Chicago Bears: Expect changes to the offense in Week 3

After a dismal start to the season offensively, the Chicago Bears hope to make changes that result in more yards gained and points scored. When the Chicago Bears hired Matt Eberflus as the new head coach and Luke Getsy as the new offensive coordinator, many people felt it would usher in a new era of offense for the team.

Previous head coach Matt Nagy was supposed to be an offensive guru, but his offenses landed at or near the bottom of nearly every offensive category. The fans craved a change.

Change is coming for the Chicago Bears offense

So far this season, however, things look scarily similar to last season. In 2021, the offense ranked 27th in scoring, 23rd in pass attempts, and 30th in passing yards. So far this season, they rank 26th in points, and dead last in pass attempts and passing yards. Quarterback Justin Fields has just 28 pass attempts, completing 15 of them, for 191 yards so far. These are numbers that some quarterbacks can attain in just one half.

Things have to change. The offense cannot have the quarterback drop back to pass just 14 times and expect to win games. More importantly, the Bears can’t have that happen and hope to develop Fields properly.

That second part is of utmost importance. Wins and losses don’t matter. Developing Fields, and the other young players like Jaquan Brisker, Kyler Gordon, and Braxton Jones, among others, is critical. The team has the highest salary cap available in the NFL and if they want to attract top free agents they need to show they have a good foundation.

Seeing the offense struggle with so little passing so far is concerning. With Nagy, he had trouble trying to involve the running game. He relied too heavily on the passing game. Now, with the new regime, the passing game is sorely underutilized.

Eberflus sees what everyone else does. He knows more than others how bad this offense is performing and that changes need to be made. He hinted that those changes will come starting this week against the Houston Texans.

Get the key players more involved

One of the biggest problems with the offense is that the key players are not getting targets. Wide receiver Darnell Mooney, who is supposed to be the number one receiver on the team, has just two catches for four yards. Those are not WR1 numbers.

Additionally, tight end Cole Kmet, who many people expected to have a breakthrough season, has yet to make a catch this season. What is more disheartening is that Mooney has been targeted only five times while Kmet has just two. Getsy has to find a way to get his best players the ball. These guys can make plays so they need to be involved a lot more than they have thus far.

During the Bears Coaches Show, Eberflus acknowledged that skull position players like Mooney and Kmet need to get the ball in their hands more. Expect them to be fed more than they have in the first two games.

Another problem with the Chicago Bears offense is the missing Velus Jones. He has yet to play this season, dealing with a hamstring injury. There were times last week when he was involved in practice even if it was limited. It gave some hope that he was close to finally debuting. However, he again missed practice, so when he finally hits the field is still up in the air.

Jones is critical to the offense. He has super speed and that extends the field. As a result, there is more room underneath for other receivers, like Kmet, for example. Jones can also get the ball in the backfield, complementing the running game. If the defense has to account for the running game, it ends up opening things up for Fields and the receivers.

It is important to keep in mind that it is still early. This is a new offense with new coaches and new players. It will take some time for everyone to jell. Many did not think it would be this bad early on, though. Hopefully, they do jell and Getsy adjusts the play-calling so things improve.