears were facing. That cannot be overlooked as the coach is sifting for positives.
4. Another play the Bears are going to look back on and wonder ‘what could have happened here?’ is the strip/sack by Colts rookie defensive end Laiatu Latu in the fourth quarter.
The Bears had pulled within 14-9 and got a quick punt from the Colts to take over on their own 38-yard line with 6:52 remaining. It was a good spot to be in as Caleb Williams was playing under control.
With 12 personnel (running back D’Andre Swift, tight ends Cole Kmet and Marcedes Lewis, and wide receivers DJ Moore and Rome Odunze), Williams lined up under center. The Bears ran a play fake and max protected — keeping Kmet and Lewis in to block. Swift was blocking too until there was no one to pick up — the Colts rushed only four — and he released.
Latu beat Kmet off the edge and was able to circle back and strip Williams from behind as the quarterback did the right thing and tried to climb the pocket.
“I was just lost there,” Kmet said. “I gotta be better. Disappointed in my technique there. Just need to be better.”
I asked Kmet if he should have had help on the edge — again Indianapolis was only rushing four — and he said “not necessarily.” It’s easy to say Kmet needed assistance there but Latu was lined up wide and Kmet was the end man on the line of scrimmage. He tried to sell the inside run on the play fake and struggled getting back out to handle the first-round draft pick.
“I just remember when Kwity (Paye) had told me that I would get that look to attack a certain person,” Latu said. “I did that on the edge and then shoot — Caleb was right there about to throw it and I went for the ball.”
Williams said he sensed the pressure and that was why he worked to ride the pocket.
“I tried to step up, small movements, nothing huge but also, saw Rome about to pop behind the linebacker,” Williams said. “I think they either were Cover 2 on that right side, or doubling DJ (Moore). And so, I came off of that, backer started to move out with my eyes, about to throw it to Rome and then right there, strip-sack.”
It’s the small details. Kmet is a reliable player in protection and the Bears wanted to give Williams time for an intermediate or deep throw on first down. They did the right thing with max protection. Kmet just got a little off-balance selling the run fake to the interior and — boom — a small detail derailed a play and the possession and the Colts were able to cash in the takeaway with a touchdown by Jonathan Taylor, who had 110 yards and two scores on 23 carries.
5. Veteran tight end Marcedes Lewis tied Jason Witten for the most career regular-season games played by a tight end at 271.
Cole Kmet, who is 15 years younger, also has a streak going.
Kmet played in his 70th consecutive game, an impressive feat considering his high snap-count percentage since his rookie season in 2020 and the work he’s asked to do as a blocker in the run game and a receiver. The dual role — asked to block players who are bigger and stronger, and run routes and be tackled by players who are faster — is one of the reasons it can be a position where injuries pile up for players.
“It’s something I take a lot of pride in,” Kmet said.
The streak almost came to an end last season when Kmet suffered a sprained MCL in the Week 16 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. He was questionable on the injury report and wound up starting the next week against the Atlanta Falcons but logged a career-low 13 snaps.
“I really wanted to make sure I kept playing,” he said. “And it’s something I have been thinking about for a long time. I remember Jimmy Graham saying, ‘The most important stat is GP — games played.’
“That’s always on my mind throughout the week. Making sure I am doing what I have to do to stay healthy, eating the right things, doing workouts correctly and doing everything I need to do to feel good and get my body right. And then part of it is there is some luck involved too. And then obviously a lot of pain you’ve got to play through. You’re not playing pain-free throughout the whole year.”
Playing two seasons alongside Graham and now in his second season with Lewis, Kmet has almost always had a veteran in the room to lean on for advice or just to observe.
The other critical element, week-in and week-out, is rest — even for a young player.
“You gotta sleep,” Kmet said. “I’m good about getting to bed on time. I don’t play video games. I kind of exhaust myself throughout the day with everything we’re doing and the workouts I am doing and whatever extra things I am doing.
“I feel like I am pretty disciplined in that area and I am pretty good about it and I am not afraid to sleep in a little. I get here at a good time. I’m not a guy that’s going to be first guy here in the morning. I think that’s a little outdated of a philosophy. The more sleep you can get, the better you’re going to be, the more alert you’re going to be and the better your body is going to recover.
“It’s really how you treat your body. Stay away from alcohol when you can. That’s the death of everything. Eating the right things. Getting your sleep and getting your work in the weight room. I am a big believer in what you do in the weight room and how you do it through the offseason is what is going to pay off in-season.”
As far as luck, Kmet was the beneficiary of timing, if nothing else, when he left the Week 18 game last season with a broken forearm. He caught a pass over the middle — for a 27-yard gain — but was crunched by Green Bay Packers safety Darnell Savage, who hit Kmet’s arm directly with his facemask.
“It felt weird,” he said. “I kept playing and I went to go grab a guy on one of the outside zone plays and I just didn’t feel my grip was right so I was like ‘can you just check it’ and it was broken.”
Had that happened in early November, Kmet could have been sidelined for the remainder of the season even though the injury did not require surgery.
It will be interesting to see how playing time at the position is divvied up through the remainder of the season. Kmet played a career-high 94% of the snaps on offense in 2022. That figure dipped to 77% last season. After an abnormal opener against the Tennessee Titans, when Kmet was outsnapped by Gerald Everett 34-27, things have been more where you would expect him the last two games. Kmet had 54 snaps in Week 2 at Houston compared to 25 for Everett. At Indianapolis, my unofficial count had 74 plays for Kmet and 23 for Everett.
“That’s a balance,” Kmet said. “This year, because of all the guys we’ve got, that snap count coming down is beneficial for me and the team. More fresh play in and play out and I am on the field when I need to be and doing the things I need to do. I think that helps everybody all around. My legs feeling fresher throughout the game. There is no reason to be playing 95% of the snaps. It’s not easy.”
Kmet tied a career-high with 10 receptions for 97 yards so he got going a lot more in the passing game.
“It felt good but it doesn’t mean much when you don’t win,” he said. “Really frustrating in that regard. I’m gonna be thinking about the one play that I had that I could be better at. But look, I think we’re going to look at the film and we’re going to see a lot of steps taken offensively. I thought we were effective for the most part on first and second down. We were moving the chains there. We’ve just got to be a whole lot better if we want to win the amount of games we want to win in this league.”
6. It was Muhsin Muhammad who said in 2008 that Chicago is the place ‘where receivers go to die.’
I don’t expect Rome Odunze to know anything about that infamous quote or understand all of the nuances of the chicken-or-egg question when it comes to the Bears and quarterbacks and wide receivers and production — or lack of it.
Odunze took a big step forward with six receptions for 112 yards and one touchdown, becoming the fourth Bears rookie wide receiver since Willie Gault in 1983 to have a 100-yard game. Props to you if you can name the three others. Odunze follows Anthony Miller (2018), Justin Gage (2003) and Marty Booker (1999). That’s it since the speedster Gault during an era of increasingly proficient passing offenses.
We saw evidence of what Odunze can be as a three-level target. The deep ball throw — he hauled in a 47-yard reception from Caleb Williams. We saw him getting loose on in-cuts at the second level of the defense and then getting wide open in the red zone. That is why the Bears drafted him with the ninth pick. Those are the kind of games you can expect from him.
“Watching film and going through practices and things like that I’ve told Rome that I’m going to get him the ball some more,” Williams said. “The routes he runs, the trust and belief that I have in him, that’s why I threw that (one) ball to him. It ended up being picked, which I told him that I’ll come back to him and things like that.
“But that pick — the defender’s back was turned, and it’s always one of those rules that when a defender’s back is turned to one of your guys, you give him a chance because obviously, he’s not looking at the ball. The corner made a good break on the ball. Once it was tipped, he had his eyes back. Some of the after-practice reps that Rome and I have been getting these past couple weeks, I think it pays off. And we’re going to keep doing it because we obviously want to build that connection and have that trust and belief in each other.
“We’ve been working on some of our different routes and things like that throughout these weeks. Every day, we get about 10 to 15 passes with each other after practice. And so certain passes like that and a lot of times the deep downfield balls are the more rhythm routes that you have to try and keep your receiver in stride. He had a great route, made a great catch, and gave us a chance.”
It’s easy to wonder if the Bears could have or should have considered an offensive lineman when they selected Odunze. But if he develops — and early returns are encouraging — they’ve got a go-to target for Williams on a rookie contract and elite quarterbacks need game-breaking targets.
“It feels good to have some individual success with some of the errors I had made the previous weeks,” Odunze said. “It’s something where I can get that confidence rolling. It’s all about the W and we came up short. We’ve got things to grow on. We’ve got some good plays in the passing game to go look at and say, ‘Hey, we’re making progress.’”
If Odunze can continue to produce, it will be a step toward changing the narrative Muhammad described pretty accurately at the time.
7. A week after the Bears made a poor decision to throw a challenge flag on what they thought might have been a game-shifting interception by Kyler Gordon, there was another game-management miscue.
Matt Eberflus had to burn a timeout with 8:21 remaining after Rome Odunze scored on the 1-yard touchdown pass to bring the Bears within 14-9. It was a clear situation where they needed to go for two but the offense went off the field and the kicking team came on.
There wasn’t time to switch the units out and Eberflus used his first timeout. It didn’t end up factoring in the outcome but the Bears should have known at the start of the possession it was a clear spot for a two-point conversion to try and make it a field goal game.
At least Eberflus owned it after the game. He didn’t try to talk his way around a clear gaffe — and we’ve all seen coaches try that move.
“We have to be better there,” he said. “First of all, it wasn’t as good as it should be in terms of our communication there. But we wanted to get a good play on there as well. We liked the play, it just didn’t work out on that particular one. But again, we have to be better. Stay ahead of it better, be better there.”
“That’s on the coaches. On the coaches. We’ve got to be better there, from the top to the bottom. From upstairs down to the bottom. So, we’ve got to do a better job there.”
I don’t know what the coaches in the box were telling Eberflus as that drive unfolded. It was a 13-play, 70-yard drive that took seven minutes. But as the time was dwindling, someone needed to be making it clear to him that the team would need a two-point play and Shane Waldron should have been prepared for the best play on his call sheet from the 2-yard line.
Eberflus needs to get better help or listen to his help more attentively to avoid another miscue in the games ahead.
8. As the Bears sort through issues on the offensive line with Matt Pryor starting at right guard in place of Nate Davis, rookie Kiran Amegadjie is getting closer to being ready — if needed.
Amegadjie was a full participant in practice on Thursday and Friday for the first time since being activated from the non-football injury list on Aug. 18 — and he was dressed and active for a game for the first time. Amegadjie missed all of the preseason recovering from surgery to repair a torn quad muscle suffered last October while playing at Yale.
Given a chance to play — left tackle Braxton Jones went out briefly with a knee issue — the Bears pivoted by moving Pryor to left tackle and inserting Davis, who was questionable with a groin injury, at right guard.
The Bears were patient in bringing Amegadjie along to ensure there wasn’t a setback in the process and with a little more practice, he could be an option — if needed — soon.
“Everything is coming along great,” the Hinsdale Central graduate said. “Right now, I am taking team reps and just doing whatever is asked about me. Staying on my maintenance of my knee and taking care of my body. So, I feel good.”
Said Matt Eberflus: “He’s really close, he’s been working his tail off. His fundamentals are getting better. We love his length, his energy and the passion he plays with. He’s been doing good. I’ve been asking the defensive ends and the D-line coaches about him — at least two or three times a week about him. It’s all positive and he’s getting better. It’s good to see.”
The early season issues on the offensive line have primarily been on the interior and some have wondered, at least in my weekly mailbag, if Amegadjie could be moved inside to guard. That strikes me as a particularly bad idea, the kind of thing that would fall under the category of break-glass-in-case-of-emergency only.
The Bears drafted Amegadjie with the idea he could help them at tackle in the future — maybe on the left side — so dropping him into a position he’s not super familiar with after no preseason reps and being trained strictly at tackle since he was drafted doesn’t make a lot of sense for the team or Amegadjie’s development.
Yes, he played guard at Yale in 2021 — his sophomore season but freshman year on the field after COVID-19 wiped out the Ivy League schedule in 2020. Otherwise, he’s almost strictly been a tackle, dating back to high school.
The issue now is getting him prepared for the speed, power and technical efficiency of NFL defensive linemen. It’s a big jump for any rookie, especially one coming from Yale.
“I think I am lucky I get to go against these guys every day in practice,” Amegadjie said. “I am getting better and better. The game is faster, obviously, than college and faster than what I was playing in the Ivy League but I wouldn’t say it is too fast. It’s really just about getting off the ball. Once you get off the ball, you just play football after that. It’s football at the end of the day.”
If there’s something the Bears want Amegadjie to really dial in on in practice it’s his set, coming off the snap and being prepared to handle whoever and whatever is coming at him. It sounds overly simplistic but an offensive tackle with all the physical tools and power in the world will struggle if his feet aren’t right after the snap of the ball.
“When you spend 10 months away from playing football, it’s getting back in the rhythm of my set and getting my feet back under me and be tighter with my technique and tighter with my set,” he said.
If there was any silver lining to all the time spent rehabilitating from the quad injury it’s that he was able to focus on strengthening his upper body, back, shoulders and work on his core strength.
Scouts I spoke with about the Bears’ play along the line through the first two weeks feel that left tackle Braxton Jones has been the best and most consistent player. That doesn’t mean Amegadjie won’t have a chance at some point. He’s still getting ramped up and without restrictions to practice reps, the development should be accelerated in the event he’s needed. Just don’t look for it to potentially happen at guard — not right now.
We’ll see where Jones is in the days ahead but he returned to the game and completed it.
“I’m not going to talk too much on it,” Jones said. “Little scary there for a second for me. But I got in the tent and was able to continue in the game and that’s kind of all that matters. I feel good right now.
“I will be in (Halas Hall on Monday) and will make sure everything is all right. I feel good right now. I am happy about that. We still gotta click on some things. We did make some small improvements. Not enough. Up front, just talking about myself, I’ve got to tighten just a little bit more and try to give (Caleb Williams) more time so he can really dissect the defense.”
9. The Keenan Allen situation has a little bit of a different vibe after the veteran wide receiver missed his second consecutive game.
He’s dealing with plantar fasciitis — a heel injury — that also sidelined him for the final four games of last season with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Matt Eberflus explained Friday that Allen was excused from making the trip to Indianapolis for personal reasons but didn’t expand on that. Allen was with the team — and inactive — the previous week in Houston.
He has not practiced in two weeks and the Bears are missing a big part of the projected passing game with him not on the field.
“I don’t see that,” Eberflus said on Friday when asked if there was fear the situation could linger. “He’ll be ready when he is ready, when his body tells him. We have a really good training staff and those guys get them back as soon as possible. He’s been working diligently to get that done. The process, we’ll get him on the field, he’s been on the field, he’s been moving, cutting. We’ll see where it goes next week.”
It’s impossible to speculate on this situation and maybe I’m not reading the tea leaves accurately here. What I do know is without Allen on the field, the Bears have lost a lot. He is the mismatch piece for them in the middle of the field and on third down. He’s the guy with an uncanny ability to get open and shake defenders. If Allen doesn’t come back soon, the Bears will struggle to get first downs against better defenses. At least the offense got Cole Kmet going in this game but if Allen can get back soon and stay on the field, he will bring a big dimension for the passing game.
10. I kind of hate waiting this long to get into the defense but that’s the way it goes some weeks. The effort was good enough to win.
Middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds intercepted Anthony Richardson in the end zone and cornerback Jaylon Johnson had a pick. Both came on really poor decisions by the quarterback. The Bears limited Richardson to a 39.0 passer rating as he completed 10 of 20 passes for 167 yards.
Jonathan Taylor was slippery as expected and that is how the Colts managed to get three touchdowns despite converting only three of 12 third downs. Defensive end Montez Sweat got his first sack of the season.
What the Colts did was hit the Bears for some big plays. Richardson completed two passes for 40 or more yards and Taylor broke off a 29-yard touchdown run.
“We’re just not playing complementary football as a team right now,” strong safety Kevin Byard said. “It doesn’t really matter how well the defense plays in spurts. When we do make a play, we gotta be able to answer the call on offense — whatever it may be. But like you said, we had some explosive plays that we gave away, especially early.
“We knew we had to stop the run. Jonathan Taylor had over 100 yards rushing. We had to be better in the run game. There are a lot of things we can do better as a team to be better. We get a three-and-out and then we had a penalty on special teams and they were able to score on that drive. We’re just not being complementary as a team right now.
“I know for a fact when we watch the film we’re going to pull up a stat where six, seven plays probably 200 yards. Rest of the game we’re locking them down. Because you look at the stats, (Richardson) didn’t pass the ball for a lot of yards. Most of those were on the big pass plays he got. We have to be able to eliminate those explosives.”
As it turns out, the Colts’ six longest plays accounted for 174 of their 306 yards. So, Byard was not far off.
10a. Kevin Byard was right in saying the encroachment penalty on Daniel Hardy, two weeks after he blocked a punt against Tennessee, was a really big play. The Bears need to avoid mistakes like that when the defense forces a quick turnaround.
10b. Cornerback Terell Smith was ruled out with a hip injury. Something to keep an eye on when looking at reserve depth at that position.
10c. Next up for the Bears are the Los Angeles Rams and Carolina Panthers. Both teams got their first wins of the season on Sunday. The Rams stunned the division rival San Francisco 49ers and ex-Bears quarterback Andy Dalton ignited the Panthers after the benching of Bryce Young. Dalton threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns in a 36-22 victory at Las Vegas that was not as close as the score might indicate.
10d. The Bears opened as a 2 1/2-point favorite over the Rams for Sunday’s game at Soldier Field at Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas.
