Accountability has been the theme of the week for the Chicago Bears as many players were critical of the team's coaching staff for their decisions during the closing minutes of their Week 8 loss to the Washington Commanders.
Matt Eberflus tried to push the narrative forward on Wednesday, but his tone-deaf answers to the questions plaguing the Bears only left Bears fans more frustrated. In a true hold-my-beer moment, Shane Waldron had just as much tone-deafness when speaking with reporters on Thursday.
Among the first questions that Waldron was asked was the decision to call for a fullback dive to offensive lineman Doug Kramer. Despite Bears running back Roschon Johnson being perfect on goal-line situations when rushing for a touchdown, Waldron called from Kramer to get the ball. Kramer fumbled in a decision that was mocked across the NFL this week.
Despite the mocking, Waldron defended the call.
Bears OC Shane Waldron stands by his decision to hand off to backup OL Doug Kramer for his first NFL carry at the goal line in Q4 with the game on the line. Says he was confident in the call and would call it again if he got a chance to do it over.
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) October 31, 2024
Shane Waldron continues to insult the intelligence of Bears fans.
Waldron's defiance on Thursday is a sign that Matt Eberflus does not have control over his coaching staff. It's also a sign that whatever meetings were held between Waldron and the Bears' offensive captains this week were not successful.
But not only did Waldron defend the decision to hand the ball to Kramer, he sneakily placed the blame on Caleb Williams for the outcome.
#Bears OC Shane Waldron says he was confident in his call to hand off to Doug Kramer in the 4th quarter. "Felt confident in that moment in the call, but it didn't work out."
— Kaitlin Sharkey (@KRoseSharkey) October 31, 2024
Said it wasn't a clean handoff but doesn't regret the call in that situation.
Accountability is seemingly a buzzword for Eberflus and the Bears' coaching staff but is not something that is actually practiced. Waldron's defiance on Thursday in not admitting to his mistake of calling for an offensive lineman to get a carry on the goal line of a 12-7 game speaks to the reason why the Seattle Seahawks were so quick to let him leave this past offseason.