Bears' Shane Waldron stands by play call of ill-fated handoff to Doug Kramer: 'Confident in the moment in that'
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (670 The Score) — Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron on Thursday stood by the play call of an ill-fated handoff to offensive lineman Doug Kramer in a key moment in the fourth quarter of Chicago's eventual 18-15 loss at Washington on Sunday.
With 6:21 remaining in the game, the Bears lined up for a critical third-and-goal play from the Commanders' 1-yard line while trailing 12-7. Quarterback Caleb Williams attempted a handoff to Kramer, who was lined up at fullback, but the delivery wasn't clean. The football was fumbled, and the Commanders recovered.
While the Bears' defense forced a three-and-out and got the football back for the offense, the play still loomed large and raised a red flag in a game that was decided when the Commanders scored a 52-yard touchdown on a last-second Hail Mary. Had the hand-off gone cleanly, it would've marked Kramer's first career carry.
"Every play call that doesn't work out, you go back and look at it and see was it the best play call in that situation?" Waldron said Thursday in his first media session since the loss Sunday. "I think I'll always look inwardly first. Every play call that doesn't work out, obviously, you're going to have a sense of what could I have done better as a play-caller, what situations could I have put those guys in?
"It's something that we've repped and we've worked on. It came up in the moment as a third-and-1 call there. It didn't work out. But what I was most proud about was seeing our defense get a three-and-out, our offense comes over to the sideline, everyone's eyes are up, everyone's communicating, and they're ready to attack the next drive and have a chance to score on that next drive as well."
On their ensuing offensive series, the Bears embarked on a 10-play, 62-yard scoring drive that was capped by running back Roschon Johnson's one-yard touchdown run with 25 seconds remaining. Utilizing the powerful running back on a simple play call seemed to be a correction from Waldron.
Kramer was shifted into a fullback role back in September by the Bears, who released veteran fullback Khari Blasingame last week.
The play call to Kramer wasn't the first perplexing miscue from Waldron in a key situation this season. During the Bears' 21-16 loss to the Colts on Sept. 22, Waldron came under fire for calling a speed-option play on fourth-and-goal from the Indianapolis 1-yard line. It resulted in a 12-yard loss for running back D'Andre Swift and a turnover on downs.
Waldron has engaged openly with members of the Bears' offense in breaking down certain play calls from each game, an attempt to take accountability for what he felt worked and didn't work.
But at least in addressing reporters, Waldron said he wouldn't take back the play call to Kramer.
"You look at the risk-reward," Waldron said. "Looking back earlier in the season (with the option play against the Colts), I won't shy away from these things. I know I could've done a better job of getting us prepared in that moment, having a better play call in that instance. I try to learn from it. I feel moving forward here, we have different play calls that are not vanilla and when is the right time to use those.
"I felt confident in the moment in that call, and it didn't work out. Some of the calls, when the calls don't work out, there's going to be the criticism. I'll always look inwardly first."
The Bears struggled offensively for most of Sunday, failing to put points on the board until late in the third quarter. Chicago managed just 307 yards of offense, and rookie quarterback Caleb Williams scuffled in going 10-of-24 for 131 yards.
The Bears (4-3) visit the Arizona Cardinals (4-4) on Sunday, with kickoff set for 3:05 p.m. CT from State Farm Stadium.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago's sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.
