Happy Halloween, friends!

So much for the emphasis on faster starts. Despite last week’s promise from offensive coordinator Shane Waldron to focus on fixing the Chicago Bears’ early-game woes, the offense punted four times and turned the ball over on downs once in five drives during the first half of Sunday’s loss to Washington.

Through seven games, Chicago has scored 10 points in first quarters with the lone touchdown coming on a Caleb Williams downfield strike to DJ Moore against Carolina.

Williams said on Wednesday, “We have to start fast. We have to figure out ways to do that. We have to figure out ways to maintain and keep that going throughout four quarters or however many plays, drives you need to be able to win games.”

Let’s hope that starts Sunday in Arizona.

Onto Week 9.

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— Patrick Norton

Caleb Williams successfully playing the role of franchise quarterback

• “Whys”
• “Collaboration”
• “Communication”
• “Execution”
• “Accountability”

There’s a new buzzword going around Halas Hall. It makes sense – somebody is responsible for the Bears’ loss in Washington last Sunday, and that person should be held accountable.

Is that person Caleb Williams? Not really, despite a 10/24, 131-yard stat line. But one of the many responsibilities of a franchise quarterback, fair or not, is to act like a shield to the criticism facing the team after a tough loss.

Williams did just that on Wednesday, while head coach Matt Eberflus deflected, struggling to identify his coaching missteps in Sunday’s loss – despite mentioning it “starts with [him]”.

• “We just lost a game, and we lost a game in a way that sucks,” said Williams during his availability at Halas Hall on Wednesday. Washington had just 19 seconds to score after Chicago took its first lead on a Roschon Johnson touchdown run. The Commanders did score. “There’s a sense of, obviously right in that moment, you’re angry. You’re furious that you just lost and you lost that way. It’s a tough way to lose.”

• But Williams didn’t blame his defense for allowing the score, nor did he blame Tyrique Stevenson for his loss of focus “There’s obviously a sense of accountability that I have to take. Didn’t play well [in the] first half. We had stalled drives…They got multiple three points that allowed them to put themselves in position to be able to have that 30-second drive to throw a Hail Mary.”

• Williams continued, “If we keep putting points on the board, if we keep doing our job, if I keep doing my job to the best of my ability, finding ways to get points and things like that, protect the football, we win a lot of games, especially with the defense that we have. That’s an explosive offense that we just played. Putting up 30, 40, how many ever points, and we hold them to 12 and we can’t go out there and execute throughout the whole game to be able to play complementary football enough. I’ve gotta do a better job.”

🏈 GO DEEPER | Tyrique Stevenson’s actions are forgivable, but a part of a bigger problem within the Chicago Bears.

Roundup: Ben Johnson wanted Bears, White Sox hiring Will Venable

• Who’d have thought Bears fans would be envious of Jared Goff? Through eight weeks, the Detroit Lions have scored the most offensive touchdowns (15 passing, 13 rushing) in the NFL this season. It helps to have playmakers like Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery – and a stacked offensive line – but it’s the pureness in the operation that makes it work. That’s a credit to offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who might be the hottest commodity in the head coaching market this upcoming offseason.
  
  According to Albert Breer during his regular hit on ESPN 1000’s Kap & Hood, Johnson, who interviewed for head coaching jobs during last offseason’s cycle, was thought to have his eye on the Bears job if Chicago fired Matt Eberflus. Hmm…

• According to multiple reports, the Chicago White Sox are hiring Texas Rangers associate manager Will Venable as the 44th manager in club history. Venable played nine years in the majors, finishing his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016.
  
  The 42-year-old joined the Chicago Cubs’ front office in 2017 before moving to the field as the team’s first base coach from 2018 through 2019. In 2020, Venable moved to third base. Following the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Venable left Chicago to become the bench coach for the Boston Red Sox for two seasons before becoming the Rangers’ associate manager under Bruce Bochy, winning the 2023 World Series.

⚾ GO DEEPER | Seven things to know about Chicago’s new skipper, Will Venable.

The Eighty Five with Cole Kmet!

🎧 SPOTIFY | APPLE PODCASTS | Cole Kmet Discusses Hail Mary, Tyrique Stevenson

Join us for an upcoming CHGO event!

🌵 11/1 – 11/4 | CHGO Bears Road Trip to Arizona, including Desert Duel
🍻 11/10 | CHGO Bears Tailgate at Wabash & Cermak! – Week 10 vs. Patriots