For the Chicago Bears, this has translated into running into significant roadblocks in the red zone. Their struggles have increasingly become apparent as the season has worn on. The Bears have only made it into the red zone 23 times in seven games — on 76 total drives. They fail pretty miserably at turning those red zone opportunities into touchdowns. Quarterback Caleb Williams has been going through his own struggles as of late. He’s already looking for opportunities to improve his performance and maximize the overall effectiveness of the team he leads.
Over the last four games, Williams’ red zone QBR has plummeted to 5.1. Only Davis Mills, Brian Hoyer, and Desmond Ridder have been worse in that span. That’s right, he’s yet to throw an interception this season. His final year saw him hit just 8 of 17 pass attempts in the opponent’s 20-yard line. Though he has the ability to create big plays, Williams admitted that there are weaknesses in his game that he needs to work on.
The Bears’ statistics paint a concerning picture. Since Week 5, the squad’s been an abysmal red zone offense. Their TD% is a miserable 35.7% which is the second worst in the entire league. What’s more, they average a league-low of 3.9 points per red zone drive during this stretch. Yet, these numbers show more than just the failures of individual players, but systemic failures with the team’s plan on offense.
Penalties have multiplied the Bears’ misery, with ten of their 23 red zone drives being killed off with offensive penalties. They’ve averaged two false-start penalties thus far per game while being flagged 11 times in their latest outing against Baltimore. On the Bears’ very first foray into the Ravens’ red zone, Colston Loveland drew a false start penalty on the 8-yard line. This error ultimately proved extremely damaging to the team, as LSU would only score three points on that drive.
Precision and detail are so integral to the red zone that Coach Ben Johnson emphasizes that it’s all about that focus in those moments. He noted the importance of just executing plays, especially with the lack of production in the running game and passing game.
“As you look at them sequentially, pulling up that last game, you might look at it and say, ‘Hey, there’s one play,’ I look at it and say there’s four plays that if our precision and our detail is better on any one of those four plays, we probably come away with seven points in both of those first two drives.” – Declan Doyle
Williams knows that he needs to improve his decision-making in clutch situations. He added that tighter communication and overall execution will be necessary for the Bears’ success in the future.
“Just being in those situations, finding checkdowns, being on the same page, being detailed, finding execution.” – Declan Doyle
The Bears’ inefficiencies have led to a familiar pattern where they start strong but falter as they approach scoring opportunities. This season, only a third of their touchdown drives have included a penalty. This positive trend would suggest that discipline is not the most obvious key to continued improvement.
Williams deserves part of the blame for the team’s red zone woes. As wide receiver Declan Doyle points out, this is a problem that should concern all of us.
“The red zone struggles have been on all of us,” – Declan Doyle
He continued to build on this idea by saying that each player needs to play their part in breaking down these barriers.
“As a run game, as a pass game, and it comes down to details,” – Caleb Williams
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