After struggling the first three weeks of the season, the Bears offense has done a complete about-face, fueling a three-game winning streak.
The turning point came when the team returned to the practice field after a 21-16 loss in Indianapolis Sept. 22 dropped the Bears to 1-2.
"We just made it a point of emphasis to clean up the details in the walk-through," said receiver Keenan Allen. "Once you start making the habits the basics, you start doing it over and over and over and over—and you start to look good on game day."
"Walk-throughs got real detailed," added receiver DJ Moore. "If you're not out there doing the right thing, it will be seen and we're going to redo it, and that's what really has been the difference right now."
The difference has been significant. In the first three games of the season, the offense produced three touchdowns, averaged 249.3 total yards and committed six turnovers. In the last three contests, the unit has generated 13 TDs, averaged 354.7 yards and committed one turnover.
The offense will look to stay on that roll Sunday when the Bears (4-2) return from their bye week to face the Commanders (5-2) in Washington.
Allen feels that the resurgence was sparked by an improved running game and a pair of Caleb Williams touchdown passes to Moore of 34 and 30 yards in a Week 5 rout of the Panthers at Soldier Field.
"Our run game came alive," Allen said, citing a rushing attack that has increased its average from 72.7 yards in the first three games to 137.0 yards in the last three contests. "So now the play action is alive. The screen game is alive. The downfield throws … kind of opened it up. It opens up a lot when you can do that."
A few days after the loss to the Colts, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron praised a leadership group that included Williams, Moore and tight ends Cole Kmet and Marcedes Lewis for their energy, communication and feedback.
"For us, it's just constant communication, attention to detail, all the stuff that we stress," Waldron said at the time. "And then how do we keep communication, that player-to-coach, coach-to-player, so that we know we get the results that we're looking for on the field."
Waldron also deserves credit for the 180-degree turnaround.
"[It's] the whole offense," Moore said, "starting with the top down, the leadership, Shane, our coaches, and then it just trickled down to everybody else."
"[It's] the people that we have in this building," Williams added, "whether it's the coaches and their ability to understand us as players and then listen to us and adapt, and also us as players stepping up, leading."
Williams has done both. Since Week 4, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft ranks second in the NFL with a 122.8 passer rating and a 74.1 completion percentage. He has thrown for seven touchdowns and one interception in the last three games after passing for two TDs and four interceptions in the first three contests.
Williams felt that his voice was heard when discussing how to improve the offense.
"We had multiple meetings where we would sit down and talk about things that were working for us, things that I like, things that I don't like," said the rookie quarterback. "Like staying in the flow. If we were running the ball five yards a pop, 4.5 a pop, just keep handing the ball off …
"Those were the meetings that we had, the sit-down talks that we had, and I think those moments that we had helped us progress, and we've got to keep going."
As Williams has gained more experience, he's been able to go through his progressions and get the ball to playmakers more quickly.
"It's just really reps," said coach Matt Eberflus. "His reps, exposures of NFL defenses, of our offense and then really the continuity with the receivers, getting timing down with all those guys. And he's been able to do a really good job of mixing it up in terms of who he's going to week to week. There [might] be targets with this guy, targets with that guy, especially situationally. You've always got to adjust and change that as you go because [defenses will] focus on a certain guy in certain situations."
