Declan Doyle reacts to penalties in loss to Vikings, future usage of Kyle Monangai

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 2 hours ago

CHICAGO - Despite having a new head coach in Ben Johnson and a new offensive coordinator in Declan Doyle, the Bears offense showed some of the same tendencies it did last season, including a lack of a run game, offensive line struggles, and a stagnant offense.

However, the penalties were perhaps the most frustrating thing to watch in Chicago's game against Minnesota.

“Obviously with the penalties, I would say that was an issue. That’s something that can never happen and that really was the story of the game,” Doyle said. “We would put ourselves in (an) efficient down and distance and we would knock ourselves out and I think on three separate occasions, we end up knocking ourselves out, taking points off the board in once case and then twice, we’re not able to convert on third down because we’re in second and longer, third and longer. I think they played hard. But, that’s an area that we still need to get better every week and I’m excited to see these guys go this week.”

Quarterback Caleb Williams had his struggles, but he was able to make some plays on the ground, including scoring a touchdown on the opening drive of the game. A scramble from Williams also put the Bears one yard short of the endzone shortly before the two-minute warning, and Chicago subsequently scored a touchdown on the following play.

Doyle said that is not something the Bears want to rely on, but wants him to continue scrambling to extend plays and get positive yardage.

“We had four explosives off of scrambles and so, it’s something that certainly can provide a lot of value for our offense. It’s something that you don’t want to lean away from … We want to be playing within our scheme, the plays that are designed for certain coverages and then (the) quarterback (is) the eraser,” Doyle said. “You erase mistakes and you go make it happen and so, that’s something that obviously we’ll encourage him to do that to extend plays and go make yards. Obviously, you see when he takes off, he’s pretty fast and he can roll. So, something that we’re excited about in our offense.”

Williams was the highlight of the running game for the Bears. Running back D’Andre Swift had a disappointing showing with only 53 yards and an average of 3.1 yards per attempt. Furthermore, rookie running back Kyle Monangai never even got a chance to run the ball.

That is something that should change in Chicago’s next game on Sun, Sept. 14, against the Detroit Lions (Noon / FOX).

“Kyle’s a guy that we look at. Every time we ask him to do something, he does it to the best of his ability. He’s a guy that we feel like we can utilize going forward in certain roles,” Doyle said. “But really, the run game was obviously disappointing, more in the first half. We were inefficient on normal downs and then really as the second half went on, we were efficient on six of 10. And so, it got better as the game went on. But obviously, as we kind of got into the later part of that game and now we’re down, you’re having to call more passes just to try to get yourself back in that game and so, running the ball is always a privilege. You come out and you’re efficient, more of them are going to get called. But, we got to take better advantage of those opportunities when they’re presented early in the game to keep that rolling.”