Week One - Bears vs Packers.

[Sugashane]

1 minute ago, JustAnotherFan said:

I get your point. But keep in mind, you're looking at the play in hindsight. If the initial play call was a QB sneak then the blocking assignments also change as well. 

True. The one I wanted the QB sneak on was later in the game too. Still, QB sneaks are quicker hitting and have far less potential but higher floors IMO in those moments. Especially if you can come out in a base formation with 2-3 WRs at least to keep the defense honest.

 

IDK if it was Brady or who it was (Ben maybe?) that got a pass play and if he saw the sneak was open then his cadence had a number to identify it for the OL. I liked that approach.

[Uncle Buck]

14 hours ago, G08 said:

@Uncle Buck @driftwood

 

Why are you guys being so nice to us 

As the old saying goes:  "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."   

[Madmike90]

The more I think about this game the more I think we would have won if Rodgers hadn't went down injured...it was such a major momentum swing when he came back on the field...we were dominating up until that point...that alone should give everyone significant hope for the future.

[beardown3231]

11 minutes ago, Madmike90 said:

The more I think about this game the more I think we would have won if Rodgers hadn't went down injured...it was such a major momentum swing when he came back on the field...we were dominating up until that point...that alone should give everyone significant hope for the future.

While he seemed confused even when he was healthy, the two big defensive plays- Mack's strip sack and Mack's TD- were on Kizer. I think they would have struggled the same amount to win had he been 100%, too.

[Spartacus]

15 hours ago, beardown3231 said:

While he seemed confused even when he was healthy, the two big defensive plays- Mack's strip sack and Mack's TD- were on Kizer. I think they would have struggled the same amount to win had he been 100%, too.

Rodgers probably doesn't throw that ball. The strip sack by Mack may have gotten Rodgers but he may not have put himself in that position to be right on top of the right tackle like Kizer was. 

[WindyCity]

Having re-watched the game I can say that I did not come away as concerned with Mitchell Trubisky's performance as I did watching it in real time.

What was concerning was the number of pre-snap issues that the Bears had that can contribute to poor execution after the snap. I looked at the number of times the play clock got below 5 and the number of snaps that were collar or above on Trubisky.

Both of these are pre-throw issues that need to be cleaned up.

1st Quarter

Play Clock: 7
High Snap: 1

2nd Quarter

Play Clock: 3
High Snap: 1

*Play clock issues in the 1st quarter of the 1st game are some what forgivable, less so when you sit the preseason.

3rd Quarter 

Play Clock: 6
High Snap: 2

4th Quarter

Play Clock: 13
High Snap: 10

*Things got progressively worse pre-Trubisky as the game went on.
*The 4th quarter was a mess in terms of getting the ball in Trubisky's hands cleanly and not rushed
*This throws off timing and vision
*This causes the QB to rush as they are fighting the play clock

-4th Quarter FG Drive had 7 play clock issues and 7 high snaps, including one that killed the play-this was despite the Packers taking all their TO.

-2 minute drill had 5 low play clock situations and 2 high snaps one of which was on the last play of the game

[TankWilliams]

I still cannot fathom why Cody Whitehair plays center for this team.  His snaps are pure trash. 

[G08]

To echo @WindyCity, it made me feel better realizing Mitch didn't go through his protections at times because it was an 8 man protection and there literally was nobody else for him to throw the ball to in some scenarios. That will have to change.

[JAF-N72EX]

12 hours ago, TankWilliams said:

I still cannot fathom why Cody Whitehair plays center for this team.  His snaps are pure trash. 

The better question is why does Nagy keep calling so many plays from the shotgun formation KNOWING that Whitehair has snap issues. Out of 31 offensive plays in the first half alone (inc penalties and timeouts) only 8 of them were under center. And 5 of those 8 were designed run plays.

That's telling the defense what your doing even before the snap.
Shotgun = They're passing 
Under center = They're running

So Nagy isn't innocent either. That's not only a predictable gameplan but it's playing against your own players' weaknesses as well when you know Whitehair sucks at snapping the ball. You would think it would be the opposite. Keep the snaps simple from under center.

 

[Superman(DH23)]

4 hours ago, JustAnotherFan said:

The better question is why does Nagy keep calling so many plays from the shotgun formation KNOWING that Whitehair has snap issues. Out of 31 offensive plays in the first half alone (inc penalties and timeouts) only 8 of them were under center. And 5 of those 8 were designed run plays.

That's telling the defense what your doing even before the snap.
Shotgun = They're passing 
Under center = They're running

So Nagy isn't innocent either. That's not only a predictable gameplan but it's playing against your own players' weaknesses as well when you know Whitehair sucks at snapping the ball. You would think it would be the opposite. Keep the snaps simple from under center.

 

The base offense is shotgun.  Unless you want to completely throw away the rpo offense this team has been built for.  Either Whitehair needs to improve the snaps or he had to go to lg, but we arent going to blame the coach for calling the offense they have spent 6 months installing.

[WindyCity]

Mitch's 4th quarter

1st Down: Howard 5 yard run
2nd Down: High Snap Howard 4 yard run
3rd Down: Sims runs a 6" route

I have no issues with what Mitch did here. This drive should have kept going if Dion Sims did not suck.

FG Drive

1st-Howard 8 yard wheel route compleition
2nd-Howard 1 yard run
3rd-Trubisky runs the lead for a 1st down

1st-Howard 0 yards
2nd-Trubisky 8 yard run after Wilkerson pressure
3rd-Cohen 7 yard run

1st-Howard 3 yard run
2nd-Howard 0 yard run
3rd-Trubisky scrambles right and completes 12 yard pass to Miller

1st-Howard 22 yards

1st-Blown Snap lose of 3
2nd-Howard 8 yard run
3rd-Trubisky misses the wheel route on what was an incredibly stupid play call

-Trubisky converted 3 3rd downs on his own
-He had 1 bad read and incompletion on the drive.
-There were 7 off target snaps on the drive

-The drive was 14 plays, 61 yards, took 6:50 seconds off the clock, and they kicked a FG to go up 6. That should win the game with this defense. Most teams would kill for that in a 4th quarter where they are leading.

Mitch did not play poorly in the 4th quarter, he played poorly in the 2 minute drill.

[WindyCity]

I also think that the play calling in the 2 minute drill was pretty awful.

1. You took over the ball with 2:08 and 2 timeouts, you only need a field goal.

2. The previous drive you had run the ball effectively and mixed in enough passes to move the ball 61 yards. 

3. Your QB is not reading the complex zone defenses that the Packers are running against you.

Why in this situation do you 

1. Stop running the ball
2. Go full field reads
3. Not give him some predefined reads and routes.

You need to go about 40 yards to try a field goal you didn't have to rush.

[topwop1]

3 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

I also think that the play calling in the 2 minute drill was pretty awful.

1. You took over the ball with 2:08 and 2 timeouts, you only need a field goal.

2. The previous drive you had run the ball effectively and mixed in enough passes to move the ball 61 yards. 

3. Your QB is not reading the complex zone defenses that the Packers are running against you.

Why in this situation do you 

1. Stop running the ball
2. Go full field reads
3. Not give him some predefined reads and routes.

You need to go about 40 yards to try a field goal you didn't have to rush.

Agreed. I'm going to chalk it up to rookie coaching mistakes in the 1st game of the season. 

It's easy to criticize but let's consider that it was the first game of the season for this new offense against a defense that was also new.  For as bad as Nagy and co were play calling in the second half we also need to give credit to Mike Pettine for adjusting.

[beardown3231]

2 hours ago, WindyCity said:

I also think that the play calling in the 2 minute drill was pretty awful.

1. You took over the ball with 2:08 and 2 timeouts, you only need a field goal.

2. The previous drive you had run the ball effectively and mixed in enough passes to move the ball 61 yards. 

3. Your QB is not reading the complex zone defenses that the Packers are running against you.

Why in this situation do you 

1. Stop running the ball
2. Go full field reads
3. Not give him some predefined reads and routes.

You need to go about 40 yards to try a field goal you didn't have to rush.

I agree on 2 and 3 but not 1. I wouldn't have run the ball at all in that situation with under 2 minutes, 2 TO's left and starting at the 12.5 yard line.

[Sugashane]

6 hours ago, Superman(DH23) said:

The base offense is shotgun.  Unless you want to completely throw away the rpo offense this team has been built for.  Either Whitehair needs to improve the snaps or he had to go to lg, but we arent going to blame the coach for calling the offense they have spent 6 months installing.

Exactly. Plus Howard seems (though I have no stats to verify it) to run better out of the shotgun as well. Other than Whitehair's snaps it seems to be best for everyone.