Wildcard playoff film review part 1: The Offense

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What a wasted opportunity by a championship caliber squad. The Bears should have had no business losing to the inferior Philadelphia Eagles. The game was marred by several missed opportunities, especially on offense. The performance of the offense can be separated into 2 distinct categories based on the vast differences in success, the first half and the second half.

1ST HALF

Things started off strong, with a nice 6 yard run by Jordan Howard. Watch Kyle Long here get off of his initial block to then swallow the linebacker trying to get through the B gap...

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Play 2 was a designed quick pass from a 3 step drop to ease Trubisky into the game. You can see his 3 targets all run the same 5 yard routes, Shaheen runs down field as a decoy, and Cohen runs to the flat in order to clear out the middle of the field.

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Leno and the guards engage their assignments off the snap without a back pedal in order to keep the immediate throwing lanes open...

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And the result is the first conversion for the bears offense...

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A few players later, after a nice 6 yard gain on 1st down, Mizzell gets stuffed in the backfield because Daniels completely whiffs on his assignment...

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This brings up the opening 3rd down, and the Bears lined up in a 3 x 1 formation. Against 1 deep safety like this, the offense usually like to isolate the lone receiver in a 1 on 1 matchup. Robinson flat just out physicals Maddux here, Robinson vs. Maddux is simply a big mismatch for the Bears...

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2nd down on the same drive, and Nagy calls a designed deep shot to Cohen off a 7 man protection. The route design works, as Cohen leaves the safety in his dust...

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But the one thing you can’t do on longer route concepts with extra protection is allow immediate pressure. Unfortunately, Long gets manhandled off the snap and ruins the play...

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This sets up 3rd and long, and maybe the biggest missed opportunity of the entire game. The Eagles look to be in a cover 6 (quarters-quarters-halves coverage). This means the FS is responsible for 1/2 of the field, the SS is responsible for 1/4 of the field, and the CB is responsible for 1/4 of the field...

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So basically 1 side of the field is playing a cover 2 look (Free safety), and the other side of the field is playing a cover 4 quarters coverage look (CB + SS). The Bears are in a 3 x 1 formation. The cover 2 side has Bellamy on his own, so there is nothing there for Trubisky to read. The cover 4 side has the 3 wr’s in Cohen #1 Robinson #2 and Braunecker #3. The weakness in the cover 4 is in this exact formation, 3 x1, specifically a vertical seam route by the #3 wr (Braunecker). This is because the SS is lined up on the inside of the #2 wr but on the outside of the #3 wr, giving up leverage to the deep middle. And the underneath defender only carries/cushions the #3 wr into the secondary.

What happens on this specific play is that the SS pretty obviously brackets Allen Robinson, so there is no defender for the underneath safety to hand Braunecker off to while as he is trailing him. This leaves Braunecker running down the seam wide open. Once Trubisky read that the SS was bracketing Robinson, he should have known that Braunecker would be running free and threw it up to him for the easy TD. He had plenty of time to diagnose this and get rid of the ball, but for some reason he just couldn’t pull the trigger.

Let’s go through the progression of the play. A few steps into the routes, you can see the SS not really backpedaling and with his eyes on Allen Robinson. The lone safety on the other side is drifting toward the sideline while Braunecker is running up the seam...

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A few steps later, and the SS is still holding his ground with all attention on Robinson. It’s pretty safe to deduce that he is bracketing Robinson. The underneath safety begins to trail the sprinting Braunecker with his eyes still on the qb. Trubisky still has his eyes downfield and should have a good idea on where he is going with the ball...

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A few steps later, and the SS is in a stand still with all attention on Robinson. The underneath safety has passed off Braunecker, but there is no defender actually there to pass him off to. Braunecker is left wide open over the top. Trubisky still has his eyes downfield. He should have already threw the ball up to the deep middle by now, but if not he really needs to pull the trigger now...

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But instead of firing, the next moment has Trubisky dropping his eyes and aborting the play. Right after Trubisky bails, you see Braunecker running all alone. The SS then realizes the blown coverage and starts frantically sprinting toward Braunecker, but he was already out of his range a while ago...

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Here is a slowed down version of the coverage...

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Here is Trubisky in the pocket...

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He probably would have taken a big hit after he released that ball, but the ball needed to come out. For some reason he just didn’t trust his eyes and locked up. A TD here changes the entire complexion of the game. I believe a confident Trubisky and a fired up defense go on to dismantle the inferior Eagles.

Possession #2 begins with more appreciation from Trubisky. If you’re going to Mizzell here, you gotta get him the ball a bit quicker than that. Mizzell is made to be a sitting duck here...

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It looks like injuries have not cost Long all of his athleticism, as he maneuvers his way into the second level...

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On 3rd and short, Trubisky changes the play at the line of scrimmage. Unfortunately it looks like Miller runs the wrong route, collided with Gabriel, and throws off the timing of the play. Can’t make those kinds of mistakes in the playoffs...

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In the 2nd quarter, Trubisky has his first wow throw. It’s a tremendous touch pass dissecting the cover 3 zone defense...

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Most qb’s wouldn’t even attempt such a difficult throw, as it requires great touch to get it just over the underneath coverage, just under the deep coverage, and right in between the 2 defensive backs playing thirds coverage...

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Here is a designed deep shot off of play action. The run fake works as intended, sucking the deep safety in and widening the window to Gabriel on the post route...

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Trubisky still doesn’t like what he sees, so he goes to Robinson in the flat which is fine as he’s all alone with no one within 10 yards of him at one point. But again, Trubisky has to get this ball to the wr a touch earlier so that he has a chance to turn it upfield...

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Here Leno misses 2 separate blocks on the very same play...

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Another late throw by Trubisky here, and it almost costs him an INT. Robinson actually created enough space between he and the cb...

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Uncatchable pass to a 1 on 1 Robinson out of a clean pocket...

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Trubisky is yet again late on a throw, this time to Shaheen...

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Really good throw by Trubisky here that Miller needs to hold on to...

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But then Trubisky caps off the half with a shockingly baffling decision. At the snap, Trubisky has eyes on the safety in the deep middle...

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As he feels imminent pressure from his blindside, Trubisky drops his eyes in order to step up and evacuate the pocket...

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As Trubisky sets his eyes back downfield on the run, he just assumes the safety is running toward the sideline with him and throws it to a spot where Gabriel’s route is heading in the middle of the field. Trubisky either never reestablished visual eye contact with the safety and just flat out guessed that he wouldn’t be there, or he saw the safety leaning and assumed that he was sprinting towards the sideline. Just a really dumb throw...

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2ND HALF

The Bears tried to establish the run to begin the 2nd half, but that wasn’t happening...

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Let’s try a shovel pass to Adam Shaheen, LOL...

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Howard trips over somebody’s foot or this would have been a big gain...

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THE TURN AROUND

Late in the 3rd quarter, the offense began to turn things around and Mitchell Trubisky transformed into Joe Montana right before our very eyes.

Allen Robinson is such a technician with his route running and the timing of the pass was perfect by Trubisky...

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And then on THE VERY NEXT PLAY, the Bears run almost the same identical route combination, only this time Robinson fakes the in move and instead goes deep down the sideline. Robinson running the route exactly step for step as the previous play and Trubisky’s pump fake fool the CB into making a terrible error...

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Nice read by Trubisky as he sees that once Maddox lets Robinson go by, the safety is in no position to defend any out pattern while on his inside shoulder. Could have been a TD if this was thrown more toward the corner rather than the sideline, but the last thing Trubisky wanted was a turnover in the red zone at this point in the game...

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It’s 3rd and 11 in the 4th quarter with the Bears trailing, and Trubisky comes up H U G E. The Eagles are lined up in a cover 6 once again, with the FS covering the deep half of the short side of the field and the SS + SS covering quarters of the wide side of the field...

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This means Taylor Gabriel is facing a cover 2 look, where he is bracketed underneath and over the top. To make matters worse, his route takes him right at the FS rather than to the sideline away from him. For Trubisky to get this ball to Gabriel, he needs to put it in exactly the right spot and he has to absolutely laser the ball in there to reduce reaction time as much as possible on a 20 yard pass. Not only does Trubisky put in right on the money with +++ velocity over 20 yards in the air...

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He does it without the ability to step up in the pocket...

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In the immortal words of Vick Ashley, “I mean, are you kidding me?”

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Trubisky follows this up with a deep sideline shot off of a fake screen. The screen and pump fake fool Maddox, and Bellamy is able to get over the top of him...

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This should have been a TD, but Bellamy has no confidence in his own hands so he dives in order to cradle the ball in his chest...

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It only took 1 more play, but the Bears take the lead on yet another deep shot by Trubisky. Allen Robinson runs the same comeback route he did in the first half, the one Maddox almost picked off. Only this time, instead of the comeback it was the out and up. Another play set up by Nagy based off of a play earlier in the game...

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What I really like aboot this play is how Trubisky subtilely steps up in the pocket right at the moment of truth. This is a game of inches, and if Trubisky hadn’t slid forward, his throw would have likely been affected by the blind side edge rusher...

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And now we come to the climax of the offense’s performance. It of course occurs on the final drive of the game, in a do or die situation with only 44 ticks of the clock remaining. The Eagles are again in a cover 6 quarter-quarter-half coverage. The Bears are in a 3 x 1 set with Allen Robinson the lone wr at the top of the screen. The coverage against him is the cover 2 side of the cover 6. So he is going to be double teamed and bracketed underneath by the CB and over the top by the FS. The Eagles are not going to let Allen Robinson beat them, especially deep.

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As the ball is snapped, the cb begins playing outside leverage on Robinson. He doesn’t let Robinson get to the outside past him because he has help to the inside and he’s trying to keep Robinson within range of the deep safety. The FS is inching toward the boundary with his full attention on Robinson...

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One thing to point out is that the cb is not supposed to be covering Robinson throughout the entire play. He is supposed to just trail him and then pass him off to the safety. His ultimate assignment is to cover the flat. But at this stage of the game, the Eagles couldn’t care less aboot underneath targets. So at the point where the CB is supposed to pass off Robinson and break back in to cover Cohen in the flat, he instead stays on him down field...

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With a defender underneath/over the top/to his left/to his right, any window to get the ball to Robinson are closed, yet Trubisky somehow just manufactured his own opening. He did this by throwing a back shoulder touch pass from the inside out. And in the NFL, there is really no such thing, at least by design. Trubisky broke the NFL, at least on that play...

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And if that wasn’t enough, he made this split second adjustment and throw knowing that he was gonna take a helmet to the ribs. It’s hard to keep your body loose and relaxed and execute a 30 yard touch pass knowing your midsection is completely exposed and you’re gonna get the wind right out of you. Trubisky takes a brutal shot to the midsection and is buried into the ground, but he doesn’t let any of that alter his throwing motion and concentration...

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Given the situation and the circumstances and the difficulty of the throw, this was nothing short of a legendary type play. This singular moment should have completely wiped clean any struggles early in the game and begun to shift the narrative on him. But instead, sadly, the story became a kicker missing a gimme field goal...

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MOVING FORWARD

I think the future looks bright for Trubisky and this offense. Another year in the system should eliminate a lot of the late throws, and some semblance of a running game could catapult into Rams territory. But If there is one thing to take away from this game, it’s that Trubisky proved he could make the throw to win the game in the most pressurized of moments like the great ones. His ceiling is still high.
 
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Bearly

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So far so good, Adi. Biggest problems with Mitch is seeing things quickly enough but it's been getting better and better. This is where playing in the same o for a while pays off. Also a bit of tentativeness still there but really, I think he's seeing the field reasonably well for someone with his experience. He also shows some specialness in most games. Arm looked great this game. Head? meh. Not quite a top 10 QB yet, especially when you take his legs away but you can see it coming. Can't wait forthe 2nd 1/2 breakdown. 1st 1/2 could have been better but Mitch's play here was not why we lost. Some good luck was involved but he also had some bad luck later. :beer:
 

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So far so good, Adi. Biggest problems with Mitch is seeing things quickly enough but it's been getting better and better. This is where playing in the same o for a while pays off. Also a bit of tentativeness still there but really, I think he's seeing the field reasonably well for someone with his experience. He also shows some specialness in most games. Arm looked great this game. Head? meh. Not quite a top 10 QB yet, especially when you take his legs away but you can see it coming. Can't wait forthe 2nd 1/2 breakdown. 1st 1/2 could have been better but Mitch's play here was not why we lost. Some good luck was involved but he also had some bad luck later. :beer:

Once Trubisky got warmed up, it was fun to watch. :beer:
 

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The dipshits on this board won't like this post.
 

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And if that wasn’t enough, he made this split second adjustment and throw knowing that he was gonna take a helmet to the ribs. It’s hard to keep your body loose and relaxed and execute a 30 yard touch pass knowing your midsection is completely exposed and you’re gonna get the wind right out of you. Trubisky takes a brutal shot to the midsection and is buried into the ground, but he doesn’t let any of that alter his throwing motion and concentration...
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This play impressed the shit outta me. I have no doubt that Trubisky will take a giant leap forward next year.
 

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That play and the one splitting the coverages to Gabriel were special. The Gabriel throw needed pace and was all arm while taking a hit.
My biggest issue with this game was Nagy not sticking to more zone runs for Howard. The way that D line was holding its lanes, he almost broke a couple of those. It was going to happen if they persisted and it may have changed the way the Eagles approached their D. Nagy's calls in the 1st 1/2 played into the Phillies D. One thing Nagy doesn't do in general is impose his will. Not the worst thing in the world but then you have to scheme well and that wasn't there early either. I think next year is balls out but we'll have to wait and see.
 

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So what do you know, it wasn't just short stuff in the first half. Trubs just failed to hit plays that were there for him to hit.

Hopefully he can improve his consistency as waiting until late in the 3rd to put it together is usually not a good idea in playoffs.
 

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Good stuff but at the end of the day, Parkey is a b*tch.
 

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Totally agree with your conclusion. It's easy to pick apart QBs in almost any game but you need to take the game as a whole including situational play etc.
 

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So when the offense struggled it was because mitch didn’t go through his progressions quick enough. I think all Bears fans should be encouraged by that because with more familiarity the reads become easier and easier. I’m looking forward to watching him next season.


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I always gave Trubisky this year as a free-ride if you will. Ups and downs were likely to happen. Development is not linear. Year 2 is where my expectations skyrocket. Hope he is able to build on his successes. He definitely flashed some big time cajones in the 2nd half. Great play design by Nagy to take advantage also.

Hope this reaps success for years to come.

Also, thank you Raiders. This team is one year ahead of where I thought they would be.
 

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So what do you know, it wasn't just short stuff in the first half. Trubs just failed to hit plays that were there for him to hit.

Hopefully he can improve his consistency as waiting until late in the 3rd to put it together is usually not a good idea in playoffs.


He hit a 45 yarder to Robinson and followed it up with a perfectly placed ball to Robinson again but Allen failed to drag his second foot. It would have been first and goal at the 4. He hit Miller with a dime that would have been first and goal at the five but Miller didn’t put it away even though it was ruled a catch. That all happened in the first half.
 

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So what do you know, it wasn't just short stuff in the first half. Trubs just failed to hit plays that were there for him to hit.

Hopefully he can improve his consistency as waiting until late in the 3rd to put it together is usually not a good idea in playoffs.


He hit a 45 yarder to Robinson and followed it up with a perfectly placed ball to Robinson again but Allen failed to drag his second foot. It would have been first and goal at the 4. He hit Miller with a dime that would have been first and goal at the five but Miller didn’t put it away even though it was ruled a catch. That all happened in the first half.
 

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He hit a 45 yarder to Robinson and followed it up with a perfectly placed ball to Robinson again but Allen failed to drag his second foot. It would have been first and goal at the 4. He hit Miller with a dime that would have been first and goal at the five but Miller didn’t put it away even though it was ruled a catch. That all happened in the first half.

Yeah and as Adi noted he missed reads that cost us points as I said from the start. How is it that we can take ARob to task for not dragging his foot but when Trubs missed reads, ya'll want to change the subject to who else fucked up?

Does ARob not dragging his feet excuse Trubs missing throws? If not then not sure why it was brought up. Plenty of people was responsible for the O only scoring 15 points. Trubs was one of them.
 

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Yeah and as Adi noted he missed reads that cost us points as I said from the start. How is it that we can take ARob to task for not dragging his foot but when Trubs missed reads, ya'll want to change the subject to who else fucked up?

Does ARob not dragging his feet excuse Trubs missing throws? If not then not sure why it was brought up. Plenty of people was responsible for the O only scoring 15 points. Trubs was one of them.

Nope... Just pointing out he made some big throws in the first half too. Other than Brady, Mitch played as well as any QB in playoffs this year and came up big at money time. Too bad he can’t kick.
 

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