The Seattle Seahawks moved on from a few key figures before the start of the season, and the Bears snapped them up. Judging by their performances in the Windy City, it was no great loss to Seattle. That begs the question, how did they ever last so long here?
As long-time readers of this site know, - and thanks, by the way - I became pretty disenchanted with the former Hawks linebacker Darrell Taylor. He was one of my favorite players in college, as he was a beast for the Tennessee Vols. He lost his entire first season to injury, but Seattle knew they had something special in him. Pete Carroll couldn't wait for him to show his talent.
Well, Pete's still probably waiting. And according to the latest rumors, he may get another chance to bring out the best in the pass rush specialist. That's a story for another time. I'm still trying to figure out how Taylor kept getting so many chances to prove he's just a rotational player, at best. And, for that matter, why did anyone in Chicago think Shane Waldron was a great offensive coordinator?
Former Seattle Seahawks bombed with the Chicago Bears
At the outset, yes, I know that tackle Jake Curhan also wound up in Chicago. He's gotten just one start and played less than half as many snaps per game as he did with the Hawks. So no, I'm not going to focus on Mr. Curhan. We've got bigger fish to fry. Okay, maybe not so big, as it turned out for Chicago.
Bombs away with Shane Waldron - but not in the good way
Let's move on to Shane Waldron, the once, and I imagine not again, offensive coordinator. Ah, who am I kidding? He'll be a passing coordinator next year, then an OC again by 2027. Waldron was the Hawks offensive guru from 2021 through 2023. I managed to write "offensive guru" without cracking myself up once; I'm pretty proud of myself for that. The Rams passing game was hot in 2020. As their passing game coordinator, Waldron was given much of the credit for that. As it turns out, he didn't deserve too much credit at all.
The Rams' passing game improved after Waldron joined the Seahawks in 2021. Los Angeles jumped from 13th in passing yards and 26th in touchdowns to fifth in yards and second in TDs. At the time, that massive improvement was credited to the switch from Jared Goff to Matthew Stafford. All 12s knew just how awful Goff was, remember?
Except maybe Goff just had a bad coordinator. With the Lions, Goff is second in the NFL in passer rating, yards passing, and touchdown percentage. Turns out he can play after all. Don't worry, 12s, I was fooled too. I thought that bringing Waldron to Seattle was a great move. Man, it pains me to even read that headline, let alone reread the article. Go ahead, have a laugh at my expense.
The Bears' offense looked dynamic after a bit of a slow start. They only put up 13, then 16 points against the Texans and Colts, but rookie quarterback Caleb Williams was still adjusting to the speed of NFL defenses. By Week 5 Chicago was rolling. They put up 36 against Carolina and followed up with 36 versus Jacksonville.
You already know the punchline. That was against the Panthers and Jaguars, teams that still have only seven wins between them. Once the competition heated up, the Bears cooled off more than Soldier Field. They averaged nine points per game over their next three contests, capped by a sole field goal against the Patriots. The Bears had seen enough and cut Waldron loose.
Darrell Taylor was fantastic - for one game
As for Mr. Taylor, he was fantastic in his Chicago debut with two sacks, one of those causing a fumble. Just for good measure, he added another pressure. Predictably, one NFL insider lauded the move by Chicago, saying the Bears move was a hit as it only cost them a 2025 sixth-round pick. Oh, you poor, poor soul.
As our own Lee Vowell noted, that writer apparently wasn't aware of Taylor's history with the Seahawks. Mind you, Mr. Vowell didn't write that last week. No, he wrote it before Taylor took the field in Week 2. All 12s know how maddening it was to watch the second-round pick play like a first-round colossus one week, then disappear for a month or more.
What's really funny is Taylor's comment after his spectacular debut with da Bears. Talk about delusional, man. From the original article on The Athletic, he had a decidedly biased view of his performance: "Man, it’s exciting,” Taylor said. “(The Seattle Seahawks) didn’t see a spot for me. But the Chicago Bears saw a spot for me on their team. So I’m excited to be here, make an impact, and do whatever I can to help this team win each and every week.”
Uh-huh. Sure, the Hawks didn't see a spot for you. Let's see now... I see 522 snaps in 2023. Taylor got 485 snaps in 2022 and 543 in 2021. So far he's had 331 this year. He averaged 30.3 defensive snaps per game in Seattle and is averaging 22.1 in Chicago. Right, the Hawks didn't see a spot for you.
Do you know why your snap count has dropped, Darrell? Yes, I'm pretending he's reading this. It's because you haven't done a thing since Week 1. Two sacks, a forced fumble, one hurry, and eight tackles in 38 snaps are impressive. Since then, you've added the astounding totals of six quarterback hits and three hurries for nine pressures. Hey, great job on those 16 added tackles. It is a shame, though, that you've added zero sacks.
That may seem a little brutal, but I'm not the guy who said his former team didn't see a spot for him. The real issue is that the Seahawks kept seeing a spot for him as long as they did. I thought Mike Macdonald was crazy to give Taylor a look through training camp. But it was only fair to see how Taylor would perform in a new system. As it turns out, no different at all.
Maybe Pete Carroll got the most out there was to get from these guys
No, the real problem was that Taylor kept getting chances to prove that he couldn't perform up to expectations. Well, he could, but only five or six times a season. Now that I think about it, maybe this isn't an indictment of Pete Carroll after all. As inconsistent as he was with the Seahawks, at least he showed up for more than one game. Despite their flaws, the Hawks offense never collapsed as badly as the Bears did this season. Not week after week, they didn't.
So - good job for getting the most out of mediocre talent, I guess, Pete. I think the Bears might be the perfect fit for your next project after all.