From chaos to calm: Silvy on the Bears’ turnaround from a year ago

Exactly one year ago, Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigned, then the Bears blew a 21-point lead to the Broncos to lose their 14th straight game, and were on the verge of trading Chase Claypool after conduct detrimental to the team.

No, the 2024 Bears are not in a perfect spot, but they’ve come a long way.

When the waters are calm at Halas Hall, it should be appreciated.

The mood is significantly better than last week when Matt Eberflus had to explain why he was so disorganized with his decision to go for a 2-point conversion. A couple of days later, the Bears leadership counsel approached offensive coordinator Shane Waldron about his play calling and how he was holding players accountable.

Winning cures all.

But it wasn’t just that the Bears won a game to get back to .500, they found ways to fuel optimism with some adjustments.

• Caleb Williams showed more growth with his best quarterback rating. He eliminated the turnovers with an efficient approach while still giving glimpses of star power throws to Cole Kmet up the seam and the touchdown to DJ Moore. Williams played as well against the blitz as any QB in Week 4.

• D’Andre Swift finally showed why the Bears targeted him in free agency with 165 yards from scrimmage and a TD. Swift doesn’t have to be Gayle Sayers, but he needs to give the Bears 80-100 yards from scrimmage every week.

• The defense continues to take the ball away at a high level, and each week there’s a different star. Against the Rams, it was Jaquan Brisker utilized in many ways. Gervon Dexter also flashed again and has three sacks in four games.

• Tory Taylor proved why he was such an Iowa football folk hero. Drafting a punter in the fourth round will always be controversial to some, especially when the Bears’ offensive line needs massive help. But Taylor showed what kind of a weapon he can be while paired with this defense. My advice to the Bears is to be less like the Hawkeyes on offense.

All this being said, the Bears still have lots of room for improvement. Eberflus made another mistake managing his timeouts, but it didn’t cost him, and the offensive line is a problem and could stunt Williams’ growth. But whenever we can take a breath as fans, we should, and this is a good time to enjoy a drama-free week.

The focus should be on getting to 4-2 at the bye week with games where the Bears will be favored against the Panthers and Jaguars.

Out of the bye, things get tougher with a premiere matchup between Jayden Daniels and Williams. It will be the talk of the week nationally, and I’m urging you now Bears fans, don’t fall for the QB hot take machine.

The Chicago Marathon is a week from Sunday. Can you imagine if they stopped the race after a mile and awarded a winner? That’s basically what any national pundit is doing when they pronounce Jayden Daniels as the better quarterback. It’s been four games. We may not know who the better QB is for a few years.

Here are how the rookie seasons looked for Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III in 2012:

Luck: 54% completion percentage, 28 TDs, 18 INT

RG3: 66% completion percentage, 27 TDs, 5 INT

Many thought RG3 was going to be the better QB after a year.

Here are two rookie QB numbers from 2018:

Player A: 3,725 yards 27 touchdowns 14 INT

Player B: 2,074 yards 10 touchdowns 12 INT

Player A is Baker Mayfield and Player B is Josh Allen. I think it has worked out okay for Allen.

There is nothing that I’ve seen from Williams that would make me think he won’t be a star quarterback for the Bears. Sure, he has gone through growing pains. But the kid is a natural-born leader, with toughness, and all the skills you dream about. It will all click soon.

Until then, embrace the calm.

• Marc Silverman shares his opinions on the Bears weekly for Shaw Local. Tune in and listen to the “Waddle & Silvy” show weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. on ESPN 1000.