NEWSLETTER
When the Chicago Bears opted to hire a defensive-leaning head coach, it amplified the importance of hiring a strong offensive coordinator.
Luke Getsy, while inexperienced when it comes to play-calling, was an inspired-hire by Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus. Not only did Chicago swipe an offensive assistant from its rivals in Green Bay, the team also brought in someone who would tear down the old offensive philosophy and rebuild one more in the mold of the modern NFL.
And quarterback Justin Fields’ explanation of what Getsy’s offense is all about is absolutely refreshing. So much so, in fact, it fills me with joy to share it:
“I’m not going to have the game plan out there, but there’s a fair amount of stuff that’s different for sure,” Fields said, via Larry Mayer of the Bears’ official website. “… just being able to do different things with having the same look. Being able to run different concepts, different plays with all the plays sort of looking the same. Just building plays off each other.”
Sweet merciful crap! This is exactly what we’ve been wanting for from the Bears offense for years. And, perhaps more importantly, it is a clear departure from the old way of doing business.
Matt Nagy’s offense was a disjointed mess. Instead of building a playbook stacking concepts that could work together, Nagy came off as a play collector who was hoarding designs that looked nice, and would even work individually in isolation, but were called without rhyme, reason, or rhythm. For the last few years, we watched Nagy pull from a bunch of plays that were essentially one-off concepts that occasionally worked in isolation. But they had had no variations, which made it easy to scheme against and stop. And now, Fields makes it seem like we’re veering away from that and into a new era. One led by Getsy’s offense, which apparently has variations on variations, despite being rooted in a few formations. Modernization is fun. I’m glad the Bears are trying it for a change.
For the record, we won’t know what Getsy’s offense will look like. And we certainly won’t have a full grasp of if it will work after one week of action. But doing things completely differently than Nagy feels like a step in the right direction. It’s definitely makes for a solid starting point.
