GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Bears have arrived at the familiar spot. They have a struggling quarterback, an unreliable defense and a coach who can't find answers.

The routes may vary but the goal is the same.

The Bears wiped out all of those deficiencies on Sunday when a mediocre Cardinals team beat them 29-9 at State Farm Stadium. They're not making progress, and that's alarming. They've mostly blown their chance at wins in the easier part of the schedule, and there's no sign of things getting better.

They're 4-4 while the rest of the NFC North is well over .500, and their remaining schedule is the toughest in the league. These playoff dreams are a fantasy.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus then talked about having to “circle the wagons and stay tight,” but when the wagons are always circling, as they did under Eberflus, they never really get anywhere.

His team has many problems, but the stalled development of rookie quarterback Caleb Williams is the most concerning. He will determine the Bears' long-term future.

Williams made just the eighth start of his career on Sunday and will have at least three seasons to figure it out. The question general manager Ryan Poles has to ask is whether Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron are doing enough to promote his growth.

Absolutely not.

Williams completed 22 of 41 passes for 216 yards and a passer rating of 68.8. It was his third game in which he completed less than 55% of his passes and the fourth with a passer rating below 70.

The offense totaled its lowest point total of the season, did not score a touchdown, managed a 35-yard drive and went 3 for 14 on third down against the NFL's worst third-down defense.

“Full responsibility,” said Eberflus about his role in the offense. “We will work with the offensive staff (Monday) morning while we look at this tape tonight and find answers.”

How long does he have to find these ever-elusive answers? His constant search for them sounds a lot like Matt Nagy searching for “why,” and Nagy trudged through the final weeks of his tenure with little to offer other than taking all the blame.

“You have to find answers,” said Eberflus. “Three weeks ago we improved and things looked good. Now we have to find answers. We need to find answers to put our players, including Caleb, in a position to be successful.”

Especially Caleb.

This season, Williams has completed 61.4% of his passes, an average of 208 yards per game and a passer rating of 83.0. Rookie or not, the Bears expect the No. 1 pick to play better and are unlikely to take anyone unless he improves.

“The expectations for myself will always be high – they’re still high,” Williams said. “We still have nine games left. It will continue to remain high. We just need to figure out the next step.”

There continue to be questions about the offensive line the Poles have put together, and Williams has failed repeatedly in Arizona.

Early in the fourth quarter, with the Bears already desperate enough to go for it on fourth-and-11 near midfield, three Cardinals defenders almost immediately penetrated the backfield and linebacker Zaven Collins tackled Williams shoulders and turned him around a sack.

Left guard Teven Jenkins and backup tackle Larry Borom, both of whom were beaten, helped him get up, and Williams stood on the sideline wincing for a moment before sitting next to Waldron.

After the Cardinals turned that into a field goal and a 27-9 lead, Williams was promptly sacked again for a 10-yard loss. It was the third sack in a row and not the last hit he had to take.

“Our quarterback is a good quarterback, and if you protect him, he can move the ball down the field and do a good job,” Eberflus said, noting he was sacked six times.

Nonetheless, he kept Williams 20 down with two minutes left in the game – “I just have to work,” Eberflus said, even though both starting tackles were down and he had been hounded all day – and when he was on third-and-3 failed – 7: Substitute defender Ben Stille landed on his left ankle.

Williams limped away, saying he had “tweaked it” but believed he was OK.

Assuming that doesn't become a problem, the most important task for Eberflus is to repair an offense that can only survive against the worst defenses in the league. It wasn't even possible that Sunday; The Cardinals had allowed the seventh-most points in the NFL.

“I don’t think it’s going to be an easy fix,” veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen said. “I don’t even know what the problem is or where to even start. We just have to get back to work.”

Tight end Cole Kmet repeatedly fell back on the general assessment of poor performance, but even that shouldn't be a constant theme halfway through the season.

“You don’t want to have this problem after Week 2 or 3,” Kmet said. “Given the OTAs and the long camp we've had, you would hope that would be resolved (sooner), but we're just not there yet.”

This blow was a bigger blow to the Bears than their Hail Mary loss to the Commanders last week.

They drift around and it gets dark. Maybe they'll get some respite when the struggling Patriots come to Soldier Field, but there's a gauntlet of tough opponents over the last eight games, and Eberflus and Waldron are on fire.

The only thing that could change their course is Williams' rapid development, but there is little sign of that happening soon and there is no evidence – none – that Eberflus can take him there.