Caleb Williams’ stupid idea caused offensive line problems for the Bears

The Bears’ biggest problem on offense is one that general manager Ryan Poles didn’t seem to want to admit, mostly because it’s his so-called area of ​​great expertise and also because he put it all together.

It’s the offensive line, of course.

When your quarterback is sacked 68 times, the blame should be placed on the offensive line, no matter what Caleb Williams says, to make everyone feel better about themselves. He deserves criticism for his bad passes, not for failing his blockers or his offense, in general.

Ultimately, if the line protected Williams better, the sack total wouldn’t be so high.

“Obviously, a handful of those sacks are obviously on us,” guard Matt Pryor said. “But I think towards the end of the season we kind of took a little more control and we kind of settled in. He’s a young quarterback. Obviously he’s going to adjust. He’s going to go there. have mistakes. So it’s a bit, I don’t even know how to say it – it’s a bit of our business.

“You can’t blame him. From the outside it looks like it’s one person’s fault.”

It wasn’t anyone’s fault. There is more than one person online.

“As far as the O-line goes, the frustrating thing is it was hard to really pinpoint it. I’ll put it this way, it wasn’t one of the reasons,” Polonais said. “It wasn’t always the offensive line, it wasn’t always the quarterback, it wasn’t always the running back protecting. There’s a lot of factors to consider.”

Williams problem taken into account

The rookie quarterback’s problems getting the ball out on time must be taken into account in advance. They should be. They are natural.

If they continue for years to come, then you have a problem with the smuggler. When you get a rookie QB like Jayden Daniels, who gets out of there faster than almost any veteran, it’s extremely rare.

Williams didn’t just run from the pocket for no good reason. It may have happened occasionally, but the pressure always starts with a breakdown somewhere on the offensive line.

Did it take too long to launch? So protect it longer. It’s their job. They don’t throw it away. They don’t manage it. They block it.

Blaming the quarterback for running into sacks in a panic is an easy fix for the line. There’s a little truth if you pick certain plays, but even scared rookie quarterbacks who haven’t had experience facing NFL defenses won’t panic and run if the blocking holds up.

The line is the QB’s first line of defense and the Bears didn’t have it.

Real analyzes

Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Network both do a decent job analyzing NFL online play, but it’s superficial compared to the NFLlines.com website.

This website ranks the Broncos fifth this year after being ranked 18th last year. That’s a huge improvement and Denver is in the playoffs. The Broncos only added one new starter, but they played together another year in the same offense. This is what is needed after adding talent.

Quarterback Bo Nix got rid of the ball faster than Russell Wilson last year, according to NFL Next Gen Stats QB timing.

However, Nix has only gotten rid of the ball a hundredth of a second faster on average than Williams this season. Williams’ throw time was 2.92 seconds and Nix’s was 2.91 seconds according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

Denver has allowed the third fewest sacks in the league. The Bears gave up the most.

Has the quarterback improved the offensive line in Denver? Maybe Nix did it in a very small way, but Williams certainly couldn’t have burdened the Bears’ offensive line too much with a time only a hundredth of a second slower than Nix had to throw.

Again, if they block him, he gets the ball no matter how long it takes.

Failure story

The Bears line has allowed 50 or more sacks for four straight seasons.

There is more to blocking than protecting the passer. There is also an execution block. The Bears just finished 25th in the race after finishing second last year and first in 2023.

Was it Williams’ fault too?

Williams ran for 168 fewer yards than Fields the year before. Those 168 yards didn’t take a team from second to 25th in rushing, and it’s not the quarterback’s job to run anyway.

Correction of the net result

The Bears offensive line didn’t get the job done running the ball. This put too much pressure on the passing game to produce with a rookie QB and on the line to protect the rookie. They weren’t good at protecting the passer.

Given his own expected rookie issues with holding him a little too long or sometimes awkwardly escaping the pocket, the whole collective mess combined with a horrible offensive coordinator mistake and made for the league’s worst offense in 2024 .

Fix the Bears’ line, make it truly competitive and consistent while Williams experiences natural sophomore season improvement, and then there’s success. This should help greatly when the line coach who has been there throughout all the sacks and run blocking collapse is gone, but the personnel issue will remain on the line.

Yet here is Pole the day after players emptied their lockers to hedge his bets without admitting the obvious need to improve at least a few offensive line positions.

“I would say in a bubble, philosophically, you would do that,” he said. “I also think you have to look at situations in terms of when you go through the draft, it’s a trade deal that’s the best available. Also, in free agency, we look at a picture of what’s out there.

“It’s not because that’s the philosophy that every year there are answers to these positions to be taken. Obviously, I believe in it. I really think that we have all the assets that we need. From the point From a draft and free agency perspective, I think something’s in line for us to take care of that business.”

Coverage is not necessary. Solving the problem is one man’s job, not a group of five or the quarterback.

X: BearsOnSI