Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron defends handoff to Doug Kramer

When Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was criticized for an ill-fated option play on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line against the Colts in Week 3 — running back D’Andre Swift lost 12 yards on a play that never had a chance — he tacitly, if not directly, acknowledged the error.

“All those situations start with me,” Waldron said. “I’ve got to be better in that situation, and I will. . . . I’ve got to put us in a better position.”

But it was a totally different story Thursday when Waldron was asked about his decision to hand off to Doug Kramer — a 6-2, 300-pound center being used as a fullback in goal-line situations — on a critical third-and-goal at the Commanders’ 1-yard line last Sunday. It blew up when Kramer, who’d never had a carry in the NFL or college, mishandled the handoff and the Commanders recovered the fumble.

The scene was rife with irony. Waldron’s successful solution after the goal-line issue against the Colts — using Kramer as a blocking back — was now the problem.

But this time, Waldron didn’t back down. If he had it to do all over again, he would call the same play.

“Every play call that doesn’t work out, you look at it and see, ‘Was it the best call in that situation?’ ” Waldron said. “ ‘What could I have done better as a play-caller? What situations could I have put those guys in?’ But I have all the confidence in the world in all our players. It’s something we’ve repped and worked on. It came up in the moment, as a third-and-one call. It didn’t work out.”

Regardless, the criticism was that it was too cute a play in such a critical situation for an offense still on training wheels. Using Kramer as a blocking back at the goal line, however unorthodox, was working. With him on the field, the Bears scored four touchdowns from the 1 — Roschon Johnson and Swift two times each. But Waldron seemed to take it one step too far against the Commanders. The Bears, trailing 12-7 with 6:21 left in the fourth quarter, had a chance to score a touchdown and steal a win.

“I felt confident in the moment in that call, and it didn’t work out,” Waldron said. “When calls don’t work out, there’s gonna be criticism. I’ll always look inwardly first and then move on to the next one, and we’re on to Arizona.”

Asked if the criticism was valid, Waldron reiterated his defense.

“I think there’s always valid criticism when things don’t work out,” he said. “We’ll work inwardly. We’ll wrap our arms around each other and work to look forward and execute better and call better plays the next situation that that arises.

“Yeah, I was confident. I had trust in [the call]. And looking back at it, all the things that go into any call throughout the course of the game, whether it’s early calls that lead to stuff not working or calls in the middle, calls in the end, critical calls, I always assess those and go forward.”

Although this particular call was disconcerting, it was one bad play — one that was erased when the Bears got another chance and scored with 23 seconds left.

The bigger issue was that the offense, which had scored 36 and 35 points in the previous two games, stagnated for most of the game after a bye week. With a minute left in the third quarter, the Bears had run 37 plays for 116 yards (3.1 average) and scored no points.

Waldron blamed a six-yard loss on a run by quarterback Caleb Williams and two penalties for the offense being “behind the sticks” on its first two drives. That put the Bears in third-and-15 and third-and-20 situations on the first drive and a first-and-15 on the second.

But that’s an issue in itself. The Bears also had a delay-of-game penalty on their third offensive play. Tackle Braxton Jones was flagged for a false start on the second drive. You’d think the offense would be sharper than that coming off a bye week.

Waldron wasn’t concerned about it. They’re working on it.

“It’s something we’ve talked about every week, and it’s something we’ve addressed and talked through the why each game,” he said. “It’s about getting out there, being confident, staying ahead of the sticks and having a successful quarter.”

If there was a positive, it was that quarterback seems like the least of the Bears’ worries. Williams was inaccurate from the start against the Commanders and not in the groove he was in before the bye, completing just 4 of 16 passes for 36 yards for a 39.6 passer rating until the final two drives. But with victory in sight, he turned it up a notch, completing 6 of 8 passes for 95 yards and a 114.1 rating to give the Bears a chance. There’s hope Waldron will be better Sunday against the Cardinals. But with Williams, it’s an expectation.