Shane Waldron Fired As Bears Offensive Coordinator

Good morning Chicago fans! I hope you can find some peace and quiet before the chaotic holiday season. Our Christmas decorations are already up! 🎄

After Shane Waldron’s firing and another soul-crushing Bears loss, let’s have a moment of silence like Madison Square Garden after a Bulls win ⬇

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RESULTS

L - Packers 20, Bears 19: Last-second choke and a 4-game losing streak…it’s always the same around here

• A miraculous drive by Caleb Williams and company put the Bears in field goal range with no time left on the clock. They overcame 2 consecutive sacks to start the drive with an insane throw and catch by Rome Odunze on 4th down. Karl Brooks blocked the line-drive 46-yard attempt to ruin the Bears’ best chance at beating the Packers since 2018 😭

• Another slow start (10/10 on the year!!!) put the Bears behind with a quick 8-play, 70-yard drive by the Packers

• Penalties ruined the offense’s chances at scoring more points in the first half as 2 of their 3 drives stalled out

• A clutch Terell Smith interception in the red zone turned the game around as the offense followed the takeaway with a long touchdown drive to take a 10-7 lead before halftime

• Caleb Williams (23/31, 231 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 3 sacks) looked much more comfortable in Thomas Brown’s version of the offense. He surprisingly used his legs a lot more (9 rushes, 70 yards) and was GREAT on 3rd down (9/16!!!). Brown got the receivers involved way more often and helped get the group into a nice rhythm.

• D’Andre Swift had an impressive 39 yard TD run featuring a violent pancake from Braxton Jones! Outside of that run, Bears running backs only had 65 yards on 24 carries 🤢

• The defense had a tough day. If the offense didn’t possess the ball so much, it would have looked a lot worse. A turnover on downs in the red zone in the 4th quarter bailed them out, but they got steamrolled. The Packers had 3 long drives (6 plays, 70 yards / 7 plays, 75 yards / 4 plays, 78 yards) in the 2nd half to come back and ultimately win the game.

• It looked like Kevin Byard was the only defender on the field 👐

• Jaylon Johnson tripped and fell in coverage on the 60 yard diving catch and run by Christian Watson on the game-winning drive

• The non-existent pass rush has been a problem lately. Penalties are a problem. Coaching is still a problem. All of that and being one second away from 5-5 and a big win against the enemy just hurts.

• Devin Hester was honored at halftime! Of course the Bears lost on a special teams play…

SEASON RECORD: 4-6 (Last place, 5 GB)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Caleb Williams

A new OC sparked the rookie QB! Caleb made a ton of impressive plays with his arm and legs to lead the offense to 391 total yards.

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Caleb Williams to Rome Odunze 4th & 3 Pass

NEWS & NOTES

🚨 FIRED Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator, promoted Thomas Brown 🚨

• Switching out an OC after his first 9 games with a team is unheard of

• Matt Eberflus vaguely discussed the possibility of change after the Patriots debacle, but I did not expect something this massive and decisive

• This caps off an AWFUL decision and AWFUL plan by the Bears. At the end of the 2023 season, they chose a direction - draft Caleb Williams and fire their offensive coaching staff. The new OC was the most important coordinator hire in the history of the franchise. Shane Waldron started installing the offense with Caleb BEFORE the draft, built the first NFL system Caleb would ever learn and operate, and was the first main offensive coach for Caleb in the NFL. Now he’s gone. All of that time wasted. All of that development thrown out the window.

• I liked the Waldron hire at the time (Bears Hire Offensive And Defensive Coordinators). He was experienced and had promising philosophies. Now almost every other interviewed candidate (Zac Robinson, Liam Coen, and Kliff Kingsbury especially) is thriving while the Bears fired their top choice out of 9.

• Thomas Brown got promoted from passing game coordinator despite a terrible passing attack. He also did NOT get the OC job when he interviewed in January. But hey…second time’s the charm? I’m hopeful because of his energy. He seems like a more vocal leader and will hold guys accountable. Hopefully that’s all they need. His first game was promising yesterday!

• 8 Bears coaches have been fired or resigned since the start of last season. What is Flus’ hiring process and how about he trying the opposite?????

• Only 2 OCs have been fired in the NFL this season…both have been Bears OCs in the last calendar year (Luke Getsy)

Released Nate Davis to waivers

• 3-year, $30M free agent contract in 2023 was officially a WHIFF

• Luckily, the majority of his guaranteed money was in 23/24

• He was solid at guard in 2023 when he was available, but the constant injuries and seemingly low desire to show up stripped him of any trust with this coaching staff

I have to share this from Kyle Brandt amidst the Bears chaos:

Placed Jaquan Brisker on IR. He hasn’t played since suffering a concussion in Week 5 against the Panthers. This is a scary situation, so prayers for a full recovery 🙏

Signed OT Jake Curhan to the active roster, signed OL Ricky Stromberg to the practice squad (a 2023 center draft pick who Bears fans LOVED leading up to draft day)

The Bears are reportedly reconsidering the Michael Reese site for a new stadium. At this point…it might be 3024 by the time they get approval to build anywhere.

Surprisingly, the turnover margin has been great. They’re tied for 3rd in the NFL with a +9. Yet they keep losing ⬇

Only 1 takeaway this week. Not even at the halfway mark after 10 games!!

Next up ➡ 8-2 Vikings come to town 😳

TROPHY TRACKER (5/10 ➡ 🏆) 📉

RESULTS

L - Kraken 3, Blackhawks 1: Another game and still embracing the “One Goal” motto

• Kraken dominated the 1st 2 periods and outshot the Hawks 20-9 before the Hawks turned it on in the 3rd period

• Ryan Donato (again) scored the only goal on a hustle rebound play

L - Canucks 4, Blackhawks 1: Connor Bedard’s homecoming was even worse than Caleb Williams’ Hail Mary heartbreak

• This is the 5th straight game the Hawks have scored one goal in regulation…

• Ilya Mikheyev scored the only goal in a revenge game against his former team

• Bedard whiffed on a dump-in attempt that led to the first of 2 empty netters

SEASON RECORD: 6-11-1 (13 points)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Ryan Donato

Is he the only player who cares on this team???

1 goal and 8 shots on goal this week with some time on the 1st line

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Ryan Donato goal

NEWS & NOTES

Jeremy Roenick was officially inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame! Watch his speech:

Placed Seth Jones on the IR with a foot injury, recalled Louis Crevier from the AHL, activated Alec Martinez off IR, sent Isaak Phillips to the AHL

Andreas Athanasiou was placed on waivers and assigned to the AHL. He scored 28 seconds into his first game with Rockford ⚡

Taylor Hall was a healthy scratch on Saturday and may be out for more games. The coaching staff wants him to fit in more practices and ice time as he continues to gain comfortability after last year’s injury.

TROPHY TRACKER (2/10 ➡ 🏆)

RESULTS

L - Cavaliers 119, Bulls 113: Almost took down the last undefeated team in the NBA!

• Turnovers killed the Bulls attempt to go toe-to-toe with the Cavs - 35 points allowed off 21 turnovers

• Bulls offense shut down after they tied the game with 5 minutes left

• The starters played most of the minutes and put up a lot of points (Zach LaVine: 26, Coby White and Nikola Vucevic: 20)

W - Bulls 124, Knicks 123: Gutsy win on an electric night at Madison Square Garden!!!

• Coby White hit all 3 free throws to take the lead before Jalen Brunson’s last second shot barely rimmed out

• Knicks ended the 3rd quarter on a 17-point run to make it a game as the Bulls went from dominating to looking lost

• Former teammates LaVine (31p/8a/7r) and Karl-Anthony Towns (46p/10r) were making ridiculous shots from all over the court

L - Cavaliers 144, Bulls 126 (NBA Cup): Cavs hung on to start the season 14-0 😮

• Cavs scored 49 1st quarter points on 86.4% shooting, and the Bulls came back to take the lead in the 3rd

• Both teams shot great from 3 and opted out of defense: Bulls 47.6%, Cavs 48.8%

• LaVine (8p/9a, 4-16 FG) had a tough offensive night, and Josh Giddey had a brutal all-around night (5p/1a, 2-9 FG, -27 in only 15 min)

L - Rockets 143, Bulls 107: Back-to-back 140+ points allowed

• No fight from the Bulls defense in an ugly blowout. They allowed 80 points in the paint, 32 fastbreak points, and shot 52.4% overall.

• Set the franchise record with 56 3PT attempts but only made 14 (25.0%)

• LaVine and Talen Horton-Tucker were the only Bulls to score double digits 🙄

SEASON RECORD: 5-9 (T/10th place in East)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Zach LaVine

He looks healthy and way more efficient on both sides of the ball!

This week: 20p/5.3a/5.5r per game

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Zach LaVine block and layup and-1

NEWS & NOTES

Josh Giddey has not been closing games and didn’t earn many minutes in Cleveland. Safe to say, Ayo Dosunmu should probably get more starts soon!

The schedule eases up a bit, thankfully. It has been a GAUNTLET early on this season.

TROPHY TRACKER (1/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

Offseason chatter has begun:

The Cubs have been linked to free agent pitchers Roki Sasaki, Max Fried, Yusei Kikuchi, Walker Buehler, and Nick Pivetta. Jeff Passan also reported that Nico Hoerner and Cody Bellinger may be available in a trade.

Shota Imanaga was named to the All-MLB 2nd team!!! He also rocked it out on the mic:

Seiya Suzuki did NOT win a Silver Slugger 😢

NL Outfielders selected: Teoscar Hernandez, Jackson Merrill, Jurickson Profar

TROPHY TRACKER (5/10 ➡ 🏆)

Rome Odunze

A 6-year old fan who has been battling cancer found out that Rome was no longer on the Washington Huskies.

Rome made sure to contact her and meet her and her family at a Bears practice and game! Watch more here:

Acquiring players who can handle adversity is meaningless.

Chicago sports executives attempt to sell us on their messaging all the time. Most of it is vague eyewash that doesn’t actually reveal anything significant.

One point Ryan Poles and others have harped on is the importance of having a locker room that can handle adversity.

The Bears have especially valued this characteristic for their players over the years. For some reason, the “unpredictability” and “difficulty” of the NFL’s 17-game schedule requires some magical level of resilience that isn’t valued as highly in other sports.

Although they target resilient players, they lose on Hail Marys and blocked field goals.

I understand the need for high character guys. Having the mental fortitude to move past a bad play or bad game is important for winning football games.

I think someone needs to tell the Bears: losing teams don’t have adversity.

Shadows prove the sunshine. There is no good without evil. Adversity doesn’t exist when you never win. There aren’t any bumps in the road when you’re lost in the woods.

Matt Eberflus said this after the Packers game: “Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.” Um, sorry Flus, but the tough times have been here for 40 years. Your tough people keep losing games.

Creating the perfect culture with a vast array of personality types and backgrounds is nearly impossible, but the great teams figure it out. I don’t know what the secret formula is. Maybe the key is just to have great players who want to win. Unfortunately, we have been stuck with too many mediocre players in our great city.

Dan Pompei - What’s it like to switch sides in the Bears-Packers rivalry? (The Athletic)

Scott Powers - Q&A with CHSN president (The Athletic)

Jeff Passan - 2024-2025 MLB offseason preview (ESPN)

Scott Powers - Projecting the Blackhawks’ future roster and salary cap: Part 1 (The Athletic)

Ben Pope - Craig Smith’s sneaky shooting skill helping him find role (Chicago Sun-Times)

Adam Jahns - Get to know new Bears OC Thomas Brown (The Athletic)

Thanks for reading! Close the book on football season and go for a nice autumn walk!