soulman Posted September 18, 2021 Share Posted September 18, 2021 (edited) Chicago Bears: 5 changes the coaches must consider to beat Bengals by Rob Schwarz Jr 2 hours ago Follow @ChiRuxinBGO https://beargoggleson.com/2021/09/18/chicago-bears-rumors-changes-matt-nagy-bengals/?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email Here we are, one day away from a Week 2 matchup that already feels like a must-win for the Chicago Bears. There seems to be a rift going on inside Halas Hall. If not, it at least appears that there is some negativity and animosity brewing between some of the players and head coach Matt Nagy. We have heard Marquise Goodwin talk poorly about play-calling and he’s only been with this team a few months. We have heard Bill Lazor talk about Justin Fields in a manner that clearly goes against Matt Nagy’s decision to play Andy Dalton over the rookie. Now, we have even heard Eddie Goldman make a snide comment about how his arrow is definitely not pointing up (in regards to his injury), despite Matt Nagy saying it was pointing up just two days later. Goldman did not play in Week 1 due to a knee and ankle injury. He was a limited participant in practice this past Wednesday (the day prior to when Nagy made his arrow-up comment), then, Goldman was a non-participant both Thursday and Friday. He is doubtful for tomorrow’s game. Adam Hoge @AdamHoge Matt Nagy said Eddie Goldman did not suffer a setback after practicing Wednesday, but admitted "it would not be arrow up right now." Nagy said it was "arrow up" yesterday before practice, but then Goldman didn't practice Thursday or Friday. #Bears 12:35 PM · Sep 17, 2021 163 48 Copy link to Tweet Maybe I am reading too much into things, but this is not the first time that I have heard rumors about that locker room not being what it once was. It appears “Club Dub” is no longer open. Now, winning seems to cure everything, but is it possible that after a 12-4 record in 2018, along with a Head Coach of the Year award, Nagy has put himself (be yourself…wink, wink) over the team? I have always defended Matt Nagy the head coach. On the outside looking in, it appears that the Chicago Bears have some good team chemistry. Nagy appears to be a true players coach who brought the best out of most of his players. His play-calling has always been suspect, but maybe I was giving him too much credit for the team chemistry part. I have to wonder if Anthony Miller was considered a locker room cancer because he did not give into Nagy’s nonsense. Everley’s Dad - #FireNagy @Mr_Jay369 · Sep 16, 2021 Replying to @ChiRuxinBGO Nagy’s offense will make even the most talented QB look average. Rob Schwarz Jr. @ChiRuxinBGO Fields will be good enough to make up for Nagy’s (or most poor coaches) shortcomings, but I understand your point. Watch again 8:17 PM · Sep 16, 2021 4 2 Copy link to Tweet Matt Nagy and the Chicago Bears cannot just sit on their hands though. Change needs to happen. Here are five changes the Bears should consider making if they want any shot of beating the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. The Chicago Bears Must Make This First Change: Give Bill Lazor the play-calling I think the first change is obvious. Last year we saw what the team could do with Matt Nagy as the head coach and Bill Lazor as a true offensive coordinator who calls the plays. Many wanted to chalk it up to the Chicago Bears schedule against weaker opponents, but is it possible that Lazor just knows how to use his player’s strengths better than Matt Nagy who wants his players to fit into his own categories? I think the answer could be yes. We saw the Chicago Bears’ offense move the ball, within the 20s. This had to do with the fact that the offense was not aggressive with their passing game. The Rams did not care about giving up a few five to eight-yard passes. As Matt Nagy galls it, the Bears struggled to get to Tuddyville often enough to win last week’s game. This change won’t happen this early, but I have a feeling we see it by the midway point this year. The Chicago Bears Must Make This Second Change: Start Justin Fields Alright, this is just wishful thinking at this point. We are one day away from gameday and if Justin Fields were to start, it would have been announced already. This has to be said anyway. We saw just how Justin Fields can change a game with just five plays last week. Alright, only two of those five plays amounted to much, but a completion and a rushing touchdown is a nice way to get start the rookie’s regular-season action. In fact, if you were to have started Justin Fields over Andy Dalton in your fantasy league (hopefully you weren’t starting either), then Fields would have given you more fantasy points (barely) than Dalton. Think about that though. In just five plays, Fields was more impactful. His dual-threat ability changes a defense’s game plan. Not to mention, Fields has an amazing arm with very good accuracy. We saw this on full display in the preseason. Fields might be doing the right thing by trying not to be a distraction — telling fans to support Dalton and that he will get his time, but that’s just another way he’s proving to be the franchise quarterback of the future that this organization desperately needs. The Chicago Bears Must Make This Third Change: Run deeper routes Have you realized just how obvious these changes are? Yeah, I think that’s the biggest problem I have here. It seems like the team could be doing so much better if Matt Nagy and company (mostly Matt Nagy), would make these changes that even the most casual Bears fan sees. Throwing the ball short every play is not going to work long-term — even if a team’s running game is working, which the Bears was versus the Rams last week. By throwing the ball downfield, even if not successfully, keeps the defense honest. The corners and safeties cannot cheat up all the time. Just look at what the Rams did to the Bears. Throwing it deep typically opens up mid-level throws across the middle. Throwing it deep can help strengthen and open up the running game. Trowing it deep even allows those shorter routes to go for more yardage because the receiver can generate better yards after the catch due to better separation. Andy Dalton actually has a somewhat decent deep ball. The offensive line may need help and that’s why Nagy wanted the ball out quickly, but we need more of these Darnell Mooney routes. Jarrett Payton @paytonsun I’m watching these routes by Darnell Mooney say to myself...man, he’s only a rookie! I just wish these could of been completed passes tho. #Bears 4:19 PM · Oct 28, 2020 958 39 Copy link to Tweet These were not completions with Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles throwing it, but give Andy Dalton a chance to prove himself. How often did we see him connect deep to A.J. Green over the years? Nagy said we need to see Dalton in the regular season, but if he’s limited by not opening up the playbook, then it does no one any good. The Chicago Bears Must Make This Fourth Change: Use more play action Again, another obvious change. In fact, this change should have come before the last one, but these are not really in a specific order. The reason I say that this change should come before throwing the ball deeper is that many times the way to open up deep routes is to use play action. For those of you unfamiliar with the phrase, play-action passes are when the quarterback fakes a handoff to a running back to draw the linebackers and defensive line in. Oftentimes, it can even bring in a corner and/or safety for at least a split second, allowing a fast receiver the ability to separate. Play-action passes can even help an offensive line hold their blocks for split seconds longer, allowing the longer receiver routes to develop. This is key. When a quarterback throws the ball within 2.5 seconds or less (what we saw often with Andy Dalton last week), there is not enough time for those deeper routes to develop. This was a play-calling issue and not a Dalton issue. He wasn’t seeing ghosts and throwing it just to get rid of the ball. No, he was hitting second and sometimes even third reads — that’s how short these routes were. Using play-action (believe it happened three times last game) more will allow Dalton to hold onto the ball for 3.5 seconds, which is all these receivers who run sub 4.40 times need to get deeper into the secondary. By the way, I’m tired of telling Nagy to use play-action. I have screamed this over and over again the last two years despite it being one of the most effective play-calls in the NFL. Play action was used 22% of the time last year, while most teams who won 10 or more games ran play-action more than average. The Bears were not one of those teams. The Chicago Bears Must Make This Fifth Change: Help the offensive line There are ways that a coach can help an offensive line that is struggling. Running the ball is one way, but that is not something that the Chicago Bears did wrong last week — shockingly. The Bears ran the ball 22 times last week with David Montgomery and Damien Williams. A power running game is something that helps most offensive lines. This is not the only way to help. In fact, what Matt Nagy and the Bears tried to do last week is a way to help the offensive line. Honestly, I don’t have a problem with the game plan last week, or I should say the main premise of the game plan. It was a good idea to get the ball out of Andy Dalton’s hand quickly to keep Aaron Donald and others from having enough time to attack. Where Matt Nagy went wrong is that he did not set up these passes to open up the deep game. That’s right, we talked about how play action can be used to open up the deep ball. I even brought up how the deep ball can open up other areas too. The thing is, being too one-dimensional is predictable. Once you show them what is working and the defense tries to predict it, then you have to throw in some wrinkles to keep them on their toes. The success the Chicago Bears had moving the football, should have left deeper routes to be more open, but they have to take their shots. Matt Nagy stuck to his only vanilla offense. Something Matt Nagy and the coaches could do is to design some rollouts. This again is a situation that is frustrating seeing Andy Dalton out there — he is not the most agile. Moving the pocket around is something that we have heard Olin Kreutz talk about forever now. Olin kreutz @olin_kreutz Move the pocket run the ball 11:54 AM · Dec 29, 2019 424 57 Copy link to Tweet He understands that little shifts and rollouts can help cover up some deficiencies an offensive line may have. Adding another blocker is an option too. Bringing in Cole Kmet and/or Jesse James could be key. Chicago only ran out of a 12-personnel package 17 percent of the time. With this offensive line, that number should probably be more like 25 to 30 percent. Adding in these little wrinkles and nuances is what a good offensive-minded coach does. Unfortunately, we are not seeing that enough from Matt Nagy’s offense. These are the little things that set a below-average coach apart from a good coach and a good coach apart from becoming a great coach. What kind of coach does Nagy want to be? Edited September 18, 2021 by soulman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BACK2MACKSACK Posted September 18, 2021 Share Posted September 18, 2021 When they start Justin Fields, they should implement the read-option to utilize his mobility and to stretch the defense. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinz D. Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 8 hours ago, BACK2MACKSACK said: When they start Justin Fields, they should implement the read-option to utilize his mobility and to stretch the defense. They already use the read-option... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 3 minutes ago, Heinz D. said: They already use the read-option... Pretty sure he means for Fields to run, they aren't using ginger junk as a real running threat in any RPO. Just another dimension to the RPO game to add. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinz D. Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 47 minutes ago, Sugashane said: Pretty sure he means for Fields to run, they aren't using ginger junk as a real running threat in any RPO. Umm...we'll see about that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 2 minutes ago, Heinz D. said: Umm...we'll see about that... Montgomery had more rushing yards in week one than Dalton will have this season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinz D. Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 2 minutes ago, Sugashane said: Montgomery had more rushing yards in week one than Dalton will have this season. Doesn't mean they're not gonna run Dalton in an RPO... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 Just now, Heinz D. said: Doesn't mean they're not gonna run Dalton in an RPO... Oh I'm sure he can get peppered in, I mean as a real threat though. Fields can take it to the house on any play if he gets a lane. Defensively if you have an RPO with Dalton to play - you hit the RB, cover tight, and then let Dalton get his 0-6 yards before he slides feet first. His career long is 25 yards and he ended with 99 yards over 16 games. That was when he was 30, no DC will be scheming to take away Dalton's rushing ability today. I swear if he starts all 17 and gets a 60 yards rushing to prove my previous post wrong I'll switch to soccer. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beardown3231 Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 7 minutes ago, Heinz D. said: Doesn't mean they're not gonna run Dalton in an RPO... If they do, I don't think any DC will lose sleep 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 2 minutes ago, beardown3231 said: If they do, I don't think any DC will lose sleep I decided to look at his YPC average and started going back to last season to see who's average he's got beat and I found something. Kmet - 1 rush for -3 yards. We have more NFL rushing yards than Kmet! And more receiving yards than Toney for the GIants right now. It wasn't what I was looking for specifically, but I'm happy I wasted the 2 minutes looking that up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epyon Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 Under Center podcast actually brought this up yesterday or the day before, but it was a good point.... I'm not sure I actually want them running a ton of option plays with Fields, or designed runs..... Cam Newton is already busted because of how often he was used as a runner during his career and the hits/injuries he's sustained. Like use him as a weapon by all means.... Have his legs to threaten a defense..... but like even the play he scored on last week....he had to run through potentially 3 guys to get into the end zone.... That's a recipe for a short career if you do it too often. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 8 hours ago, Epyon said: Under Center podcast actually brought this up yesterday or the day before, but it was a good point.... I'm not sure I actually want them running a ton of option plays with Fields, or designed runs..... Cam Newton is already busted because of how often he was used as a runner during his career and the hits/injuries he's sustained. Like use him as a weapon by all means.... Have his legs to threaten a defense..... but like even the play he scored on last week....he had to run through potentially 3 guys to get into the end zone.... That's a recipe for a short career if you do it too often. I'll with you here. Fields having to be the offense with his legs might win games against other middling teams, but I don't want to take years off his career with it. Lots of analysts called him a pocket passer first QB that just happens to be really fast. I'd hate to have a talent like that and use him like Lamar Jackson. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heinz D. Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 11 hours ago, Epyon said: I'm not sure I actually want them running a ton of option plays with Fields, or designed runs..... Cam Newton is already busted because of how often he was used as a runner during his career and the hits/injuries he's sustained. Neither do I. It's a terrible idea. So Nagy will probably do it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Romen Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 47 minutes ago, Heinz D. said: Neither do I. It's a terrible idea. So Nagy will probably do it... "Touchdown to checkdown... Until it's the right call, then BE YOURSELF and find a way to screw it up" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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