Week 9 film review: Play calling, Personnel, or Preparation?

[Adipost]

Is play calling sinking this team? Or is it being overblown? Is the talent just not there? Or is it being misused? Let’s take a really close look at what the main culprit actually is for the Bears offensive eptitude by breaking down every possession of that disastrous 1st half...

POSSESSION 1

— The first play of the game is a great play design that is well executed. Patterson motions to the left moments from the snap to create a 4 on 3 mismatch....

***CLIP***

— This is followed up by another great play design that gets Graham open on the wheel route...

***CLIP 1***

A quick snap is used to throw the Titans off guard. Mooney takes an initial outside release in order to cross over the defender responsible for Graham to slow him down...

***CLIP 2***

— The next play is a run stuffed for minimal gain. Ifedi positions himself poorly on the tandem block and is driven right into Montgomery’s path. Montgomery is able to side step Ifedi, but then Alex Bars whiffs on his block attempt of the linebacker in the second level...

***CLIP***

— Next play is a screen pass to Anthony Miller. Mooney takes on his block with force. Jimmy Graham follows Mooney while leading Miller. Graham then puts his hands on the back of Mooney and stops his feet right in front of Miller and ends up blocking no one...

***CLIP 1***

Graham does nothing on this play and acts merely as an obstruction for Miller, sloppy and lazy play...

***CLIP 2***

— Next play is against cover 2 zone. The underneath defender is responsible for covering the flat, which is Robinson in this case. Miller is deployed specifically to disrupt that flat defender and create space for Robinson. Play works, but Robinson runs out of bounds short of the first down instead of cutting it back upfield...

***CLIP***

— Now we come to the infamous 4th and 1 play. It is a run up the middle with Montgomery, but Nagy adds a wrinkle. He lines up Montgomery and Patterson next to each other in the backfield...

At the snap, Foles fakes a pitch to Patterson. This clears out the linebacker and creates a seam for Montgomery to run through...

But Ifedi missed his block, possession over...

***CLIP***

POSSESSION 2

— The next drive begins with a bootleg to Patterson for an easy 5 yards...

***CLIP***

— On 2nd and 5, Patterson runs a pitch to the left for 2 yards. Looking at it closer, we find another wasted opportunity. On the play, LG Hambright helps Leno with a tandem block of the defensive end, and Holtz leads Patterson down the middle of the field to take on the inside linebacker...

As the play continues, Holtz misses his block, but only because the linebacker runs himself out of the play. Hambright disengages from the defensive end and is supposed to move on to the next level. The only player left unaccounted for is LB#55. Once Hambright puts a body on him, there is a clear path through the middle with no one in sight...

But Hambright does not move to the next level. Instead, he turns completely around and faces the running back. Patterson has to quickly slide to his left in order to avoid colliding face to face with Hambright...

Patterson is forced to bounce it outside and Hambright proceeds to run right into his center Bars...

***CLIP***

— On 3rd and short, Nagy calls a designed roll out to the right. He is hoping a bunch formation on that side will cause confusion...

It does not, and Foles has to throw it away. These half field reads are usually either all or nothing, either someone is open or nobody is open. Probably not a good call on 3rd and short...

***CLIP***

POSSESSION 3

— Drive 3 starts with a negative run because center Bars gets manhandled 4 yards behind the line of scrimmage and into the running back...

***CLIP***

— Bears then pick up 5 yards on a draw play (reverse play action). This is a great call against a blitz, which the Titans did, but they still could not manage to get a sizable chunk play out of it because Montgomery could not make the safety miss...

***CLIP***

— Drive ends when Foles doesn’t go through his progressions quickly enough and misses the window to Miller coming open out of his break in the middle of the field...

***CLIP***

POSSESSION 4

— Next drive starts with a play action pass. It’s a good call, as all the linebackers get sucked in to the run fake. Mooney comes open over the linebackers down the middle of the field...

But Foles doesn’t throw the ball. Instead, he runs out of the pocket and is tackled for minimal gain...

***CLIP***

— Next up is a TE screen call to Holtz, but Ifedi surrenders immediate pressure and Foles has to throw the ball into the ground...

***CLIP***

— Drive ends with an incompletion to Robinson against a 5 man blitz. I don’t know aboot this call, Nagy could have put in a crossing route to help Foles beat the blitz. And with only 1 vertical route to occupy the deep safety, there is in turn only 1 viable route on this play that is actually past the 1st down marker. And that’s Miller in the slot...

***CLIP***

POSSESSION 5

— Next drive begins with a dump off to Graham for some easy yardage...

***CLIP***

— On 2nd down, and with time to throw, Foles chooses to try to fit it into Allen Robinson inside with Mooney open on the outside. Incomplete...

***CLIP***

— 3rd down ends in an incompletion. Miller looks like he’s going to be running a crossing route on this play. The safety charges in to cut it off. But Miller is running an in out route, so he changes direction. But the outside cb is also on Miller. So the Titans have, in effect, bracketed Miller. But this coverage leaves Demetrius Harris open on the outside...

View attachment 8349

Foles’ eyes remain on Miller the entire time until he throws the ball away, possession over...

***CLIP***

— That is, until this happened...

***CLIP***

But even during a great play call like this there are underlying issues. Lead blocker Holtz #81, instead of leading Mingo upfield, cuts inside reaching for a block. This bad angle allows the defender to get around Holtz easily and make the touchdown saving tackle.

— With a new set of downs, Nagy calls a draw play to Montgomery. The play starts off promising, with Hambright burying the defensive tackle into the ground. But then Ifedi loses his 1 on 1 matchup and Bars whiffs on yet another block in the second level...

***CLIP***

— Next play is a very well executed pitch to Patterson for 6 yards. Really nice play by Charles Leno...

***CLIP***

— Drive ends with another stuffed run on 3rd and short. This is straight power, trying to will Montgomery through into a well defined specific hole. Ifedi gets blown up by the charging linebacker and the hole is gone, end of possession...

***CLIP***

You could definitely question this play call, but this is the type of straight forward play that many have wanted Nagy to start running.

POSSESSION 6

— Drive starts out promisingly with a 14 yard gain to a wide open Jimmy Graham...

***CLIP***

— Nagy follows the bootleg up with a play action pass. Everyone gets sucked in, partly because of the fake and also because there is a blitz on top of it. This leaves Mooney 1 on 1 crossing the field into open space. He already has a step on the defensive back and the deep safety is out of position....

But as we all know, Foles stumbles over his own feet and takes a sack...

***CLIP 1***

***CLIP 2***

— On 2nd and long, Nagy dials up a delayed draw thinking the Titans would be over agressive in their pass rush. On these kinds of plays, you can not let the defender inside of you. You welcome and even allow the defender to get by you on the outside. Knowing this, Hambright still gets beat inside as he gets jarred out of the way...

***CLIP***

— On third and forever it’s a dump off to Patterson and hope he can make something happen. Possession over...

***CLIP***

POSSESSION 7

— The final drive of the half begins with 2 penalties on the Bears. They now have a 1st and 25 with less than a minute to go. The Titans play a prevent zone, and Foles quickly throws it underneath for some positive yardage...

***CLIP***

— On 2nd down, Foles throws it underneath to Montgomery for 6 yards. More importantly, Montgomery has no chance of getting out of bounds. Foles actually double clutches before he throws the ball. And that freezes the underneath defender and opens a window to get it to Mooney, who could then go out of bounds...

But he elects to go with the safer throw...

***CLIP***

— The final play of the half has Foles staring down Mooney for the entirety of the play and then throwing the ball out of bounds. It looks as though the play was designed with Mooney as the only option, and that’s obviously a questionable call...

***CLIP 1***

***CLIP 2***

TAKEAWAY

The Bears offense has a talent issue and a coaching issue. They have major personnel issues at various positions and their preparation is just woeful (penalties/technique/execution). Play design does not look like an issue to me and actual play calling may be an issue, but that doesn’t much matter until the major issues are somehow addressed.

 

[legendxofxlink]

OL sucked before the backups came in, just not this bad. Foles’ internal clock is obviously getting cut short because of it. This falls on preparation then execution then obviously huge lack of talent up front. Foles cant play behind this line.

 

[rawdawg]

Thanks for the clips as usual. Some of the stuff I noticed live, others I didn't. My general thoughts:

Jimmy Graham literally gives 0 fux about blocking. Never has never will. He's lazy. Doesn't give effort in blocking or even getting to a defender. Some of these could be blocked just by him getting in the defender's way. He refuses to, and has refused to even since he was with the Saints.

The common theme with these plays is "One guy doing his job away". Now don't get me wrong, there are multiple guys screwing up every single play. But the play design is such that if just 1 of those guys does his job, then the play will work. With the lack of talent on the OL, you expect guys to lose their 1-on-1 battles, but you can't have Hambright, turning around and watching the play instead of getting to the 2nd level. You can't have the QB missing windows knowing he has 4 practice squad guys on his OL. The first thing I was taught about football was you can't let a guy cross your face. These are professionals letting guys go across their entire bodies to make plays. Granted, these are all world class athletes, but the offense knows the play, you know a guy can't cross to your right side if the play is off your right hip. Can't be bad talent-wise and fundamentally.

I don't really have an issue with playcalling overall from Nagy. Situational playcalling specifically is bad, but overall the plays are there if this team can execute. If Nagy is back, they really need to beef up the OL and get some guys that just do their damn job. They don't even need to go out and get the top guys on the FA market or the best guys in the draft. They got solid play out of guys like Bryan Witzmann and Cornelius Lucas because they were assignment and fundamentally sound players. Can't keep giving snaps to guys learning new positions.

 

[Bearly]

Great stuff Adi, always look forward to these.

Really disappointed in Ifedi last game and in general. Guys get under him and he lunges way too much. Thought moving inside would really help him but he simply has poor technique. I was sooo hoping the Line coach change would help but it clearly hasn't. Does Holtz ever make his block? Mooney would be a better lead blocker, LOL. Honestly, Mooney is a good example of how this shouldn't be that hard for paid professionals. Kid knows his assignments or finds one, makes plays, both offensively and saving QB picks. It makes you look at the effort by vets like Graham or even AR blocking and shake your head. If I have a player like that, I reward him more often and make his mates understand what effort gets you.

Plays have been simplified this year with less sets and motion to help the O on assignments. They are fine now but Nagy is not good at playing percentages, setting up a D (which admittedly would be difficult right now) or sequencing. Nothing new this game.

 

[Briggs is GOAT]

But Pace doesn't want to invest anything into the oline

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

Great stuff Adi, always look forward to these.

Really disappointed in Ifedi last game and in general. Guys get under him and he lunges way too much. Thought moving inside would really help him but he simply has poor technique. I was sooo hoping the Line coach change would help but it clearly hasn't. Does Holtz ever make his block? Mooney would be a better lead blocker, LOL. Honestly, Mooney is a good example of how this shouldn't be that hard for paid professionals. Kid knows his assignments or finds one, makes plays, both offensively and saving QB picks. It makes you look at the effort by vets like Graham or even AR blocking and shake your head. If I have a player like that, I reward him more often and make his mates understand what effort gets you.

Plays have been simplified this year with less sets and motion to help the O on assignments. They are fine now but Nagy is not good at playing percentages, setting up a D (which admittedly would be difficult right now) or sequencing. Nothing new this game.

Another useless guy on this roster is Holtz.

 

[Mdbearz]

OL sucked before the backups came in, just not this bad. Foles’ internal clock is obviously getting cut short because of it. This falls on preparation then execution then obviously huge lack of talent up front. Foles cant play behind this line.

With Trubisky hurt and Bray is just not a NFL QB, and Foles can not play behind a line that can not open up holes for the RB or pass block longer than average, what can Nagy do?

I always try to put myself in his shoes. Don't get me wrong he is responsible for the poor play on the field, but how can you change it now?

Im not sure of the NFL rules about the Bye week, but if Nagy wants to keep his job, I would allow them only 1 extra day off, and then I would think that I would practice about 50-60 plays over and over until everyone had them memorized.... It seem to me that people are thinking about assignment and then missing the guy that blows up the play? Perhaps if they run the plays enough, they will not have to think so much and just react?

I hate to say he need to make it more simple, because the play calls are fairly simple now, but obviously EXECUTION needs to be the priority.

Nagy needs to figure out what they do well (if anything) and press on execution.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

I always try to put myself in his shoes. Don't get me wrong he is responsible for the poor play on the field, but how can you change it now?

It's his repeated bone headed decisions with personnel when the do happen to stumble into a rhythm and his borderline fetish with Patterson. He's fucking clueless.

 

[legendxofxlink]

With Trubisky hurt and Bray is just not a NFL QB, and Foles can not play behind a line that can not open up holes for the RB or pass block longer than average, what can Nagy do?

I always try to put myself in his shoes. Don't get me wrong he is responsible for the poor play on the field, but how can you change it now?

Im not sure of the NFL rules about the Bye week, but if Nagy wants to keep his job, I would allow them only 1 extra day off, and then I would think that I would practice about 50-60 plays over and over until everyone had them memorized.... It seem to me that people are thinking about assignment and then missing the guy that blows up the play? Perhaps if they run the plays enough, they will not have to think so much and just react?

I hate to say he need to make it more simple, because the play calls are fairly simple now, but obviously EXECUTION needs to be the priority.

Nagy needs to figure out what they do well (if anything) and press on execution.

Back to basics. Put a FB back there. Motion him back and forth. Max protect. Give the OL the best chance to succeed. Quit putting Graham out there to block, he’s killing the OL. He needs to get creative but he keeps trying to run his same scheme. Be you I guess Nagy.

 

[Broc]

But Pace doesn't want to invest anything into the oline

Not buying it.

I have a hard time believing Pace wouldn't be willing to invest into the the OL if his head coach was in his office pounding the table for an investment to be made there, especially after watching the 2019 season unfold, but it seems to me that both Pace and Nagy share the same delusional approach to building a team.

After last season it should have been abundantly clear to anyone with a pulse that starting caliber upgrades were needed at LT, RG, and RT but clearly Nagy didn't believe talent was the problem instead choosing to scapegoat Hiestand and touting his buddy Castillo as the fix. Which is how you end up with 1st round bust Ifedi and a pair of throwaway 7th rounders ( Hambright and Simmons) as the answers to those issues.

I sure Nagy is great at drawing up route combinations on a white board and celebrating with the players in the locker room after a win but he's clearly out of his depth as a head coach and play caller.

Instead of 2019 being an eye opener regarding his OL he instead buried his head in the sand and doubled down acting like it was merely a coaching issue. To the surprise of literally no one but Nagy we're getting the same lack of fundamentals with a new coach. It makes me wonder what exactly his offense spends their time doing at practice.

I can only assume they must spend all their time practicing all the trick plays for Patterson.

There's no rhyme or reason to his play calls, just randomly calling plays against the wall. He continually runs concepts like this to the short side when if you simply run it the wide side it's an easy first down. He's too busy with his BE YOU menu and play calling to properly manage the entire team and game. I could go on and on.

Sure you can blame the OL and QB's all you want but those are self-inflicted problems due to Nagy's hubris. Any other rational adult would of realized they were figured out midway thru 2018 and adjusted their scheme and playbook accordingly. Any other rational adult would of realized after 2019 major investments were needed along the OL. But apparently not Nagy because he's a fucking stubborn asshole.

 

[Briggs is GOAT]

Not buying it.

I have a hard time believing Pace wouldn't be willing to invest into the the OL if his head coach was in his office pounding the table for an investment to be made there, especially after watching the 2019 season unfold, but it seems to me that both Pace and Nagy share the same delusional approach to building a team.

After last season it should have been abundantly clear to anyone with a pulse that starting caliber upgrades were needed at LT, RG, and RT but clearly Nagy didn't believe talent was the problem instead choosing to scapegoat Hiestand and touting his buddy Castillo as the fix. Which is how you end up with 1st round bust Ifedi and a pair of throwaway 7th rounders ( Hambright and Simmons) as the answers to those issues.

I sure Nagy is great at drawing up route combinations on a white board and celebrating with the players in the locker room after a win but he's clearly out of his depth as a head coach and play caller.

Instead of 2019 being an eye opener regarding his OL he instead buried his head in the sand and doubled down acting like it was merely a coaching issue. To the surprise of literally no one but Nagy we're getting the same lack of fundamentals with a new coach. It makes me wonder what exactly his offense spends their time doing at practice.

I can only assume they must spend all their time practicing all the trick plays for Patterson.

There's no rhyme or reason to his play calls, just randomly calling plays against the wall. He continually runs concepts like this to the short side when if you simply run it the wide side it's an easy first down. He's too busy with his BE YOU menu and play calling to properly manage the entire team and game. I could go on and on.

Sure you can blame the OL and QB's all you want but those are self-inflicted problems due to Nagy's hubris. Any other rational adult would of realized they were figured out midway thru 2018 and adjusted their scheme and playbook accordingly. Any other rational adult would of realized after 2019 major investments were needed along the OL. But apparently not Nagy because he's a fucking stubborn asshole.

I agree, I wasn't offering up a defense of Nagy in my post, I was just saying the oline sucks, and that's largely due to Pace (and probably Nagy as well) failing to invest in the group.

 

[remydat]

Ifedi was cut from the Seahawks for a reason. He is not good. Started off the season fine in part due to shitty opponents but this is who he is ie a below average and inconsistent OL.

 

[SugarWalls]

Ifedi was cut from the Seahawks for a reason. He is not good. Started off the season fine in part due to shitty opponents but this is who he is ie a below average and inconsistent OL.

Seahawks couldn’t wait to get rid of this guy. Why anyone that a bust of a first round draft pick on a vet min deal was going to upgrade the line is just absolutely beyond me.

The fact that this is the only move made to upgrade the line is laughable.

 

[HearshotKDS]

Seahawks couldn’t wait to get rid of this guy. Why anyone that a bust of a first round draft pick on a vet min deal was going to upgrade the line is just absolutely beyond me.

The fact that this is the only move made to upgrade the line is laughable.

Hey now … we also signed Spriggs.

 

[Bust]

Not buying it.

I have a hard time believing Pace wouldn't be willing to invest into the the OL if his head coach was in his office pounding the table for an investment to be made there, especially after watching the 2019 season unfold, but it seems to me that both Pace and Nagy share the same delusional approach to building a team.

Yep, these decisions are not Pace sitting on the toilet contemplating things. Last years issues were discussed with Nagy and his offensive staff and they convinced Pace the O issues of last year was due to O line blocking scheme, O coordinator and the Tight end coach as they were all fired and became scapegoats when the dreadful 2019 season came to an end.

All 3 have to be laughing at Nagy and Pace watching the 2020 Bear offense who are even worse.

 

[Adipost]

Thanks for the clips as usual. Some of the stuff I noticed live, others I didn't. My general thoughts:

Jimmy Graham literally gives 0 fux about blocking. Never has never will. He's lazy. Doesn't give effort in blocking or even getting to a defender. Some of these could be blocked just by him getting in the defender's way. He refuses to, and has refused to even since he was with the Saints.

The common theme with these plays is "One guy doing his job away". Now don't get me wrong, there are multiple guys screwing up every single play. But the play design is such that if just 1 of those guys does his job, then the play will work. With the lack of talent on the OL, you expect guys to lose their 1-on-1 battles, but you can't have Hambright, turning around and watching the play instead of getting to the 2nd level. You can't have the QB missing windows knowing he has 4 practice squad guys on his OL. The first thing I was taught about football was you can't let a guy cross your face. These are professionals letting guys go across their entire bodies to make plays. Granted, these are all world class athletes, but the offense knows the play, you know a guy can't cross to your right side if the play is off your right hip. Can't be bad talent-wise and fundamentally.

I don't really have an issue with playcalling overall from Nagy. Situational playcalling specifically is bad, but overall the plays are there if this team can execute. If Nagy is back, they really need to beef up the OL and get some guys that just do their damn job. They don't even need to go out and get the top guys on the FA market or the best guys in the draft. They got solid play out of guys like Bryan Witzmann and Cornelius Lucas because they were assignment and fundamentally sound players. Can't keep giving snaps to guys learning new positions.

The game against New Orleans, Graham looked soooo bad that I thought he had completely checked out and was going to retire post game. I mean, look at this play. Kmet takes on the DE 1 on 1, but Graham can’t be bothered to do anything. He literally does nothing. He could break this run wide open with any sort of effort, and he gives nothing. Actually, he does worse than nothing. It looks like he sidesteps the defender to avoid contact. How do you even play a guy like this...

***CLIP***

And the fact that this is just how he normally plays, I don’t even know if that makes the situation better or worse.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

The game against New Orleans, Graham looked soooo bad that I thought he had completely checked out and was going to retire post game. I mean, look at this play. Kmet takes on the DE 1 on 1, but Graham can’t be bothered to do anything. He literally does nothing. He could break this run wide open with any sort of effort, and he gives nothing. Actually, he does worse than nothing. It looks like he sidesteps the defender to avoid contact. How do you even play a guy like this...

***CLIP***

And the fact that this is just how he normally plays, I don’t even know if that makes the situation better or worse.

There’s 0 accountability on offense, unless your name is Mitch (or Miller) I’m not defending Mitch, but to let the rest of this offense be a complete train wreck and do nothing is bullshit coaching.

 

[Starion]

To Bears offense: As a player, a man, a human being, doesn't it piss you off to play amongst such futility!??

Would you not want to take every opportunity to block as a chance to take out that frustration by knocking the ever living shit outta the guy across from you?? I know I did when I played, and loved that freedom you can't really find anywhere else (legally).

How Graham or any player can choose to not block worth a damn is beyond me. It should be fun! I say this as a defensive player even. He must've lost his love for the game. On the coaches to recognize & fix or bench.

If lost or confused, at least hit the first opposing player & knock em out of the play! Then get up & hit the next guy to the whistle. Can't go too wrong with that at worst. This pussyfooting pattycake shit is ridiculously pathetic.

 

[rawdawg]

To Bears offense: As a player, a man, a human being, doesn't it piss you off to play amongst such futility!??

Would you not want to take every opportunity to block as a chance to take out that frustration by knocking the ever living shit outta the guy across from you?? I know I did when I played, and loved that freedom you can't really find anywhere else (legally).

How Graham or any player can choose to not block worth a damn is beyond me. It should be fun! I say this as a defensive player even. He must've lost his love for the game. On the coaches to recognize & fix or bench.

If lost or confused, at least hit the first opposing player & knock em out of the play! Then get up & hit the next guy to the whistle. Can't go too wrong with that at worst. This pussyfooting pattycake shit is ridiculously pathetic.

This is dead on! But Graham has always been this way. I don't think it's a love of the game thing, I honestly think dude is a primadonna who thinks he only gets paid to catch the ball. Remember he's a basketball player by trade, maybe he's just not into the physical side of football. It's not even like he doesn't want to hit DEs or LBs, he won't even block tiny corners on WR screens. That's fine if he's a glorified slot WR like he was in New Orleans, but he shouldn't be on the field on run plays or short passing plays in the Bears O. I'd rather see Harris getting snaps than Graham not trying to block at all

 

[HearshotKDS]

This is dead on! But Graham has always been this way. I don't think it's a love of the game thing, I honestly think dude is a primadonna who thinks he only gets paid to catch the ball. Remember he's a basketball player by trade, maybe he's just not into the physical side of football. It's not even like he doesn't want to hit DEs or LBs, he won't even block tiny corners on WR screens. That's fine if he's a glorified slot WR like he was in New Orleans, but he shouldn't be on the field on run plays or short passing plays in the Bears O. I'd rather see Harris getting snaps than Graham not trying to block at all

Giving Nagy the benefit of the doubt- I assume he's trying to keep the defense guessing if its a run or pass with him on the field. But its clearly not working because of how uninterested Graham is on blocking - even if his presence is making the LB or Safety hesitate a split second before reading run and crashing - Graham (nor most of the team to be honest) isn't capable of punishing that hesitation and the defenders end up making the stop anyway after 2-3 yards. I'm sure part of it is setting up future PA like the 2nd play of the game last week - but im not sure one 28 yard reception is worth having 10 failed runs to set it up.

On the flip side - i'd be interested to see what Grahams catch % is in the red zone/end zone - he seems to still be pretty reliable there but Nagy rarely goes to him early in red zone possessions which is kind of a head scratcher. Im also aware the Bears don't have many red zone possessions in the first place - so maybe its a small sample size thing.