The Chicago Bears finished 7-10 regular season with yet another losing season and once again missed the playoffs. Before the season started, the Bears had a spending spree in free agency bringing talented pieces to upgrade a bad roster. The team drafted well. The Bears front office had all their eggs in one basket as they hoped Justin Fields would show he is the face of this franchise. The Bears thought prying a coach out of the Packers organization would be the answer to help Justin Fields. Luke Getsy would only last two seasons as he would be this year’s sacrificial lamb and scapegoat of this season. The Bears will keep Matt Eberflus as the head coach despite a 10-24 record after two seasons. I guess General Manager Ryan Poles and the front office saw the Bears do well enough down the stretch of the season to keep Eberflus. Many compare the Bears’ late season surge like the Lions did the year before. Look at the Lions now in the NFC Championship. The Bears need that guy to clean up the crime scene like The Wolf in Pulp Fiction or Bachman, who was played by great author Steven King in an episode of the Sons of Anarchy. The crime scene we are talking about is not the streets of Chicago. The quarterback position. Do you keep Justin Fields? Can he be fixed or molded into the franchise quarterback? Or are you happy with the way things are with Fields? Do the Bears draft a quarterback like Caleb Williams as they have the top pick in the draft? Nobody has been able to fix the Bears at quarterback position since the 1940’s. The Bears’ new hire at the offensive coordinator to save the rebuild, to save Eberflus’ job next season, is Shane Waldron who called plays for the Seahawks last season. Now he’s the Bears fixer.

Shane Waldron is 44 years old and has been a part of two Superbowl winning teams. Waldron has worked under some big name Head Coaches in the NFL starting with Bill Belichick, Sean McVay, and Pete Carol. Before getting the Offensive Coordinator job in Seattle, he was with the Rams where he started as the tight ends’ coach in 2017 and moved up to a position called the passing coordinator from 2018-20. Waldron was around a young Jared Goff when he was with the Rams. Waldron, then in 2021, called the plays for Seattle’s offense and revived the career of lame duck quarterback Geno Smith after Russell Wilson went to the Broncos. Wilson’s final year in Seattle under Waldron’s offense, he was getting rid of the ball quickly. He finished the season in the ten OB ratings and had a 103.1 passing rating which he did not have the last two seasons in Denver. In 2022 it was Smith’s first year starting since his Jets days when he was completing only 57.9% of his passes. Smith’s first year as the starter for Seattle in 2022 he led the league in completion percentage with 69.8% & he was named to the Pro Bowl. Smith was also named the comeback player of the year. Smith in 2022, passed for 4,282 yards with 30 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. Just sick numbers for a guy who threw 28 touchdowns in 4 seasons with the Jets and had 36 interceptions.

The Bears have never had a quarterback in franchise history throw 4,000 yards with 30 touchdown passes in one season. The Chicago Bears have ranked dead last in the passing yards since 2022. The Bears have led the league in rushing as we all know Justin Fields can run the ball with the best of them in the NFL. Can Shane Waldron fix Fields’ passing game like he did Geno Smith? Since 2021, Fields out of 38 quarterbacks qualified has finished in the bottom 5 of completion percentage which is 60%. His sack rate is at 12.4 which we know he holds on to the ball way too long and that’s last in that category. His interception rate through that time span is 31%, which is 37th. Fields as a starter is 10-28. About Fields, I just don’t have confidence he will get the job done in close games to engineer winning drives in crunch time. The second half turnovers he causes. Waldron has his work cut out for him to clean up this mess.

Last year the Seahawks and the Bears averaged the same amount points per game, 20. The Bears ran the ball more than the Seahawks and processed the ball longer. There are some things Shane Waldron likes to do in his offense that could help Justin Fields. First, the play action pass which Seattle ranked 15th the last two seasons. Waldron likes to use multiple tight end formations as Seattle had the 4th highest rate. An extra tight end gives Fields an extra blocker or another security blanket to throw to. Last year, Luke Getsy tried to make Fields just a pocket passer instead of using all his strengths like mobility behind center. The Bears changed their game when they started winning games as Fields was passing more on the run. It will be interesting to see if the plan is to throw on the run more for Fields on the cards in Waldron’s offense. What the Bears offense needs is a balanced attack. Waldron may be able to get that. Waldron’s offenses does run the ball as Seattle used Kenneth Walker III and Dee Jay Dallas who did well in his game plans. Waldron has a trio of backs already in place in Chicago. The Bears have some play makers. Maybe they just need one more real weapon like Marvin Harrison Jr. . He sounds awesome with DJ Moore on the other side of the field. The Offensive line has improved. Maybe the team needs one more guy to keep things locked down. All’s we have to figure out is that quarterback position.

Shane Waldron should get credit reincarnating the likes of Geno Smith. The Seahawks missed the playoffs last year as I believe they needed a Bears win to get in over the Packers. That did not happen. Waldron has seen the playoffs once with Smith as they were one and done. Can Waldren do that with Fields? I can see Fields getting the Bears to playoffs and going one and done. Waldren is available because Pete Carol retired as head coach. Waldren is not that hot coordinator candidate that would have taken over the head coaching duties for Seattle. Why choose the Bears when Matt Eberflus’ job is hanging by a thread? Bears start out 0-3 next season & Eberflus will be fired is my guess. If you turn a guy like Justin Fields around and he becomes a viable franchise quarterback for years to come, that can make a guy like Waldron a hot coordinator who can take his career to a head coaching gig. Would it be easy to start fresh with a talented rookie quarterback and program him your way to master his offensive game plan? Fields is like Baker Mayfield – another season & another new offensive coordinator. Could Waldren know the plan for what the Bears GM is going to do with that top draft pick? Perhaps he got the answer. The fixer could fix Fields, but will they win the Superbowl with him? Justin or one of these quarterbacks that are dangling in the upcoming draft? Fields may only take you so far in Waldron’s offense. While the number one draft pick being a quarterback may take Waldron’s offense further. You know one of those quarterbacks has more talent than Fields and will end up being a top notch quarterback for years to come. No matter what, he will have his work cut out for him. If things don’t work out with Fields or that sexy quarterback pick, then Waldron and the Bears could dig up Sid Luckman and reincarnate his career. Shane did it for Geno Smith. The best Bears quarterback in franchise history, even dead, has to be better than Smith.