“When we go to play at a higher level, we know we get more points because we don’t have as many negative plays, we stay efficient with that balance, the marriage of the run and the pass and then completion game mentalities come to life and you’re second and shorter or you’re first and 10, third and shorter and able to execute at a higher level.

The Bears have allowed the second-worst sack percentage in the league at 3.5 per game. Only Cleveland (4.8) is worse.

In terms of prerequisite penalties, they are tied with Miami for the league lead in illegal formation violations with six for 30 yards. They made 15 false starts, two less than the championship lead. They also committed two illegal shift penalties.

Penalties and firings are closely related, Waldron says. One can lead to the other. Both put pressure on Williams and the offense to make up lost ground, which gave the defense the advantage, leading to even more penalties and sacks.

So the offensive line should be where the blame goes, then?

“I know we all see sack numbers, and we all just want to put it on the offensive line,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “But there’s an element where receivers have to run the correct routes. We need to be where we’re supposed to be, especially if there’s something hot in the room.

“Obviously the O-line has to block it properly. The rears must be in the right place. Tight ends have to be mindful of who is coming and who is not coming. The quarterback has to be active in reversing protections and all that kind of stuff. So there are a lot of things that come into play, beyond just the offensive line component.

Then again, sometimes it’s Williams’ fault for waiting too long to throw or rush into a sack. He did it in the last match.

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“That’s the ultimate team stat, because in every one of those games, there are times where it’s up to the quarterback to get the ball out (slowly),” Waldron said. “There are times when, if he’s blushing, go for it and a squirt is okay.

“And there are other times where a defensive plan may hit faster than expected and you have to be able to make the next play (throw it). I think, overall, as an offense, high sack numbers is something that we’ve really started to focus on and talked about, obviously, every week, but, as they accumulate, this is one of our major objectives. reduce that number, because it goes back to running the second down, running the third down, because of all the negative plays, sacks are the ones that impact a drive and expected points more than anything. We work on all the different causes there.

Penalties make sacks easier and it’s a pretty late time in the season for an offense to recur by lining up incorrectly or committing false starts. Waldron admits it.

“I would say with the prior penalties, those are issues that we need to continue to address because they persist a little bit longer, obviously, than what we’re looking for here,” Waldron said. “So, again, those are things that we’ll address, we’ll talk about it, always giving the guys the why, and now it’s about going out and executing.”

Twitter: BearsOnSi