NFL analyst points out the sad, sobering truth after Bears fire Shane Waldron

After avoiding an opportunity to control the narrative on Monday, Matt Eberflus and the Chicago Bears announced on Tuesday that offensive coordinator Shane Waldron has been fired.

Thomas Brown will be replacing Waldron as the Bears' offensive coordinator in a move that feels like Eberflus trying to stave off his own firing for as long as possible. It's been rare for the Bears to make an in-season change to their coaching staff for performance-related reasons and in talking about the breaking news on Tuesday, Kyle Brandt of Good Morning Football had a sobering truth about where things stand with the Bears' organization.

The Bears firing Waldron and expecting much to change feels misguided. Brown was already a part of the Bears' offensive coaching staff and if he knew the changes, one would think he would have suggested it by now.

There is no question, however, that the Bears had to make a change with Waldron. Beyond the regression that the Bears' offense has seen over the last three weeks, there has been a clear halting of Caleb Williams' development. Williams's development is the most important storyline of the Bears' 2024 season, and Waldron's scheme has stunted it.

It's nearly a repeat of the situation that the Bears were in last season. Justin Fields has his flaws as a quarterback but Luke Getsy was not coaching to the quarterback's strengths. The special that Bears fans saw from Fields in 2022 was coached out of him. In a similar sense, the special that Bears fans saw from Williams' USC tape has seemingly been coached out of him.

At the end of the day, Brandt is right. Firing Waldron is not going to magically fix all that has broken within the Bears' organization. The Bears are set to play the Green Bay Packers on Sunday and it will only be a reminder of how far the Bears are from the top of their division.