The Chicago Bears’ are making a change at offensive coordinator. The team is parting ways with Shane Waldron and current passing game coordinator Thomas Brown will take over play-calling duties, the team announced Tuesday.
The move comes after the Bears (4-5) only scored three points against the New England Patriots on Sunday. Chicago has only tallied 27 points total in its last three games and hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 8.
GO DEEPER
Bears’ Matt Eberflus evaluating offensive play caller change
On Monday, Bears coach Matt Eberflus said: “There will be changes, adjustments being made. I’m not going to disclose those right now. I’m not at that point in the process.”
The Bears’ recent offensive struggles followed strong play from the unit leading up to the team’s Week 7 bye. Chicago scored 36 and 35 points in Weeks 5 and 6, respectively, but Chicago rookie quarterback Caleb Williams hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass since Week 6.
Eberflus, however, said Monday that Williams will continue to start.
Why Bears made OC change now?
This is a historic move for the Bears. They’re well known for never firing a head coach in-season, but they also haven’t removed an offensive coordinator during a season either.
In 2000, offensive coordinator Gary Crowton left in December to take a job at BYU, and in 2020, head coach Matt Nagy relinquished play calling to Bill Lazor, but that’s as close as we’ve gotten to seeing a major change on offense in the middle of a season. And it’s not like the Bears’ offense has dazzled during that time.
This year, they rank 30th in total yards. While they haven’t ranked better than 15th in that category since 2013 (and haven’t been in the top five since 1977), 30th would be their worst finish since 2017. — Kevin Fishbain, Bears beat writer
Required reading
(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
