NEWSLETTER
Mitch Trubisky was superb on Sunday – and so was everyone else who suited up for the Chicago Bears – but let’s not overlook Head Coach Matt Nagy and everything he did in the Bears’ third victory of the season.
Head coaching changes happen for various reasons, but the reasoning behind the Bears’ move from John Fox was as clear as day. Chicago needed a culture change and a makeover on the offensive side of the ball. And while change was slow to come when it came to the offense putting points on the board, Nagy showed why the Bears did what they did with what was on display Sunday at Soldier Field.
Play Calling
Last year’s play-calling was a mix of predictable and irritating, but Sunday’s combinations and choices was anything but. The breakdown was as even as it gets: 26 passing attempts, 31 rushing attempts. And because of the running threats, it opened up play action:
Mitch + Trey = HAPPY TIMEpic.twitter.com/xRbwbF5D8M
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) September 30, 2018
Prior to that pass to Burton, the Bears had run the ball on three of the previous four plays. Yeah, a defender fell, but there was so much operating room to work with in part because of the threat of a run play.
Playing to Trubisky’s Strengths
There were too many times where we were left wondering why a certain set of plays wasn’t used for Trubisky. That wasn’t the case on Sunday when we saw an increase in sprint action (in addition to the play action) that moved the pocket, opened (and in some cases, widened) throwing lanes for the Bears’ quarterback. Take this route for example:
That’s #6 for #10! pic.twitter.com/12CzSvMUPP
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) September 30, 2018
Nagy’s Voluminous Playbook Pays Off
There was talk of the Bears paring back the playbook to highlight what Trubisky does best. There were plenty of examples of that on Sunday. Some of it showed it self in the way some of the little things were done, like when Trubisky’s cadence helped draw an offsides penalty. Hey, a free five yards is a free five yards. But the biggest and best example is how small plays from Weeks 1-3 in the year set up big plays in Week 4.
How many times have we seen Trubisky take the quick and easy route for a completion in the flat or something short where it would come down to a playmaker making something out of nothing? Probably too many for our liking, but if you watched enough Kansas City Chiefs football (hey, they were in prime time and the postseason often enough), you would know that a bunch of their quick hitters are used to clear the way for chunk plays that are also drawn from the same formation and route trees.
The best example of this is the touchdown pass to Josh Bellamy:
Four. FOUR. FOUR TOUCHDOWN PASSES ALREADY FOR MITCH. pic.twitter.com/G0RQt4IWLd
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) September 30, 2018
The horizontal passing game is essentially an extension of the running game. When Trubisky goes to those plays, you might as well consider them rush attempts. As you can see in the play above, Tarik Cohen sprints left with two blockers in front of him in a position to clear a running lane. It’s something we’ve seen a dozen times (whether it’s been him, Taylor Gabriel, or Anthony Miller) and will see again in the future. But here, Cohen is just a decoy. Trubisky sells with a hard shoulder fake, and with Allen Robinson streaking down the field and making his way toward the middle, it leaves Bellamy open down the sideline with no one even close.
To be clear, Trubisky deserves all the credit in the world for putting up 354 yards, completing 70 percent of his passes, and tossing six touchdowns. But it was Nagy’s play designs that opened things up and allowed such a performance to take place. So take a moment to tip your cap to a play caller who really earned his stripes on Sunday.
