Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune has 10 thoughts after the Bears preseason finale:
The overriding theme for the offense throughout training camp was inconsistency, and I don’t think we saw a ton of explosive plays either (at least not as many as I would have expected). It’s going to take some time. No one expected this to be polished after three preseason games.
It was interesting after Friday’s game when [HC Ben] Johnson again mentioned the bye week, which comes in Week 5. Previously he talked about sorting through the left tackle situation until maybe the bye. He referenced it again in regard to the offense as a whole.
“We have plenty of time to assess what has gone on over the last few weeks and what direction we have to go here for the opening game,” he said. “To be honest with you, we might have to ebb and flow a little bit after that opening game. Usually it will take up until the bye week. I think it is placed at just the right time to identify who we are and what we are going to be for the rest of the season.”
Something tells me that the bye week is going to be optimistic.
Johnson’s offense reportedly took 12 practices to install, and they weren’t done until shortly before practices began against Buffalo. Probably, Johnson will choose to concentrate upon a subset of the plays that he thinks the team will be able to execute well to begin the season. But he installed them all for a reason.
Almost certainly related to the inconsistency, QB Caleb Williams‘s accuracy has also reportedly been an issue throughout camp. Just from the brief glimpses we got of him the last two games, especially the last one against Kansas City, I’d say he shows the signs of a man who is thinking and not reacting. Thinking about the play, thinking about the pre-snap look, thinking about his mechanics, thinking about everything. The head is connected to the arm, and when athletes do that, accuracy suffers.
I don’t think we’ll see the offense be all it can be, or Williams be all he can be, until at least halfway through the season when things slow down and become more natural to the participants. To be perfectly honest, I strongly suspect that it’s going to be more like halfway through next season.
There are going to be some rough times before that, and some people in the media will start to become very critical, especially of Williams, who is beyond his rookie grace period in his second year. In fact, it’s already started and it’s just the preseason.
My advice to fans would be to have patience. Williams has a lot of bad habits to leave behind, and it won’t happen overnight, especially in this new environment. We may not know for sure whether Williams and this offensive coaching staff are going to be able to help each other effectively for a long time yet.