As is the case after most wild parties in Las Vegas, the Bears awoke the next morning with some cleaning up to do. Beating the Raiders on Josh Blackwell’s blocked field goal in the last minute Sunday was thrilling, but the furniture is in disarray, someone is missing a tooth and Mike Tyson’s pet tiger is locked in the bathroom.
All right, it’s not that crazy, but there is a lot to address.
The Bears pulled off a 25-24 victory amid ongoing ups and downs from quarterback Caleb Williams, a carousel at left and right tackle, a wobbly defensive line and an idling ground game. It was admirable but unsustainable. Hoping for four defensive takeaways and a blocked field goal is hardly a sound plan.
Coach Ben Johnson was happy — ‘‘It’s always good when you play that poorly and you’re still able to come away with a win,’’ he said Monday — but there was a healthy grasp of reality as he planned to ‘‘do a little soul-searching’’ during the bye week:
• Looking at a run defense that has allowed an NFL-worst 6.2 yards per carry, including 7.7 to the Raiders, he said: ‘‘That’s not what Chicago Bears football is about.’’ The Raiders’ 240 yards rushing were the most in the NFL this season.
• The offense missed major scoring opportunities and managed only one touchdown in five possessions that began in Raiders territory. Johnson called the overall operation ‘‘just . . . a mess, man’’ and added: ‘‘I’m just not proud of what we put on tape.’’
• It was too early Monday to put together the criteria for deciding whether Braxton Jones or Theo Benedet will start at left tackle when the Bears resume play Oct. 13 at the Commanders.
• Johnson indicated running back D’Andre Swift isn’t at fault for the feeble rushing attack but said: ‘‘I don’t feel like everybody on offense yet is pulling their weight, and that’s myself included [as a play-caller].’’
That’s a hefty list. The Bears got to the bye at 2-2 after losing their first two games, but they won’t make real headway if they can’t solve those problems.
No one influences the Bears’ success more than Williams, and his relationship with Johnson is still in its infancy. The sum so far is that Williams has a mixed bag of a 97.8 passer rating (13th in the league), a 62.3 completion percentage (24th), eight touchdown passes (third), two interceptions (10th by percentage of passes) and 231.8 yards per game (14th).
The two of them couldn’t find work-arounds for the Raiders’ pass rush in the first half but managed it better in the second. Williams opened the game 2-for-7, then rallied to go 20-for-30 the rest of the way.
Williams has been riding some version of that roller coaster all season. He started hot against the Vikings, then plunged. He got going way too late in the blowout loss to the Lions. His performance against the Cowboys was pretty much perfect, but it came against the worst defense in the league.
One of Williams’ downfalls has been holding the ball too long, and it hurt him against the Raiders and Maxx Crosby early Sunday. He appeared to adapt in the second half by speeding up his internal clock, and Johnson said Williams has been doing well in that aspect throughout the season.
‘‘There’s probably a couple of times I think he can just throw the ball away a little bit sooner . . . but I really don’t want to mess with that mechanism too much because it is so natural for him and he’s doing a really good job,’’ Johnson said.
Fixing the Bears’ other deficiencies will help Williams.
Everything they do in some way connects back to him. A better running game will keep defenses guessing and open space for Williams to pass. The impact of a steady left tackle is obvious. And a defense that can keep games reasonable gives him better leverage.
Running back has been a concern since Johnson arrived. He was with the Lions when they off-loaded Swift, then inherited him with the Bears. Swift is speedy and shifty, but the Bears don’t have a proven power back to complement him.
‘‘He’s a guy that continues to run the ball very hard, even though the yards per carry aren’t where any of us want it to be right now,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘He’s as frustrated as anybody.’’
The Bears are 24th in yards rushing per game (102.3) and 25th in yards per carry (3.8). Swift has gotten 68.3% of the non-quarterback carries, and after a career-low 3.8 yards per rush last season, he’s down to 3.3 this season. That’s not viable.
The defense will get some help with the likely return of tackle Grady Jarrett (knee), linebacker T.J. Edwards (hamstring) and nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon (hamstring) coming out of the bye, but it’s uncertain whether that will solve everything. Johnson must go beyond his expertise and work with defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to make sure the Bears adjust schematically, too.
Oh, yeah, it’s almost October, and the Bears still are having a position battle at a crucial spot between Jones and Benedet. Johnson must submit his final answer and move on.
So while there’s no game this weekend, the Bears are as busy as ever.
He became the first Bear to score in their first four games since Walter Payton did it in 1986.
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For the first 21 games of his NFL career, Williams’ late-game efficiency had mostly been a footnote in yet another Bears loss. On Sunday, it led to a 25-24 win.
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In a conversation about the Bears’ offensive struggles, Kinkhabwala said, “So you need to change what you’re doing?” and Johnson replied, “I don’t know. You think so? We’re going to be just fine.”
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